Kosmos 482, failed Venus probe, could crash to Earth this year

Launched in March 1972, Kosmos 482 is a Soviet probe to explore Venus but it failed to leave Earth's orbit.  Just four days prior, the Soviets launched Venera 8, which successfully reached Venus and sent back data for just over 50 minutes.

Kosmos 482 has been tracked ever since it launched and was originally expected to crash back to Earth between 2023 and 2025, but sky watchers have determined it could fall later this year, the problem is the probe was manufactured to survive the harsh conditions on Venus, temperatures in excess of 400° F, 100 atmospheres of pressure, and 300 g-force.  That means some of it could actually reach ground. 

Keep looking up!




https://www.space.com/failed-soviet-venus-spacecraft-falls-to-earth-soon.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosmos_482

Celebrating Black History Month: Halle Berry, first African-American to win Oscar for Best Actress

The most recent Academy Awards saw an unprecedented number of African-American winners, riding the strength of Black Panther, which was a totally awesome film.  But way back in 2002, Halle Berry became the first African-American woman to take home the Oscar for Best Actress, for her performance in the movie Monster's Ball.

Born August 14, 1966 in Cleveland, Ohio, she won Miss Teen All-American Pageant in 1985, representing Ohio.  She was the first runner-up in the Miss U.S.A pageant in 1986.  She started modeling which led to her acting career.  Her performance in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever was her big screen breakthrough. 

The year before Monster's Ball, she appeared as Storm (first African-American female superhero) in the X-Men movie series, playing in four movies.

Soyuz 32 launched 1979

Soyuz 32 crew: Vladimir Lyakhov, Valery Ryumin

Mission patch

Soyuz 32, launched February 25, 1979, was the seventh successful mission to space station Salyut 6.  Its crew consisted of Commander Vladimir Lyakhov and Valery Ryumin.  They set a record at the time for longest duration in space, 175 days.

A visiting crew (Soyuz 33) failed to dock to Salyut 6, so the cosmonauts had no visitors during their stay.  They returned to Earth June 13.

Celebrating Black History Month: Hiram Rhodes Revels, first African-American U.S. Senator

Hiram Rhodes Revels, born September 27, 1827 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, became the first African-American senator when he was elected February 25, 1870, representing the State of Mississippi.  During the Civil War, he organized two regiments of the United States Colored Troops and acted as chaplain.

In 1869 he was elected to the Mississippi State Senate representing Adams County.  In 1870, he was elected by the state senate to finish the term of a U.S. senator which had been vacant since the Civil War.  His election was opposed by southern Democrats, but on February 25, 1870, he was elected by a vote of 48 to 8. 

He served for one year until March 3, 1871 and worked for equality during his term.  He passed away in January 1901 in Aberdeen, Mississippi.

Celebrating Black History Month: Jesse Owens, African-American athlete extraordinaire

Jesse Owens, born September 12, 1913 in Oakville, Alabama, is recognized as one of the greatest track and field athletes in history.  He set three world records in the span of forty five minutes during the Big Ten track meet in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1935.

He won four gold medals at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany: 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump and 4 x 100 meter relay.  His achievements made him the most successful athlete at the games. 

The street outside the Olympic Stadium in Berlin has been named Jesse Owens Boulevard and the dormitory where he stayed during the games has been restored into a living museum with pictures of his accomplishments.

He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Gerald Ford, the Living Legend Award by President Jimmy Carter, has an asteroid named after him (6758 Jesseowens), and inducted into the inaugural class of the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.

Owens died in March 1980 from an agressive, drug-resistant type of lung cancer.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut James Bagian!

 

James Bagian, born February 22, 1952 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a veteran of two space shuttle flights.  He received his Doctorate of Medicine from Thomas  Jefferson University in 1977.  He is the first astronaut of Armenian descent to travel into space.

His first flight was aboard Discovery (STS-29) as mission specialist in March 1989.  The mission's main goal was the deployment of part of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite.

His second and final flight was aboard Columbia (STS-40) as mission specialist in June 1991.   It was the fifth dedicated SpaceLab mission, dedicated solely to life sciences experiments.

Celebrating Black History Month: Jessica Watkins, new African-American astronaut

Jessica Watkins, born May 14, 1988 over here in Gaithersburg, Maryland, is a new astronaut candidate for NASA.  She got her Bachelor's Degree in geology and environmental sciences from Stanford University and her PhD from University of California, Los Angeles.

She has been involved many projects relating to the study and exploration of Mars including collaborating on the Mars Curiosity rover.  She was selected as an astronaut candidate and started her two-year astronaut training in August 2017.

Columbia (STS-75) launched 1996

STS-75 crew

Seated (L-R): Scott Horowitz, Andrew Allen, Franklin Chang-Diaz

Standing (L-R): Maurizio Cheli, Umberto Guidoni, Jeffrey Hoffman, Claude Nicollier

STS-75 mission patch

Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-75), launched February 22, 1996, carried the Tethered Satellite System Reflight (TSS-1R) into orbit.  Its crew consisted of Commander Andrew Allen, Pilot Scott Horowitz, Jeffrey Hoffman, Maurizio Cheli (ESA), Claude Nicollier (ESA), Franklin Chang-Diaz, and Umberto Guidoni (Italian Space Agency).

The crew planned to deploy the tether to 20.7 km, but the tether broke when over 19 km were deployed.  The porous material, which made up the innermost core, contained trapped bubbles of air at atmospheric pressure.  In space, the air bubbles began to escape and changed the electrical conductivity of the tether, which essentially melted.

They returned to Earth March 9.

Celebrating Black History Month: Shirley Chisholm, first African-American woman to be elected to U.S. Congress

Shirley Chisholm, born November 30, 1924 in New York City, is the first black woman to be elected to the United States Congress.  She was a Democratic member of the New York State Assembly from 1965-1968 and pushed for more black representation on key committees in the Assembly.

She ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1968 representing New York's 12th congressional district, which includes parts of Manhattan.  Her campaign slogan was "Unbought and unbossed".

In 1972, she announced that she would run for president, becoming the first black major party candidate to run for that office.  She did not win the nomination, but she did manage to obtain a lot of support, even though most of it were protest votes against McGovern.

She retired from Congress in 1983 and then moved to Florida in 1991.  She passed away in January 2005.

Dolly Parton's "9 To 5" reaches #1 1981

Goddess of country and pop music Dolly Parton successfully makes her crossover debut with her son 9 to 5, which rose to #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs in January and Billboard Hot 100 on February 21, 1981. She wrote for the movie of the same name with Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda.  Dolly became the second woman to top both country singles and Hot 100 with the same song.  (Jeannie C. Riley was the first in 1968 with Harper Valley PTA.)

It got her an Oscar nomination and four Grammy nominations.  She won for Best Country Song and Best Country Vocal Performance, Female.  It has become an anthem for office workers across the U.S.  American Film Institute rated it #78 on its "100 years, 100 songs" list.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov!

Cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, born February 20, 1972 in Sevastopol, Ukraine, is a veteran of three space flights to the International Space Station.  He has served as an instructor and pilot for the Russian Air Force.

His first flight was as commander of Soyuz TMA-22, which launched in November 2011 and returned to Earth in April 2012.  He served as flight engineer for Expeditions 29 and 30.  He made on EVA during the mission with fellow cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, which lasted 6 hours, 15 minutes.

His second flight was as commander of Soyuz TMA-15M, launched in November 2014 and returned to Earth June 2015 after 199 days in space. Shkaplerov's total time in space was up to 365 days.  He was part of Expeditions 42 and 43.

His third flight was as commander of Soyuz MS-07, launched in December 2017 and returned to Earth in June 2018 after 166 days.  He participated in Expeditions 54 and 55.  He performed another EVA with fellow cosmonaut and Expedition 54 commander Alexander Misurkin, which lasted 8 hours, 13 minutes, the longest Russian spacewalk ever.

Celebrating Black History Month: Falcon and Storm, first African-American superheroes

Marvel Comics introduced the first African-American superheroes to appear in mainstream comics  during the Bronze Age of comics. 

The Falcon (Sam Wilson) first appeared in Captain America #117 in September 1969.  He has mechanical wings to help him fly and possesses limited telepathic and empathic control over birds.  He was born in Harlem in New York City to Paul and Darlene Wilson.  He discovers he has a natural affinity for birds and creates the largest pigeon coop in Harlem.  His father is killed when Sam is 9 trying to break up a neighborhood fight.  His mother is killed two years later when she is mugged.  He moves to LA and becomes a career criminal and gang member.  On his way to Brazil, his plane crashes on Exile Island, which has been taken over by neo-Nazis bent on taking over the world. 

The Red Skull uses the Cosmic Cube to fuse Wilson with a falcon Redwing in a super-human mental link, but he is befriended by Captain America.  They train together until they are ready to overthrow the Exiles.  He becomes The Falcon and fights along side with Captain America.  The Black Panther gives him the harness with wings that allows him to fly.


Storm (Ororo Munroe) first appeared in Giant Sized X-Men #1 in May 1975.  She has the ability to control the weather which makes her one of the most powerful superheroes.  She was born in Harlem to an American photojournalist and a tribal princess from Kenya.  Her parents are killed in a bomb attack in Cairo during the Arab-Israeli conflict.  She grows up as a thief and pickpocket on the streets of Cairo. 

When her mutant powers manifested themselves, she was worshiped in Kenya as a weather goddess.  Professor X (Charles Xavier) convinces her to join the X-Men.  She was briefly married to T'Challa, the Black Panther. 

Celebrating Black History Month: Toni Morrison, first African-American woman to win Nobel Prize

Toni Morrison, born February 18, 1931 in Lorain, Ohio, is the first African-American woman to win a Nobel Prize.  She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993 for her Beloved trilogy.  The first novel Beloved, released in 1988 and she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. 

The second novel in the trilogy, Jazz, was released in 1992 and the following year she won the Nobel Prize in Literature even before the third novel was released.

In 2008, she was nominated for a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album for Children.

Happy birthday, Skylab astronaut Joseph Kerwin!

Joseph Kerwin, born February 19, 1932 in Oak Park, Illinois, went into space aboard Skylab 2.  He received a Doctor of Medicine degree from Northwestern University Medical School in 1957 and became a naval flight surgeon in 1958.

NASA selected him as an astronaut in 1965, the first physician to selected for astronaut training.  He launched aboard Skylab 2 as science pilot May 25, 1973 and returned to Earth June 22.  He performed one EVA during the mission with fellow astronaut Pete Conrad lasting 3 hours, 25 minutes.

Happy birthday, Styx rocker Dennis DeYoung!

Dennis DeYoung, born February 18, 1947 in Chicago, Illinois, is a founding member of the awesome rock band Styx, as well as their primary lead vocalist and keyboardist up until June 1999, when he left the band.  He wrote 7 of 8 of the band's Billboard Top 10 singles.

Styx found themselves in a state of limbo after Tommy Shaw left the band in 1984, so DeYoung went solo from 1984-89.  Styx reunited in 1990 and released Edge of the Century, with Show Me the Way, written by DeYoung being the biggest selling single from the album.

DeYoung tried his hand at acting between 1993-95.  He reunited with Styx in 1995 but left again in 1999 (this time for good) due to the musical and personal differences that had plagued the band in the early 1980s.

Celebrating Black History Month: Clarence Muse, early African-American film star

Clarence Muse, born October 14, 1889 in Baltimore, Maryland, was an African-American actor, screenwriter, director, and composer.  According to wikipedia.com, he was the first African-American to 'star' in a film.  He began acting in Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s.

He moved to Chicago and then on to Hollywood where he appeared first The Custard Nine (1921) and in Election Day (1929), an Our Gang short, silent comedy.  He then starred in Hearts in Dixie, the first all-black movie. 

In 1943, he became the first African-American Broadway director for Run Little Chillun.  he appeared in more than 150 films, most of them he is uncredited.  Probably the only movie of his I've seen was The World's Greatest Athlete.

Celebrating Black History Month: "Baby" Esther Jones, the real Betty Boop

Esther Jones, stage name "Baby Esther" was an African-American singer/entertainer in the late 1920s, performing at places such as the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York. She is credited for being the inspiration for Betty Boop.  Jones was known for her 'baby' style of singing.

.In August 1930, animator Max Fleischer introduced Betty Boop in a cartoon Dizzy Dishes. Initially, singer Helen Kane (who is white) sued, claiming that Fleischer Studios had stolen her act to create Betty Boop.  The results of the suit found that Kane had actually stolen her act from Baby Esther.

Donna Summer wins 2 Grammys for "Last Dance" 1979

The Queen of Disco Donna Summer won two Grammys for her single Last Dance, February 15, 1979.  She won Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female and Best R&B Song.

Last Dance was released on the soundtrack to the movie Thank God, It's Friday, which was released in July 1978.

This was the same night Billy Joel won Grammys for Record of the Year and Song of the Year for Just the Way You Are.

Cosmonaut Aleksandr Serebrov born 1944

Aleksandr Serebrov, born February 15, 1944 in Moscow, Russia, is a veteran of four space flights.  He is one of the few people to fly for both the Soviet and Russian space programs. 

His first mission was aboard Soyuz T-7, launched in August 1982 as Flight Engineer to Salyut 7.  He returned two and half weeks later aboard Soyuz T-5. 

His second mission was aboard Soyuz T-8 as Flight Engineer to Salyut 7 in April 1983.  Unfortunately, the spacecraft failed to dock with the space station and returned to Earth two days later.

His third trip was aboard Soyuz TM-8 in September 1989 to Mir as part of expedition Mir EO-5 with fellow cosmonaut Aleksandr Viktorenko.  They remained in space for 166 days before returning to Earth in February 1990.

Serebrov's fourth and final flight was aboard Soyuz TM-17, launched in July 1993 to Mir with fellow cosmonaut Vasili Tsibliyev.  They remained in space for almost 197 days and returned to Earth in January 1994.

He passed away in November 2013.

Celebrating Black History Month: Andrea Jenkins, first African-American transgender woman elected to public office

Andrea Jenkins, born 1961 in Chicago, Illinois, is the first African-American transgender woman to be elected to public office in the U.S.  She attended the University of Minnesota and afterwards was hired by the Hennepin County government where she worked for ten years.

She worked as an aide for Robert Lilligren who sat on the Minneapolis City Council for four years.  Then she went to work for Elizabeth Glidden when she was elected to the city council.  When Glidden announced she would not run for reelection, Jenkins announced she would run to represent Minneapolis' 8th Ward on the city council.  She won the election on November 7, 2017 with more than 70% of the vote.

NEAR Shoemaker enters orbit around Eros 2000

Launched February 17, 1996, the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous - Shoemaker (NEAR Shoemaker) entered orbit around the asteroid Eros February 14, 2000.  It is the first time a spacecraft had achieved orbit around an asteroid.

A year later, on February 12, 2001, NEAR Shoemaker touched down on the surface of Eros. It transmitted data until February 28 when the last signals were received.  NASA tried to communicate with the spacecraft on December 10, 2002 but was unsuccessful.

Celebrating Black History Month: Harry A. Cole, first African-American state senator for Maryland

Harry Cole, born January 21, 1921 in Washington, DC, was the first African-American ever elected to the Maryland Senate and the first African-American to serve on the Maryland Court of Appeals.  He was valedictorian of his graduating class from Morgan State College with a Bachelor of Arts.  After serving in the U.S. Army, he studied law at the University of Maryland and was admitted to the Maryland Bar in 1949.

He was elected to the Maryland State Senate in 1955 and served until 1966. 

He passed away in Baltimore February 14, 1999.

NASA rover Opportunity has completed its mission

The little rover that could, Opportunity, has reached the end of its record-setting mission.  Launched in July 2003, Opportunity was meant to last only three months and travel only about 1000 meters, but it exceeded its life expectancy and went for almost 15 years.  It traveled more than 28 miles.  It made its way into Perseverance Valley, its final resting place. 

It set a one-day Mars driving record by traveling 721 feet and returned more than 217,000 images.  Opportunity got trapped in a sand ripple but NASA managed to free it by putting in reverse and gunning it. 

Last year, a planet-wide dust storm passed over it.  Before the storm, Opportunity signaled that its batteries were running low.  Afterwards, NASA tried a thousand commands to restore contact but to no avail.  Its last communication was received June 10.

Celebrating Black History Month: Edward Boyd, African-American advertising executive for Pepsi

Edward Boyd, born June 27, 1914, was an advertising executive for Pepsi-Cola and responsible for marketing products specifically to African-Americans.  This was a time when Jim Crow laws were still in effect and blacks were discriminated, mocked or ignored in advertising.  Businesses could be attacked if it was discovered they sold products to the African-American community.

His efforts allowed Pepsi to substantially increase market share to the detriment of Coca-Cola.  He assembled a sales team of African-Americans to travel around the country to promote Pepsi.  Racial discrimination and hatred were rampant and the salesmen faced racial barriers constantly.  They attacked Coke's reluctance to hire blacks and Coke chairman's support of segregationist Herman Talmadge (Georgia Governor at the time).

After the sales team visited Chicago, Pepsi's share overtook Coke for the first time.

Donald Williams, Space Shuttle astronaut, born 1942

Donald Williams, born February 13, 1942, was a veteran of two space shuttle flights.  He earned his Bachelor's of Science in Mechanical Engineering and received a commission through the Naval ROTC both from Purdue University.

His first flight was on Discovery (STS-51-D) as pilot in April 1985.  During the mission, he became the first person to juggle in microgravity!

His second and final flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-34) as commander in October 1989. The Galileo spacecraft to Jupiter was deployed during this mission.

Williams passed away in February 2016.

Celebrating Black History month: Victor Glover, African-American astronaut

Victor Glover, born April 30, 1976 in Pomona, California, is an astronaut for NASA.  He hasn't been into space yet but is scheduled to travel to the International Space Station as part of Expedition 62, which will probably launch sometime in 2020.

He was scheduled to fly to the ISS on the first mission of the SpaceX Crew Dragon as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Development Program but that flight has been postponed.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle and Soyuz astronaut Rick Mastracchio!

Richard "Rick" Mastracchio, born February 11, 1960 in Waterbury, Connecticut, is a veteran of three space shuttle flights and one trip on a Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station. 

His first flight into space was aboard Atlantis (STS-106) as mission specialist in September 2000 to the ISS.  He operated the Canadarm to move fellow astronauts Ed Lu and Yuri Malenchenko as they performed assembly work on the station.

His second flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-118) as mission specialist in August 2007 to the International Space Station.  During the mission he conducted three EVAs, totaling over 18 hours. 

Mastracchio's third flight was aboard Discovery (STS-131) as mission specialist in April 2010 to the ISS.  He conducted 3 EVAs with fellow astronaut Clayton Anderson totaling around 20 1/2 hours.

His fourth and final flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-11M which launched in November 2013 as part of Expeditions 38 and 39.  He performed three EVAs (must be his lucky number!) and returned to Earth in May 2014.

Celebrating Black History Month: Parren Mitchell, first African-American representative from Maryland

Parren Mitchell, born April 29, 1922 in Baltimore, Maryland, became the first African-American Representative from Maryland.  After high school, he joined the U.S. Army in 1942 as a commissioned officer and company commander in the all-black 92nd Infantry Division in WWII.  He earned a Purple Heart for his service in Italy.

In 1950, he sued the University of Maryland for admission and became the school's first African-American graduate student, with a MA in sociology in 1952.

He was elected to Congress in the election in 1970 and sworn into Congress in 1971.  He served until 1987.

In 1977, he proposed transferring $15M from the military budget for programs to increase employment in the U.S. He is quoted as saying,

“I have no great fear of the Soviet Union or China,” Mitchell remarked. “If this democracy should ever fail it will come from within because of the enormous disparity between the rich and the poor.”

His words are applicable now more than ever.

Book review - "Final Chance" by David Sullivan

I’m always glad when my friend David Sullivan releases a new story.  His most recent novel Final Chance takes place in the year 2027 after a devastating plague, the N-virus, has killed 85% of the world’s population.  Travis bikes from Seattle to a small town in Oregon to reunite with his grandfather.  The rest of their family died and they are the only two left.

A nearby house catches fire and the three siblings, Winston and his sisters, living in it have to move in with Travis and his grandfather.  Travis and Winston hit it off and soon become lovers.  Together they have to protect their families and survive in a post-apocalyptic world with no infrastructure or law enforcement. 

The only problem with Sullivan’s story is the editing, which I have addressed with him.  Other than that, it’s a good story with great characters.  It kept my interest and I finished it in a short amount of time.  I would have like to see a little more development in their situation, such as Travis and Winston discovering more people alive and thriving, and can start re-building a community. 

Maybe a sequel?

Here is the link to purchase Final Chance:

https://www.amazon.com/Final-Chance-David-Sullivan-ebook/dp/B07KFYM7V5/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1549842130&sr=1-1&keywords=Final+Chance+David+Sullivan

Book review - "Demon of the Air" by Simon Levack

I really enjoyed this book.  This is another one that I picked up in hopes of finding another series to follow and I found one.  Levack’s novel Demon of the Air is set in 1517 in Mexico in the Aztecan capital Tenochtitlan, where Emperor Montezuma resides.

In the first chapter, Levack exhibits a dark humor as the main character Yaotl, the Chief Minister’s slave, goes about the ho-hum practice of human sacrifice, with a nonchalance as we would an every day task.  The mystery begins as the sacrifice victim Yaotl and his friend Handy brought for the Chief Minister escapes from their grasp.  They chase him but he utters a strange prophecy before leaping to his death.

First, the Chief Minister wants to know why his sacrifice got away.  Second, he wants to know what the prophecy means.  Third, he wants to know why all the sorcerers in the city have disappeared.

Yaotl has few friends in the city and is estranged from his family, as a result of being dishonorably discharged from being a priest.  He has to forge new alliances and mend bridges to solve the mystery.

Levack introduces each character by their Aztec name but then uses the English translation, such as Curling Mist and Black Feathers. 

The novel is fast paced and keeps the reader’s interest.  I found it easy to follow the story although I am not at all familiar with the Aztec culture.  Levack brings out their culture beautifully and it is very entertaining. I look forward to reading more of his work.

The Twilight Zone episode "Twenty-two" airs 1961

One of my most favorite episodes of the Twilight Zone, Twenty-two aired February 10, 1961.  The story follows Liz Powell, a professional dancer who is in the hospital suffering from nervous fatigue.  She has a recurring nightmare, where she wakes up in the middle of the night, the clock on the wall is ticking loudly.  She reaches for a glass of water but knocks it on the floor instead, breaking it.  Just after, she hears footsteps passing by her door.  She looks out of her room and sees a nurse walking to the elevator, taking it to the basement.  Liz follows her and finds the morgue, Room 22.  The nurse appears from the morgue and says, "Room for one more, honey." Liz screams hysterically and runs back to her room.

That's all I'm going to say because the ending was a surprise to me the first time I saw it.  Which is why it's one of my favorites.

Barbara Nichols plays the tormented Liz Powell.  Jonathan Harris of Lost in Space fame plays the doctor.  Arlene Martel, who later went on to play Mr. Spock's wife T'pring in an episode of Star Trek, is the sinister nurse.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Garrett Reisman!

Garrett Reisman, born February 10, 1968 in Morristown, New Jersey, is a veteran of two space shuttle flights and two expeditions aboard the International Space Station.

He served as an aquanaut in the Aquarius underwater laboratory as part of expedition NEEMO 5 mission in June 2003.

His first flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-123) as flight engineer, launched March 2008 to the ISS. He was part of Expedition 16 and 17 and returned to Earth in October 2008 on Discovery (STS-124). During this mission, Stephen Colbert interviewed Reisman in May on an episode of The Colbert Report.

His second and final flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-132) as mission specialist in May 2010.  He conducted 2 of the 3 EVAs during the mission.  Reisman also helped design the mission patch working with NASA Sean Collins.

"Breathless" is featured in this weekend's Gay-Mystery-Thriller authors group on Facebook!

My first Corey Shaw novel Breathless is highlighted in the Facebook group "Gay-Mystery-Thriller Author's" group this weekend!  It's a closed group but you can see the featured post here:


http://www.jonmichaelsen.net/?p=3743

Celebrating Black History Month: Lloyd Ferguson, first African-American to receive a doctorate in chemistry

Lloyd Noel Ferguson, born February 9, 1918, is the first African-American to receive a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 1943.  He took a faculty position at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College and then moved to Howard University about two years later.  There he founded the doctoral program, the first at any black college.

In the 1960s, he became an advisory to the Food and Drug Administration.  In 1972, he became one of  the founders of  the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE).

He retired in 1986 and passed away in 2011.

Endeavour (STS-130) launched 2010

STS-130 mission patch

Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-130), launched February 8, 2010, was the 10th flight of Endeavour to the International Space Station. Its crew consisted of Commander George Zamka, Pilot Terry Virts, Kathryn Hire, Stephen Robinson, Nicholas Patrick and Robert Behnken.

Patrick and Behnken performed 3 EVAs during the mission for a total of 18 1/2 hours.

They returned to Earth on February 22.

Celebrating Black History Month: William Carney, first African-American awarded Medal of Honor

William Harvey Carney, born February 29, 1840 in Norfolk, Virginia, is the first African-American to be awarded the Medal of Honor.  During the Battle of Fort Wagner in March 1863, while serving in the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, their color guard was killed.  Carney retrieved the U.S. flag, keeping it from hitting the ground.  He continued  to march forward with it despite being shot in the arm and the leg.

He received an honorable discharge in June 1864 due to becoming disabled from his wounds.  Since his heroic actions preceded those of other medal honorees, he is considered to be the first black man to receive the Medal of Honor, which he received in May 1900, thirty seven years after his actions.

He passed away in 1908.

Atlantis (STS-98) launched 2001

STS-98 crew (L-R): Robert Curbeam, Mark Polansky, Marsha Ivins, Kenneth Cockrell and Thomas Jones

STS-98 Mission patch

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-98), launched February 7, 2001, was the first flight of the twenty-first century.  Its crew consisted of Commander Kenneth Cockrell, Pilot Mark Polansky, Robert Curbeam, Marsha Ivins and Thomas Jones.  The mission delivered the Destiny Laboratory Module to the International Space Station and was installed during three EVAs by Tom Jones and Robert Curbeam. 

They returned to Earth February 20.

Celebrating Black History Month: Verda Welcome, first African-American woman elected to a state senate

Verda Mae Freeman Welcome was born March 18, 1907 in North Carolina and in 1962, became the first black woman in the U.S. to be elected to a senate seat.  She moved to Baltimore in 1929 and graduated from Coppin State Teachers College in 1932.  She received her BS from Morgan State College in 1939 and her Master's Degree from New York University in 1943.  She taught school in Baltimore from 1934 and 1945.

She was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates to represent the Fourth District of Baltimore (the first black woman to hold that position) for three years.  In 1962, she was elected to the state senate. 

She worked toward eliminating racial segregation laws, in place since slavery was legal. 

She passed away in April 1990 in Baltimore.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper!

Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, born February 7, 1963 in St. Paul, Minnesota, is a veteran of two space shuttle flights.  She obtained the rank of Captain in the US Navy.

Her first mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-115) as mission specialist in September 2006.  She conducted two EVAs during the mission for a total of 12 hours and 8 minutes.

She then commanded the 12th expedition to NASA's Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO 12) in the Aquarius underwater laboratory in May 2007.

Her second and final flight was as mission specialist on Endeavour (STS-126) in November 2008.  She participated in three of four EVAs during the flight, which brought her total time in EVA to 33 hours and 42 minutes. 

"Witness for the Prosecution" released 1957

Agatha Christie's classic play Witness for the Prosecution was released into movie theaters February 6, 1957.  Billy Wilder directed the film which starred Marlene Dietrich, Tyrone Power, Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester. 

True to form, Christie's story has plot twists and surprises plenty.  Leonard Vole (Tyrone Power) is accused of murdering a rich widow, although he himself is married to Christine Vole (Marlene Dietrich).  Things don't look good for him until his lawyer Sir Wilfrid Robarts (Charles Laughton) is given some damning evidence by a strange woman.

The movie was nominated for 6 Academy Awards and 5 Golden Globes.  Elsa Lanchester won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress.

Laughton made an appearance at the end of the movie's trailer (below) telling people not to reveal the ending, which nobody sees coming. 

Celebrating Black History Month: Franklin, first African-American character in Peanuts

I usually avoid posting about fictional characters for Black History Month, but Franklin, the first African-American character to appear in the Peanuts comic strip by Charles M. Schulz, was a gutsy move, given the climate in the 1960s.  Franklin first appeared on July 31, 1968:

He and Charlie Brown became good friends but Franklin found some of Charlie Brown's other friends to be strange, i.e. Linus telling him about the Great Pumpkin.

Harriet Glickman, a school teacher in LA wrote to Schulz in April 1968 urging him to include a black character into the strip.  Schulz initially worried that it would be perceived as patronizing to the African-American community, but Glickman assured him that it would help normalize friendships between children of different ethnicities. 

Some of the strips featuring Franklin did tend to border on racist or stereotypical but never in a negative fashion.  Franklin has always been one of the coolest, level-headed, even-keeled character in the entire series.  He is a dancer, musician and a rapper.

It was Franklin's grandfather who said: "Once you get over the hill, all you can do is pick up speed."

Lunar Orbiter 3 launched 1967

Lunar Orbiter 3, launched February 5, 1967, was a lunar orbiter sent to photograph possible landing sites for the Surveyor and Apollo programs.  It entered lunar orbit on February 8 and began taking pictures until March 2.  A problem with the film advance mechanism led to photographs being transmitted earlier than planned but the mechanism broke down March 4.

It remained in orbit for tracking purposes until October when it was purposely crashed on the moon.

Celebrating Black History Month: Lloyd Quarterman, Manhattan Project chemist

Lloyd Quarterman, born May 31, 1918 in Philadelphia, earned his Bachelor's Degree in chemistry from St. Augustine's College in Raleigh, North Carolina.  He was hired as chemist on the Manhattan Project during WWII with Albert Einstein and Enrico Fermi.  His chief responsibility was developing a system for purifying large quantities of hydrogen fluoride.  HF would  then be used to separate Uranium-235 for atomic bombs.  The U-235 accumulated was used to make Little Boy, the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

He worked at Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago for 30 years. 

He passed away in July 1982.

American Bandstand 25th Anniversary Show 1977, Monster Jam!

American Bandstand celebrated its 25th anniversary February 4, 1977 with host Dick Clark and a monster jam finale performing Chuck Berry's Roll Over, Beethoven.  It featured among many others, Charlie Daniels, Seals and Croft, Greg Allman and my girls, the Pointer Sisters!

Celebrating Black Pride Month: J. C. Watts, first African-American US Representative from Oklahoma

Julius Caesar "J. C." Watts, born in Eufala, Oklahoma 1957, is the first African-American U.S. Representative from Oklahoma.  He represented the 4th Congressional District (south-central) from 1995 to 2003.  He played football at OU and was starting quarterback in 1979 and led them to two Orange Bowl victories.  He then played for the Canadian Football League until 1986.

Watts was elected to the Oklahoma Corporation Commission in 1990, being the first African-American to win a statewide office in Oklahoma.