OSIRIS-REx is orbiting Bennu

About 2:40-ish this afternoon, NASA's OSIRIS-REx entered orbit around Near-Earth Object asteroid Bennu.  Its name is the anagram of Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer.

It was launched in September 2016 and reached the asteroid earlier this month.  Bennu is the smallest body to be orbited by a spacecraft.  Bennu is only about 492 m or 1600 ft in diameter, about the height of the Empire State Building.

OSIRIS-REx will spend some time analyzing the surface and will return to Earth with a sample from the asteroid in September 2023.

M*A*S*H episode "Private Charles Lamb" airs 1974

Looks delicious!

Another favorite M*A*S*H episode, Private Charles Lamb (Season 3, Episode 14) aired on December 31, 1974.  A Greek colonel is grateful for the 4077th and their excellent treatment of his men, so he throws a typical Greek celebration for them.  The feast includes lots of ouzo and a lamb for lamb chops. 

Radar (Gary Burghoff) is appalled that the lamb will be slaughtered for the feast, so he manages to secure a release and trip home for "Private Charles Lamb" on Bo-Peep Airline.  To allay any suspicions, Radar manages to create a lamb from Spam for the party. 

Loretta Swit (Margaret Houlihan) does not appear in this episode. 

I could not find a clip of this episode anywhere!  Only the entire episode which costs money. 

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Martin Fettman!

Martin Fettman, born December 31, 1956 in Brooklyn, New York, has made one trip into space. 

His mission was aboard the space shuttle Columbia (STS-58) in October-November 1993 as payload specialist.  He was among the group that collected blood and urine samples from their fellow astronauts for a series of metabolic experiments. 

Fettman spent 14 days in space.

Helen Reddy's "Angie Baby" reaches #1 1974

Helen Reddy's eerie tune Angie Baby reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart December 28, 1974.  It also reached #1 on the Billboard Easy Listening and Billboard Cash Box Top 100.

Written by Alan O'Day, Angie Baby is about a young girl who is "touched", not mentally handicapped.  She doesn't have any friends and does not attend  school, so she finds solace in the songs on the radio.  Then a young man "with evil on his mind" visits Angie, but things do not go as he planned.  He disappears and becomes her "secret lover" although everyone thinks he died.

Reddy once said she has never disclosed the real meaning of the lyrics because she loves hearing all the theories listeners have come up with.  She also said  it was the only one of her songs she didn't have to push radio stations to play.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev!

Oleg Artemyev, born December 28, 1970 in Riga, Latvia, has been in space twice. 

His first mission was aboard Soyuz TMA-12M, which launched in March 2014 to the International Space Station.  He took part in Expeditions 39 and 40, returning to Earth in September after 169

His most recent trip into space was aboard Soyuz MS-08, from March to October of this year.  He was part of Expeditions 55 and 56.  He spent about 197 days aboard the ISS.

He has spent a year and a day total in space

New Horizons spacecraft will flyby Ultima Thule New Year's Day 2019

The little spacecraft that could (and is still going strong), New Horizons will make a flyby of Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) 2014 MU69, nicknamed Ultima Thule on January 1, 2019.  It will be the farthest celestial body ever visited by a spacecraft. 

New Horizons made an historic flyby of Pluto in July 2015 and NASA was searching for a KBO suitable for it to study.  Ultima Thule was discovered using the Hubble Telescope in 2014 and chosen to be the next target. 

Ultima Thule is an irregular shaped object, being two smaller bodies orbiting each other at close range, or a contact binary system (two bodies joined together).  It will take 6 hours for signals to reach Earth from New Horizons.

Happy birthday, Dr. Hugh Culber!

Handsome Puerto Rican actor Wilson Cruz, born December 27, 1973 in Brooklyn, New York, starred in a ground-breaking role as Dr. Hugh Culber, an openly gay man in Star Trek: Discovery.  It is the first Star Trek series to feature an openly gay couple.  Cruz stars with Anthony Rapp (Paul Stamets) on the show. 

Cruz has appeared on television and screen since 1994.  He appeared in an episode of Pushing Daisies with Kristen Chenoweth. 

Cruz's Star Trek: Discovery character was killed during the first season, but he remains elusive as to whether or not his character will re-appear in the second season.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka!

Oleg Skripochka, born December 24, 1969 in the former Soviet Union, has flown to space twice and has spent almost a year in space. 

His first mission was aboard  Soyuz TMA-01M, launched in October 2010 to the International Space Station.  He was part of the crews of Expeditions 24 and 25, and  performed 3 EVAs during his stay.  He returned to Earth in May 2011.

His second flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-20M, launched in May 2016 to the ISS.  He was part of the crews of Expedition 47 and 48. 

Soyuz TM-4 launched 1987

Soyuz TM-4 launch crew

Mission patch

Soyuz TM-4, launched December 21, 1987, was the fourth manned mission to the space station Mir.  Its crew at lift-off consisted of Commander Vladimir Titov, Musa Manarov and Anatoli Levenchenko.  Titov and Manarov were part of the expedition Mir EO-3 and stayed in space for a year returning to Earth.  Levchenko returned to Earth on Soyuz TM-3 a week later.

Soyuz TM-4 returned in June 1998 with crew of Mir EP-2:Commander Anatoly Solovyev, Viktor Savinykh and Aleksandr Aleksandrov.  They had arrived a week earlier on Soyuz TM-5.

"It's A Wonderful Life" premieres 1946

Another perennial favorite, It's a Wonderful Life premiered December 20, 1946 in New York City.  It premiered in Los Angeles on Christmas Eve and Minneapolis December 27.  The rest of the country had to wait until January 7, 1947 to see it.

It follows the story of George Bailey (played by James Stewart) who loses a load of money and is facing jail time and bankruptcy.  Considering suicide, he is about to jump off a bridge when an angel Clarence (Henry Travers) intervenes and shows George what the town would be like if he hadn't existed.  It has a really happily ever after ending, bordering almost on nonsensical but it's a favorite!

Initially, It's a Wonderful Life fared poorly at the box office, and did not win any of the 5 Oscars it was nominated for.  But now it's considered one of the best movies in every genre possible according to the American Film Institute.

Sea level rise on Tybee Island, Georgia is reality, not politics

Two years ago, I posted about Mayor Jason Buelterman of Tybee Island, Georgia claiming he recognized the reality of climate change and rising sea levels despite being a Republican.  He made the remark in response to Trump and fellow GOP members who deny global warning and continue to do so after mountains of data have been compiled to demonstrate its inevitability.

Today, Tybee Island recognizes the threat and is taking steps to deal with rising sea levels.  High tides encroach upon the causeway that runs between the island and the mainland, causing trouble during commutes for those people who do not work on Tybee and emergency vehicles.  Additionally, flooding erodes beaches and causes stormwater sewers to overflow.  Recently, an analysis showed that Georgia properties have already lost about $15 million because of flooding and rising sea levels.  Who is going to buy a house that has been flooded three times in the last three years?

The island flooded in 2015, 2016 and 2017.  The last two years were due to Hurricanes Matthew and Irma respectively.  But in 2015 it was a king tide, which is an exceptionally high tide, and no hurricanes attached.

Buelterman and the island commissioned a plan to adapt to the sea level rise and now other coastal communities are using it to model their own plans.  The ocean has risen 9 inches in the past 80 years and projected to rise another 3 feet or more.  The stormwater sewers have been upgraded so they won’t flood with sea water.  Tybee Island is rebuilding the dunes on the beach to protect from storm surges.  Georgia Department of Transportation is repaving the causeway so it will not flood as often.

But the worst-case scenario is most of the island will be underwater by the end of this century.  Tybee Island residents, although optimistic, realize the inevitability of the sea level rise.  

“…nature is going to win…”

Expedition 57 crew landed safely this morning!

Soyuz MS-09/Expedition 57 crew (L-R): Serena Aunon-Chancellor, Alex Gerst, Sergey Prokopyev

Mission patch

Back in June, Soyuz MS-09 launched with Alexander Gerst (ESA), Sergey Prokopyev (RSA) and Serena Aunon-Chancellor to the International Space Station.  They joined Andrew Feustel (NASA), Oleg Artemyev (RSA) and Richard Arnold (NASA) for the second part of Expedition 56.  Serena became the first Latin resident of the ISS.

Today, they returned to Earth landing safely in Kazakhstan.  They leave Oleg Kononenko (RSA), Anne McClain (NASA) and David Saint-Jacques for the remainder of Expedition 57.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Michael Fossum!

Michael Fossum, born December 19, 1957 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota is a veteran of two space shuttle missions and one Soyuz mission to the International Space Station. 

His first trip into space was aboard Discovery (STS-121) as mission specialist to the ISS in July 2006.  The main objective of this flight was to test new safety and repair techniques put into place after the Columbia disaster.  He performed three EVAs with fellow astronaut Piers Sellers.

His second mission was aboard Discovery (STS-124) in May-June 2008 as mission specialist to the ISS.  He performed three more EVAs with fellow astronaut Ronald Garan. 

His third and final trip into space was aboard Soyuz TMA-02M, which launched in June 2011 as part of Expedition 28 crew.  He was commander of Expedition 29 from September to November 2011, when he returned to Earth
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"The Little Drummer Boy" premieres 1968

Another favorite classic,  The Little Drummer Boy aired for the first time December 19, 1968.  It is based on the song of the same name which was written in 1941 by Katherine Davis.  It was first recorded by the Von Trapp Singers but made popular by the Harry Simeone Chorale in 1958.

The story line of the television special follows Aaron, the little drummer boy, who is orphaned as a young child.  He flees into the desert with a few animal friends, hating humanity.  Aaron encounters the Magi on their way to see the Messiah.  Aaron goes to see him but his lamb is run over by a chariot.  The Magi say they cannot do anything for the lamb but the Christ-child might.  Having nothing to offer, Aaron plays his drum and the song is played.  The lamb is healed and Aaron's faith in humanity is restored.

Happy birthday, ESA astronaut Reinhold Ewald!

Reinhold Ewald, born December 18, 1956 in Germany, went into space aboard Soyuz TM-25 in February 1997 to the space station Mir.  He returned on Soyuz TM-24 about 3 weeks later.  It is his only trip into space.

Battlestar Galactica episode "Fire in Space" airs 1978

To me Fire in Space was one of the better episodes of the television series Battlestar Galactica, which aired December 17, 1978.  A Cylon kamikaze raid on the Galactica damages the ship and starts fires everywhere.  The attack critically injures Commander Adama (Lorne Greene) and traps Athena (Maren Jensen), Boomer (Herbert Jefferson, Jr.) and Boxey (Noah Hathaway) in an inside room.

Apollo (Richard Hatch) and Starbuck (Dirk Benedict) must find a way to put out the fires without destroying the Galactica.

I suppose I liked this episode since the hokiness and campiness weren't as prevalent as in other episodes.  It was just pure action from start to finish.  Lots of explosions! 

According to imdb.com, the episode used stock footage from The Towering Inferno and Damnation Alley. 

Soyuz TMA-19M launched 2015

Soyuz TMA-19M crew (L-R): Timothy Kopra, Yuri Malenchenko, Timothy Peake

Mission patch

Soyuz TMA-19M, launched December 15, 2015, carried the members of Expedition 46 to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Yuri Malenchenko (Roscosmos), Timothy Kopra (NASA) and Timothy Peake (ESA)

They returned to Earth 186 days later in June 2016.

"Rebirth of Mothra" released 1996

The first movie in the trilogy Rebirth of Mothra was released in Japan, December 14, 1996.   Mothra is called upon to save the world from King Ghidorah who has been encased for millenia underground. A lumber company has released him from his slumber and he goes on a rampage.  Mothra and her son-caterpillar battle him but Mothra is killed.  The son-caterpillar transforms into an even larger Mothra and takes revenge for his mother's murder. 

King Ghidorah gets his butt kicked seven ways to Sunday!

Def Leppard, Janet Jackson and Steve Nicks inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

It has been announced just earlier today that Def Leppard, Janet Jackson and Stevie Nicks are among the 2019 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Def Leppard and Stevie Nicks and Roxy Music (another inductee) were all voted in during their first year as nominees.

Stevie is already a member as part of Fleetwood Mac.  Miss Jackson was voted in after her third time as a nominee. 

Def Leppard received the most fan votes, over half a million!

The other inductees are the Cure, Radiohead, and the Zombies.

Baiji, Chinese river dolphin, declared extinct 2006

A Chinese news agency announced early December 2006 that a six-week survey of the Yangtze River had failed to detect any baijis (Chinese river dolphins).  The species was declared functionally extinct on December 13, 2006. 

In the 1950s, the baiji population was estimated at 6000 but by 1970, only a few hundred were left.  For years, humans had hunted the baiji and other species using illegal practices, such as electric fishing.  Other causes for the baiji's decline were over-fishing, collisions with boats and ships, and pollution.  There was a failure to determine what the impact construction the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River would have on the baiji.

Pollution in the water resulted in diseases and pathogens which have also caused the decline in the species.

Although hunting the baiji was declared illegal in China in 1983, the animal was still hunted.

However, there have been a few unsubstantiated sightings of the baiji since 2007.  Even if these are confirmed, are there enough of the baiji left to repopulate the species?

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Steve Hawley!

Steven Hawley, born December 12, 1951 in Ottawa, Kansas, is a veteran of 5 space shuttle flights, logging over 770 hours in space.

His first mission was aboard the maiden voyage of Discovery (STS-41-D) as mission specialist August-September 1984.  Portions of the mission were filmed for the IMAX motion picture The Dream is Alive.

His second flight was aboard Columbia (STS-61-C) in January 1986 as mission specialist.  It was the last successful space shuttle flight before the Challenger disaster, which occurred only 10 days after Columbia landed.

Hawley's third flight was on Discovery (STS-31) in April 1990.  During this flight, the Hubble Space Telescope was deployed.

His fourth flight was on Discovery(!) (STS-82) in February 1997.  His primary role was to operate the Discovery's robotic arm to retrieve and redeploy the Hubble Telescope after upgrades and repairs.

Hawley's fifth and final flight was on Columbia (STS-93) in July 1999 as flight engineer.  The Chandra X-ray Observatory was deployed during the mission.

The Donald's EPA lies about 'no data' on WOTUS rule

As if we needed more proof this administration cares nothing for the environment or public health, the TEPA stated yesterday that it doesn’t know how many streams will be excluded from the Clean Water Act and the chief of TEPA’s Office of Water Dave Ross stated no one has that data.

Reporters from E&E News, Ariel Wittenberg and Kevin Bogardus obtained evidence from a slideshow from 2017 that contains the data and even further, it demonstrates that at least 18% of streams and 51% of wetlands would not be protected under TEPA’s new definition of WOTUS (Waters of the United States).  The slides were prepared from data supplied by the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Hydrography Dataset (NHD).

Later E&E News asked TEPA Molly Block why they didn’t use the USGS data as the EPA did under Shrub’s administration in 2005.  Unsurprisingly, Block defended Ross’ statement, saying the EPA and the Army Corps had determined the datasets are “not robust enough” to depict federally regulated waters.

In Trumpspeak, that means 'we don’t like what the data is showing so we choose to ignore it.'

This comes on the heels of Andrew Wheeler’s inability to come up with three programs the TEPA has to protect the Clean Air Act.  There simply are few, if at all, that exist.

We are so screwed.

"Rebirth of Mothra III" released 1998

The third film in the trilogy, Rebirth of Mothra III, was released in Japan December 12, 1998.  For the three films, Mothra's powers have been beefed up since her Godzilla days.  In Rebirth of Mothra III, she has the power to travel back in time!

A meteor crashes to Earth bringing everyone's favorite bad guy, King Ghidorah, with it.  The three-headed menace begins snatching up children and trapping them in a glowing orb, feeding off their life energies.  The twin fairies (not the Cosmos in the trilogy) summon Rainbow Mothra who barely manages to defeat King Ghidorah by dropping him into a volcano. 

All is not okay, and Mothra has to travel back to the age of dinosaurs to defeat a younger King Ghidorah.  This new Mothra has armor plating and more kick-ass powers.

No spoilers here.

Voyager 2 enters interstellar space!

Voyager 2, launched in August 1977, has finally reached interstellar space, beyond the heliosphere, the protective bubble of particles and magnetic fields created by the sun.  Voyager 1 crossed into interstellar space in 2011.

Voyager 2 is now just over 11 billion miles from Earth, but still within our solar system.  The Oort Cloud, a collection of small bodies under the influence of the sun's gravity, is considered the boundary of the solar system.  NASA expects it will take Voyager 2 about 300 years to reach the inner edge of the Oort Cloud, and possibly 30,000 years to fly through it.

China launches Chang’e 4 Lunar Rover 2018

The next step in lunar exploration blasted off from China's Xichang Satellite Launch Center, December 7, 2018.  The China National Space Administration successfully launched Chang'e 4 to the moon.  The space probe consists of a lander and a rover, expected to land on the far side of the moon January 3, 2019.

Since communications from the other side of the moon are impossible, Chang'e 4 will use a communications relay satellite about 65,000 km from its landing site, to keep in constant contact with Earth.

I'll keep you posted.

Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire" reaches #1 1989

Billy Joel's smash single We Didn't Start the Fire from the album Storm Front reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 December 9, 1989.  It was nominated for a Grammy for Record of the Year but lost to Bette Midler's Wind Beneath My Wings.

Apparently, a 21 year-old told Billy after the singer had just turned 40 that nothing happened in the 1950s, so Billy, a self professed history nut,wrote this song. 

"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" premieres 1964

Everybody's favorite reindeer with a glowing nose premiered on CBS December 6, 1964.  The made-for-television movie Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer is based on the song written and recorded by Gene Autry in 1939,  and soared to popularity in 1947.

It is now a perennial classic viewed every Christmas season. 

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Bruce Melnick!

Bruce Melnick, born December 5, 1949 in New York City, New York, is a veteran of two space shuttle flights.  He spent 20 years in the Coast Guard, which included being chief test pilot at the Aircraft Program Office in Grand Prairie, Texas.

His first mission was on Discovery (STS-41) in October 1990 as mission specialist.  The main objective of the mission was to deploy the Ulysses spacecraft to explore the polar regions of the sun.

His second and final mission was the maiden voyage of Endeavour (STS-49) in May 1992 as mission specialist.  Its purpose was to retrieve an Intelsat satellite and boost it into a higher orbit.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Ronald Sega!

Ronald Sega, born December 4, 1952 in Macedonia, Ohio, is a veteran of two space shuttle missions.

His first flight was aboard Discovery (STS-60) as mission specialist in February 1994.  It was the first flight mission of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir program. 

HIs second mission was on Atlantis (STS-76) in March 1996 also to the space station Mir as mission specialist. He has spent more than 17 days in space.

Mars Pathfinder & Sojourner Rover launched 1996

Sojourner on Mars

Mission patch

The Mars Pathfinder and Sojourner Truth Rover were launched on December 4, 1996 to Mars.  It reached the Red Planet July 4, 1997 and proceeded to exceed all expectations.  Anticipated to last only a week to a month,  Sojourner Truth lasted almost three months, sending its last communication on September 27.  Its on-board battery was designed to last a month, but probably failed due to repeated charging and discharging. 

It opened a new era into interplanetary rovers.  The Soviets had been sending  rovers to the moon but their attempts at Mars failed.  NASA's mantra of 'faster, better, cheaper' seemed to have paid off since the cost of the mission was less than $150M, which is one-fifteenth of the cost to send the Viking landers. 

The Mars Pathfinder sent back more than 2.3 billion bits of information, made 8.5 million measurements of the atmosphere and 16,500 pictures.

Happy birthday, astronaut Steven Swanson!

Steven Swanson, born December 3, 1960 in Syracuse, New York, grew up in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.  He is a veteran of two space shuttle missions and one Soyuz mission.

His first flight into space was aboard Atlantis (STS-117) to the International Space Station in June 2007 as mission specialist. The mission lasted almost two weeks because of bad weather, making it the longest mission for Atlantis.

Swanson's second flight was aboard Discovery (STS-119) in March 2009 to the ISS as mission specialist.  He performed two EVAs during the mission.

His third and last mission was aboard Soyuz TMA-12M to the ISS as part of Expedition 39 and 40, the latter of which he served as commander.  He spent 169 days in space.



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Soyuz MS-11 launched today!

Soyuz MS-11 crew (L-R): Anne McClain, Oleg Kononenko and David Saint-Jacques

Mission patch

Soyuz MS-11, launched successfully this morning about 6:30AM EST, is carrying three members of Expedition 58 to the International Space Station.  The crew consists of Commander Oleg Kononenko (Roscosmos), David Saint-Jacques (CSA) and Anne McClain (NASA).

They should arrive early this afternoon at the ISS.  Soyuz MS-11 was initially scheduled to launch December 20 but was moved to today after the failure of Soyuz MS-10 back in October.

Happy birthday, Godzilla/Gamera actor Akira Kubo!

Akira Kubo, born December 1, 1936 in Tokyo, Japan, has appeared in over 100 movies and television shows.  He has appeared in three Godzilla movies: Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965), Son of Godzilla (1967), Destroy All Monsters (1968), and Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995).