Happy birthday, cosmonaut Leonid Popov!

Leonid Popov, born August 31, 1945 in the Ukraine in the former Soviet Union, is a veteran of three Soyuz flights.  Selected as a cosmonaut in 1970, he flew his first mission on Soyuz 35 as commander in June 1980 to Salyut 6.  He returned to Earth on Soyuz 37 in October 1980.

His second flight was aboard Soyuz 40 as commander in May 1981 to Salyut 6.  It was a cooperation between the Soviet Union and Romania, with cosmonaut Dumitru Prunariu.  It was also the last flight of that type Soyuz spacecraft.

His third and final flight was as commander aboard Soyuz T-7 launched in August 1982 to Salyut 7.  Svetlana Savitskaya, the second woman in space, was also on board.  He returned to Earth on Soyuz T-5 later that month.

He has logged over 200 days in space.

Challenger (STS-8) launched 1983

STS-8 crew:

Seated (L-R): Daniel C. Brandenstein, Richard H. Truly, Guion S. Bluford, Jr., 

Standing (L-R): Dale A. Gardner, William E. Thornton

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-8), launched August 30, 1983, was the first night lift-off and night landing of the shuttle program.  Its crew consisted of Commander Richard Truly, Pilot Daniel Brandenstein, Guion Bluford, Dale Gardner, and William Thornton.

They deployed an Indian satellite INSAT-1B and it was the first flight for an African-American astronaut, Guy Bluford.

They returned to Earth September 5.

Edwin Starr's "War" reaches #1 1970

War was originally recorded by the Temptations but then Motown was pressured to release it as a single.  Songwriter Norman Whitfield (with Barrett Strong) re-recorded it with Edwin Starr and released it in June 1970.  It became a smash hit and reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of August 29, 1970 and stayed there for three weeks.

War, an anti-Vietnam War song, is the most successful song of Starr's career and is the best known protest song. 

Billboard ranked it as the No. 5 song for 1970.  Starr received a Grammy nomination for War in 1971 for Best R&B Male Vocal.  His version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

Discovery (STS-51-I) launched 1985

STS-51-I crew

Front row L-R: Joe Engle, Richard Covey

Back row L-R: James van Hoften, John Lounge, William Fisher

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-51-I), launched August 27, 1985, was the sixth flight for Discovery.  Its crew consisted of Commander Joe H. Engle, Pilot Richard Covey, James van Hoften, John Lounge and William Fisher. 

Fisher and van Hoften conducted two EVAs for a total of almost 12 hours.

They returned to Earth September 3.

"The War of the Worlds" released 1953

H. G. Wells' science-fiction classic novel (with some creative liberties), War of the Worlds, premiered on the big screen August 26, 1953.  It starred Gene Barry as Dr. Clayton Forrester (sound familiar?).

It was released within a generation of Orson Welles' iconic and panic-inducing radio broadcast in 1939.  It was the biggest science-fiction movie of the year.

It won an Academy Award for Best Effects, Special Effects and has been selected for preservation by the Library of Congress in its National Film Registry.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 named its main antagonist Dr. Clayton Forrester as an homage to the film.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Drew Feustel!

Andrew "Drew" Feustel, born August 25, 1965 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is an astronaut for NASA, a veteran of two space shuttle missions, and is currently commander of the International Space Station.

His first mission into space was aboard Atlantis (STS-125) in May 2009 as mission specialist.  It was the fifth servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.

His second mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-134) as mission specialist.  This was the next to last flight of the space shuttle program.

He is currently on his third mission and is commander of Expedition 56.  He blasted off on Soyuz MS-08 to the International Space Station, initially as part of Expedition 55.  He will return to Earth sometime this month.

Alan Parsons releases "A Valid Path" 2004

Alan Parsons released his fourth studio album, A Valid Path August 24, 2004, after splitting away from his group the Alan Parsons Project.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Dominic Antonelli!

Dominic "Tony" Antonelli, born August 23, 1967 in Detroit, Michigan, is a veteran of two space shuttle flights.

His first mission was aboard Discovery (STS-119) as pilot in March 2009.  During the mission, he used the ship's robotic arm to grapple the Orbiter Boom Sensor System to scan Discovery for damage from orbital debris.  One of his wake-up calls was Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd!
 
Antonelli's second flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-132) again as pilot in May 2010, the next to last mission of Atlantis.  Its primary payload was a Russian research module to the International Space Station.  His wake-up call during this mission was Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd!

"Bambi" released 1942

Everyone's favorite young-deer-growing-up movie, Bambi, debuted in movie theaters August 21, 1942.  At the time, it wasn't a money-maker but subsequent releases have boosted it to blockbuster status and made it one of the most beloved Disney movies ever.

Reading the trivia notes on imdb.com, it appears that the novel from which the movie is based, is totally NOT a children's book.  It is much darker with more deaths and gore.  Fortunately, Disney did not include such aspects and the result is a very G-rated film for all ages.

It was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Sound, Recording; Best Music, Original Song (for Love is a Song); and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedic Picture.

Happy birthday, French cosmonaut Jean Loup Chretien!

Jean-Loup Chretien, born August 20, 1938, is a French cosmonaut who has flown two Soyuz missions and one Space Shuttle flight.

His first mission was aboard Soyuz T-6 in June 1982 to Salyut 7.  It was the first time a Frenchman had flown in space.  He spent about a week in space before returning to Earth in early June.

His second mission was aboard Soyuz TM-7 in November 1988 to Mir.  He conducted an EVA with fellow cosmonaut Alexander Volkov, which lasted almost 6 hours.  He is the first non-American, non-Russian to walk in space.  He returned 24 days later aboard Soyuz TM-6.

His third and final mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-86) as mission specialist to Mir in September-October 1997.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Mike Massimino!

Mike Massimino, born August 19, 1962 in New York, is a veteran of two space shuttle flights and has appeared on the Big Bang Theory as himself!  How cool is that?!

His first mission was on Columbia (STS-109) as mission specialist in March 2002.  It was the fourth servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.  He conducted two EVAs for a total of 14 hours and 46 minutes.

His second and final flight was on Atlantis (STS-125) as mission specialist in May 2009.  During the mission, Massimino was the first person to 'tweet' from space.

Since then he has appeared on television as himself, most notably The Big Bang Theory.

"Godzilla 2000" released 2000

Godzilla 2000, released August 18, 2000 in the U.S., is the 23rd installment of Toho's Godzilla series, not counting the Matthew Broderick film, which doesn't really fit at all. 

In fact, it was the disappointment of the 1998 movie that prompted Toho to reboot the G-Man on their own, so they produced Godzilla 2000.  This isn't a favorite of mine and apparently it did not do much better than Broderick's version.  It ignored some of the continuity set in earlier Godzilla movies, since this one supposedly happens after the 1954 movie, as if the others never happened.

I like seeing Takehiro Murata in the lead role.  He's been in many Godzilla movies, some only as a cameo, so it was good to see him shine.

Soyuz TM-24 launched 1996

Soyuz TM-24 crew (L-R): Claudie Andre-Deshays, Valery Korzun, Aleksandr Kaleri

Mission patch

Soyuz TM-24, launched August 17, 1996, was the 27th expedition to Mir.  Its crew consisted of Commander Valery Korzun, Aleksandr Kaleri and Claudie Andre-Deshays, first French woman in space.

Andre-Deshays spent 16 days on Mir conducting biological and medical experiments before returning to Earth on Soyuz TM-23 in September 1996.

Korzun and Kaleri stayed for over 196 days and returned to Earth in March 1997.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Valery Ryumin!

Valery Ryumin, born August 16, 1939 in the former Soviet Union, is a veteran of three Soyuz missions and one Space Shuttle flight.

His first mission into space was aboard Soyuz 25 in October 1977 as Flight Engineer.  It was the first mission to new Salyut 6, but after five attempts failed at engaging docking latches, the trip was aborted.  This led to a new rule such that every crew had to have at least one non-rookie on board.

His second flight was aboard Soyuz 32 to Salyut 6, launched in February 1979.  Although he and Commander Vladimir Lyakhov docked successfully, the visiting crew did not. The Soviets decided to have Soyuz 32 returned to Earth with no one aboard, to serve as a replacement vehicle.  They returned to Earth on Soyuz 34 in August.

Just eight months later, Ryumin was back in space aboard Soyuz 35 to Salyut 6. He spent 185 days in space, setting a new record for the time.  He returned to Earth October 1980 on Soyuz 37.

His final mission into space was aboard Discovery (STS-91) in June 1998.  It was the final Space Shuttle mission to the Mir space Station.

He is married to fellow cosmonaut Yelena Kondakova. 

Sonny Carter, Space Shuttle astronaut, born 1947

Manley "Sonny" Carter, born August 15, 1947 in Macon, Georgia, went into space on Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-33) in November 1989, as mission specialist.

Carter died on April 5, 1991 in an airplane crash in Brunswick, Georgia.

Oklahoma: Where the Hate Comes Sweeping Down the Plain (Part 2)

In small, obscure, insignificant Achille, Oklahoma, school officials have closed school the past two days after parents, i.e. grown-ups or adults, threatened a 12 year-old transgender student. 

Among the comments, parents have called her 'it' and 'thing'.  They've called for her to be
stabbed or beaten.  One even went as far as to say:

“If he wants to be a female make him a female. A good sharp knife will do the job really quick.”

A list of those parents who made these nasty comments can be found at this link.

For the Fox News version:

http://www.kxii.com/content/news/Mother-of-transgender-Achille-ISD-7th-grader-shares-struggles-following-threats-490766611.html

Hayabusa releases first pictures of near-Earth asteroid Itokawa 2005

Near-Earth asteroid 25143 Itokawa

Hayabusa, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's space probe, sent back its first pictures of near-Earth asteroid Itokawa (officially 25143 Itokawa) August 14, 2005.  It wouldn't arrive in the vicinity of the asteroid until September 12 but it took some startling and interesting images. 

Near-Earth objects, such as Itokawa, are those small solar system bodies whose orbits can bring it into close proximity to Earth.  Itokawa is classified as a Potentially Hazardous Object (PHO), which means its orbit can bring it exceptionally close to Earth, and large enough to cause significant regional damage if it impacts Earth.

One small crater has been named Laurel, after Laurel, Maryland, just up the road from here, where APL/JHU is located.

JAXA has identified a number of surface features.

 Itokawa's largest rock, about 50 m long.

The Muses Sea - a uniquely smooth area on Itokawa's surface.

The Woomera Desert

Itokawa from a different angle.

Soyuz TM-28 launched 1998

Soyuz TM-28 crew (L-R):   Yuri Baturin, Gennady Padalka, Sergei Avdeyev

Soyuz TM-28 mission match

Soyuz TM-28, the 26th mission to the space station Mir, launched August 13, 1998.  Its crew consisted of Commander Gennady Padalka, Sergei Avdeyev and Yuri Baturin, who is the first Russian politician in space.

When Soyuz TM-28 returned to Earth in February 1999, Padalka was the only original crew member on board.  Flight Engineer Sergei Avdeyev stayed until August 1999, returning on Soyuz TM-29. 

Baturin stayed on Mir for about a week and a half, returning to Earth August 25 aboard Soyuz TM-27.

However, Padalka was not alone on his return trip.  Slovakian cosmonaut Ivan Bella returned on Soyuz TM-28 after a week stay on Mir.  He arrived on Soyuz TM-29 February 20.

Charles Brady, Space Shuttle astronaut, born 1951

Charles Brady Jr., born August 12, 1951, flew into space on Space Shuttle Columbia on mission STS-78 in June-July 1996.  He was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 1982 and qualified for mission specialist.

He died in July 2006 from self-inflicted wounds after suffering a long illness related to a severe type of arthritis. 

Happy birthday, Thor!

Uber-sexy Chris Hemsworth, born August 11, 1983, has starred in Marvel blockbuster movies as the Norse God of Thunder, Thor. He has also starred as George Kirk, father of James T., in the new Star Trek movies as well. 

He was born in Australia and that is where he started his television career.  His first big screen appearance was as George Kirk in Star Trek (2009). He has appeared in three Thor movies as the title character, and three Avengers movies.  He had a brief, uncredited appearance in Doctor Strange with Benedict Cumberbatch.

The Go-Go's release "Vacation" 1982

The Go-Go's released their second studio album Vacation August 11, 1982.  They were riding on a wave of success after the release of their first album Beauty and the Beat the year before.

The album reached #8 on the Billboard 200 and the single Vacation reached #8 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart.  The album has been certified gold in the U.S.

Billy Joel releases "River of Dreams" 1993

Billy Joel released River of Dreams, his twelfth and final studio album, August 10, 1993.  Christie Brinkley, his then-wife, painted the cover pic and Rolling Stone awarded it Best Album Cover of the Year.

The album was nominated for a Grammy, Album of the Year.  The single was nominated for Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance - Male.  The last category he lost to Sting, for If I Ever Lose My Faith in You.

It has been certified 5 x platinum in the U.S.

Lunar Orbiter 1 launched 1966

First picture of the Earth taken from the moon (Lunar Orbiter 1, 1966).

Lunar Orbiter 1, launched August 10, 1966, was the first American spacecraft to orbit the moon.  It first went into a 'parking orbit' around Earth.  About 4 days later, it entered an elliptical near-equatorial orbit around the moon. 

It took over 200 photographs, mostly medium resolution that covered more than 5 million square kilometers of the lunar surface.

It impacted the far side of the moon on October 29, 1966.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Roman Romanenko!

Roman Romanenko, born August 9, 1971 in the former Soviet Union, is a cosmonaut and a veteran of two expeditions on the International Space Station.  His father is cosmonaut Yuri Romanenko, a Soyuz and Mir cosmonaut.

Romanenko's first trip into space was aboard Soyuz TMA-15 to the ISS in May 2009, where he became part of Expeditions 20 and 21.  He was the third second-generation astronaut after Sergey Volkov and Richard Garriott. 

His second trip into space was aboard Soyuz TMA-07M in December 2012.  He was a member of Expeditions 34 and 35.  He conducted his first space walk during this mission.

He has since retired from Roscosmos.

Happy birthday, Svetlana Savitskaya, second woman in space!

Svetlana Savitskaya, born August 8, 1948 in Moscow, is the second woman in space, the first woman to go into space twice, and the first woman to perform an EVA.

Her first trip into space was aboard Soyuz T-7, in August 1982 to Salyut 7.  She stayed about 12 days on board and returned to Earth in Soyuz T-5.

Her second trip into space was aboard Soyuz T-12 to Salyut 7.  She performed an EVA for about 3 hours and 35 minutes, conducting welding exercises outside Salyut 7.  When NASA announced that Kathryn Sullivan would become the first woman to make an EVA, the Soviets assigned Savitskaya three weeks later to another short-term mission on Salyut 7.  She conducted her spacewalk on July 25, 1984, just 3 months before Sullivan made her historic EVA.  She returned to Earth July 29, after 12 more days in space.

Endeavour (STS-118) launched 2007

STS-118 crew (L-R): Richard Mastracchio, Barbara Morgan, Charles Hobaugh, Scott Kelly,  Tracy Caldwell, Dafydd Williams, Alvin Drew.

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-118), launched August 8, 2007 to the International Space Station, was the first flight of Endeavour since the Columbia disaster in 2003.  Its crew consisted of Commander Scott Kelly, Pilot Charles Hobaugh, Tracy Caldwell, Richard Mastracchio, Dafydd Williams, Barbara Morgan and Alvin Drew.

Barbara Morgan had trained as a backup to Christa McAuliffe as NASA's Teacher in Space, but that ended with the Challenger disaster.  However, when Morgan flew on STS-118, she was not considered a Mission Specialist Educator, but rather a Mission Specialist who had once been a teacher.  During the mission, she spoke to school children on Earth.

Four EVAs were conducted by Rick Mastracchio, Dafydd Williams and Clayton Anderson, who had arrived on the ISS with STS-117. 

They returned to Earth August 21.

Discovery (STS-85) launched 1997

STS-85 crew:

Seated (L-R): Kent Rominger, Curtis Brown

Standing (L-R): Robert Curbeam, Stephen Robinson, Nancy Jan Davis, Bjarni Tryggvason

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-85) blasted off August 7, 1997 with the first Icelandic-born astronaut, Bjarni Tryggvason, payload specialist.  The rest of the crew consisted of Commander Curtis Brown, Pilot Kent Rominger, Nancy Jan Davis, Robert Curbeam, and Stephen Robinson.  Tryggvason was an astronaut from the Canadian Space Agency. 

This was the fourth cooperative mission between the German Space Agency and NASA.  The crew returned to Earth August 19, a day later than scheduled due to fog at the Kennedy Space Center.

Happy birthday, Captain Philippa Georgiou!

Michelle Yeoh, born August 6, 1962 in Malaysia, has joined the elite ranks for Star Trek captains!  She stars in the latest Star Trek franchise: Star Trek: Discovery as Captain Philippa Georgiou. 

She won the Miss Malaysia beauty pageant in 1983 and won the crown of Queen of the Pacific (representing Malaysia).  She competed at the Miss World pageant on November 17.

Afterwards, she appeared in a TV commercial with Jackie Chan and began her acting career starring in martial arts films. 

She appeared in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in 2000, she earned a BAFTA nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

In 1997, People Magazine ranked her as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Winston Scott!

Winston Scott, born August 6, 1950 in Miami, Florida, is a veteran of two space shuttle missions.  He graduated from Coral Gables Senior High School and was considered one of the school's best trumpet players.

He completed flight training from the US Navy and has flown more than 20 different military and civilian aircraft and logged more than 5000 hours in flight.

His first mission into space was aboard Endeavour (STS-72) as mission specialist in January 1996.  He performed an EVA on January 17 with fellow astronaut Leroy Chiao for almost 7 hours.

His second flight was aboard Columbia (STS-87) November-December 1997 as mission specialist.  He performed two EVAs with astronaut Takao Doi for a total of almost 12 hours in space.  They are the first EVAs conducted by a Japanese astronaut.

He retired from NASA and the US Navy in July 1999.

Soyuz TM-26 launched 1997

Soyuz TM-26 crew (L-R): Anatoly Solovyev, Pavel Vinogradov

Soyuz TM-26 patch

Soyuz TM-26, launched August 5, 1997, was the 32nd expedition to Mir. Its crew consisted of Commander Anatoly Solovyev and Pavel Vinogradov.  They docked with Mir on August 7 and effected repairs on the station, such as repairing power cables and harnesses, and repairing and replacing oxygen generators. 

The returned to Earth February 19, 1998 with French cosmonaut Leopold Eyharts.

Phoenix Mars Lander launched 2007

The Phoenix, NASA's Mars lander, was launched August 4, 2007.  It landed on the Red Planet May 25, 2008 to search for microbial life and and to research the history of water.  Phoenix was the first successful landing in Mars' polar region. 

It completed its mission in August 2008 and made one last communication November 2, as the Martian winter approached.  Subsequent attempts to contact the lander via the Mars Odyssey orbiter failed and the mission concluded on May 12, 2010. 

The mission was considered to be successful since it completed all its tasks.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Michael McCulley!

Michael J. McCulley, born August 4, 1943, in San Diego, California, went into space aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-34) in October 1989.  He enlisted in the Navy after graduating from high school and served on a diesel-powered submarine and two nuclear-powered submarines.  He also received pilot training before being selected by NASA in May 1984.

He retired from NASA in 1990.

"Macarena" by Los Del Rio hits #1 1996

The Bayside Boys remix of Macarena by Los Del Rio reaches #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stays there for a record of 14 weeks.  It was originally recorded in 1992 and Los Del Rio recorded six versions.  It was released in the U.S. in 1995.

VH1 ranked it as #1 of the Greatest One-Hit Wonders of all Time.  Its record-setting run at #1 stayed in place for 15 years, when Adele's Rolling in the Deep surpassed it.

Georgy Shonin, Soyuz 6 cosmonaut, born 1935

Georgy Shonin, born August 3, 1935 in the former Soviet Union, was a cosmonaut who went into space on Soyuz 6, which was launched in October 1969.  The mission was part of a joint exercise with Soyuz 7 and Soyuz 8, the first time three Soviet spacecraft were in orbit at the same time.

Shonin left the space program in 1979 for medical reasons.

He passed away of a heart attack in 1997.

Happy birthday, Hungarian cosmonaut Bertalan Farkas!

Bertalan Farkas, born August 2, 1949 in Hungary, is the first Hungarian cosmonaut.  He went into space once aboard Soyuz 36 with fellow cosmonaut Valeri Kubasov in May 1980 to the Salyut 6 space station.  Farkas spent almost 8 days conducting experiments in material sciences.  They returned to Earth June 3, 1980 aboard Soyuz 35.

Hayabusa 2, Japanese space probe, arrived at asteroid Ryugu

Hayabusa 2, a Japanese space probe launched in December 2014, has arrived at the near-Earth object/asteroid Ryugu.  The probe will follow the asteroid for a few months, studying it to find possible landing sites for four small probes to touch down to explore the surface.

One of the probes, Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout, or MASCOT, was developed by the German Aerospace Center and Centre National d'études Spatiales (CNES). 

Hayabusa 2 will study the asteroid until December 2019, after which it will return to Earth with samples from the asteroid in December 2020.

Atlantis (STS-43) launched 1991

STS-43 crew (L-R): Shannon Lucid, James Adamson, John Blaha, David Low, Michael Baker

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-43), the ninth mission for this shuttle, was launched August 2, 1991 to deploy the fourth Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-5).  Its crew consisted of Commander John Blaha, Pilot Michael Baker, Shannon Lucid, David Low and James Adamson.

Other than the deployment of the TDRS-5, the crew remained busy with a variety of experiments throughout the nine-day mission.

They returned to Earth on August 11.