Daniel Barry, born December 30, 1953 in Norwalk, Connecticut, is a veteran of three space shuttle flights.
His first flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-72) as mission specialist in January 1996. He conducted a spacewalk with fellow astronaut Leroy Chiao.
His second flight was aboard Discovery (STS-96) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in May-June 1999. He conducted an EVA with fellow astronaut Tamara Jernigan.
HIs third and final flight was aboard Discovery (STS-105) as mission specialist to the International Space Station. He conducted two EVAs with fellow astronaut Patrick Forrester.
Steven Smith, born December 30, 1958 in Phoenix, Arizona, is a veteran of four space shuttle flights and seven space walks.
His first mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-68) as mission specialist in September-October 1994. He spent just over 11 days in space.
His second mission was aboard Discovery (STS-82) in February 1997 as mission specialist. It was the second servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Smith conducted three EVAs with fellow astronaut Mark Lee.
His third mission was on Discovery (STS-103) as mission specialist in December 1999 to service the Hubble Space Telescope again. He conducted two EVAs with fellow astronaut John Grunsfield.
Smith's fourth and final mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-110) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in April 2002. He conducted two more EVAs with fellow astronaut Rex Walheim,
Cosmonaut Evgeny Tarelkin, born December 29, 1974, went into space aboard Soyuz TMA-06M to the International Space Station. He was part of the crew for Expeditions 33 and 34. He stayed in space for over 143 days.
Back in October, Christina Koch made history by participating in the first all-female spacewalk with fellow astronaut Jessica Meir. She made history again today by setting the record for the longest space flight by a woman for 289 days, breaking the record set earlier by Peggy Whitson.
With an all-star cast, The Hindenberg was released on December 25, 1975. It is a fictionalized version of the final days of the Hindenberg, a huge airship which blew up upon landing in New Jersey, May 6, 1937. It starred George C. Scott, Anne Bancroft, Charles Durning and Rene Aberjonois.
The Hindenberg won two Special Achievement Academy Awards for sound effects and visual effects. It was nominated for three more Oscars.
Although a box office success, it was not critically acclaimed.
Disney's animated film The Aristocats was released December 24, 1970 to positive reviews. It was also well-received in Europe. It was the most popular "general release" in Britain for 1971 and the most popular film in France and Germany for 1971.
Eva Gabor voiced the main character Duchess. Brother Richard and Robert Sherman composed several songs for the movie but only Scales and Arpeggios was included. The soundtrack features more jazzy sound than previous movies.
Judy Strangis, known to us 70's kids as Dyna Girl, was born December 23, 1949 in Los Angeles, California. She starred with Diedre Hall as the female superhero duo Electro Woman and Dyna Girl, a cheesey but entertaining Saturday morning show.
Strangis also appeared in episodes of the Twilight Zone, Bewitched, and the A-Team. She stopped work in front of the camera after someone began stalking her. She focused on doing voice-overs.
On December 23, 1969, Argentina sent Juan, a cai monkey native to a region of the country, into space. The rocket ascended to 82 km and he was recovered successfully. On February 1, 1970, a female cai monkey was sent to a higher altitude but she was lost when the parachutes failed to open.
Okay, I know it wasn't a milestone in movie-making, but it certainly is nowhere near the worst movie I've ever seen. I really enjoyed Cutthroat Island, released December 22, 1995 with Geena Davis, Matthew Modine and Frank Langella. It was exciting and fun. And I'm not just saying that because I like pirate movies, but not all pirate movies are as entertaining as this one was.
Still, it was one of the biggest box-office bombs of all time. Problems making the movie were rampant and it sounds as it if was a miracle the film was even completed.
Wolf in the Fold, the fourteenth episode of Season 2 of Star Trek (TOS) first aired December 22, 1967. Written by Robert Bloch (author of Psycho), the episode focuses on Engineer Montgomery Scott (Scotty) being accused of brutally stabbing three women to death. It reads as a spooky whodunit, unusual for a science fiction series, but it's one of my favorites.
Wolf in the Fold did stir up a lot of controversy, by its depiction of women as the victims, the killer's hatred of women and the misogynistic tone of the script. Most notably criticized is Spock's line that "women are more easily and more deeply terrified, generating more sheer horror than the male of the species."
It has also been pointed out that the psycho-tricorder is a "ridiculous invention-of-the-week". I have to concede this point since it is the only episode that involves such a gadget and we didn't even get to see it work.
But it also features the crew on a planet being subjected to their laws, something we don't normally see.
Dr. McCoy has some great one-liners. He once states he has a drug that could "tranquilize an active volcano". Later someone asks him what would happen if the evil entity entered a tranquilized body, McCoy says it would probably "take up knitting, but nothing more harmful than that."
The comedy classic 9 to 5, starring Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, was released December 19, 1980. Dolly Parton wrote and recorded the title song which was nominated for an Academy Award. The song won two Grammys: Best Country Song and Best Country Vocal Performance, Female.
The long-awaited Star Wars sequel to Revenge of the Jedi, The Force Awakens was released December 18, 2015. It was met with positive reviews and fans loved it. The Force Awakens was nominated for 5 Academy Awards and won 8 Saturn Awards: Best Science Fiction Film, Best Writing, Best Actor for Harrison Ford, Best Supporting Actor, Best Music for John Williams, Best Editing, Best Make-up, and Best Special Effects.
It reunited Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, and Mark Hamill, as well as Ford.
One of the best adaptions of this story, A Christmas Carol aired December 17, 1984 starring George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge. It was stylish and creepy, giving the story by Charles Dickens a whole new feel. It had an all-star cast with David Warner and Susannah York as Mr. and Mrs. Bob Cratchit.
George C. Scott got a Primetime Emmy nomination for his performance.
Jim Henson's and Frank Oz's visual masterpiece, The Dark Crystal, was released December 17, 1982. Although it got mixed reviews at first, it has since gained a cult-like following. The Dark Crystal had groundbreaking animatronics
It received a Saturn Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films for Best Fantasy Film.
A prequel has been produced and airing on Netflix.
Godzilla vs Biollante, the seventeenth movie in the G-Man's franchise, was released in Japan December 16, 1989. In this entry, Godzilla has to battle a mutated rosebush, which has been modified by an infusion of Godzilla's cells.
In 2014, Godzilla vs Biollante was voted the best Godzilla film by a panel of fans and judges, although it did poorly at the box office. Megumi Odaka reprises her role as telepath Miki Saegusa.
Catherine "Cady" Coleman, born December 14, 1960 in Charleston, South Carolina, has been into space three times. She received a B.S. in Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a PhD in polymer science and engineering from University of Massachusetts.
Her first trip into space was aboard Columbia (STS-73) as mission specialist in October-November 1995.
Her second trip was aboard Columbia (STS-93) as mission specialist in July 1999. The main objective of this mission was the Chandra X-Ray Observatory.
Her third and final flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-20 launched in December 2010 to the International Space Station. She was part of Expeditions 26 and 27. She returned to Earth in May 2011.
Gordo, a squirrel monkey was launched by the US Army December 13, 1958. His rocket reached an altitude of 500 km, but a "mechanical error" prevented the parachutes from opening upon re-entry. The rocket crashed into the south Atlantic Ocean and Gordo's body was never found.
Hazza Al Mansouri, born December 13, 1983 in the United Arab Emirates, is the first astronaut from that country. He went into space aboard Soyuz MS-15 on September 25, 2019 to the International Space Station. He returned 8 days later on Soyuz MS-12.
Kenneth Ham, born December 12, 1964 in Plainfield, New Jersey, is a veteran of two space shuttle missions.
His first flight was aboard Discovery (STS-124) as pilot in May-June 2008 to the International Space Station. The flight delivered the Japanese Experiment Module, a pressurized section that is the largest module of the space station.
His second flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-132) as commander in May 2010 to the ISS. It was the penultimate flight of Atlantis.
Godzilla made his 23rd appearance in a Toho Company film in Godzilla 2000, released in Japan December 11, 1999. Toho had not planned to make another Godzilla movie until 2004, the 50th anniversary of the first film, but after the travesty of the Roland Emmerich/Matthew Broderick remake in 1998, they decided to go ahead.
The G-Man reappears just as an alien spacecraft is hovering over Tokyo. Although Japanese military throw all their might against him, Godzilla comes to their rescue and saves the day.
One of the creepier episodes of the X-Files, Eve, aired December 10, 1993. It was more psychological thriller than anything. I like actress Harriet Harris, who is extremely versatile, playing a hilariously psychotic agent on the television show Frasier to a psycho on the X-Files.
Mulder and Scully are called to investigate to identical murders that happened at the exact same time, but on different coasts. While investigating, they realize the two victims each had a daughter and the girls are identical. Things get stranger from there, and takes the concept of "evil twin" to a new level.
David Duchovny starred as Mulder and Gillian Anderson as Scully.
Out of Touch, the single recorded by Daryl Hall and John Oates from their twelfth studio album Big Bam Boom, reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 December 8, 1984. The song also reached #1 on the Billboard Dance Club songs.
2010, the movie adaption of Arthur C. Clarke's sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey, was released December 7, 1984. The subtitle for 2010 was "The Year We Make Contact". It starred Roy Scheider, Dame Helen Mirren and John Lithgow. Keir Dullea reprised his role as David Bowman from 2001. Douglas Rains reprised his role as the voice of the HAL 9000 computer.
The movie is about a joint venture between the Soviet Union and the United States on a journey to Jupiter. They find a huge monolith, like the ones in 2001, orbiting Jupiter.
It was nominated for 5 Oscars. It won a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.
Although often campy, The Secrets of Isis, Saturday morning television show, always had a message for us youngsters. Episode 14 of Season 1, Scuba Duba, aired December 6, 1975. In this episode, a student of Rick Mason's decides that following safety protocols for scuba diving aren't for him. In the climax, he takes a dive by himself and ends up trapped underwater with his air running out. Isis comes to the rescue.
Dr. Norishige Kanai, born December 5, 1976 in Tokyo, Japan, went into space aboard Soyuz MS-07 to the International Space Station in December 2015. He was part of the crews for Expeditions 54 and 55. In July 2015, he participated as an aquanaut in the Aquarius underwater laboratory as part of the NEEMO 20 crew.
Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency launched the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft to the near-Earth asteroid 162173 Ryugu December 3, 2014. It rendezvoused with the asteroid in June 2018 and ejected two rovers to the surface in September 2018. It departed Ryugu in November 2019 and expected to return to Earth with samples in late 2020.
Front row (L-R): Guy Gardner, Vance Brand, John Lounge
Back row (L-R): Robert Parker, Ronald Parise, Jeffrey Hoffman, Samuel Durrance
Mission patch
Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-35), launched December 2, 1990, was devoted to astronomical observations. Its crew consisted of Commander Vance Brand, Pilot Guy Gardner, Jeffrey Hoffman, John Lounge, Robert Parker, Samuel Durrance, and Ronald Parise.
Konstantin Kozeyev, born December 1, 1967 in the former Soviet Union, went into space aboard Soyuz TM-33 in October 2001 as a flight engineer to the International Space Station. He spent almost 10 days on the station before returning to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-32.
