Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawai'ian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Gary Locke, first Chinese American governor

Gary Locke, born January 21, 1950 in Seattle, Washington, is the first Asian American to become the governor of state in the continental US. His father was born in Taishan, China and moved to the US in 1931.

He attended Yale University, graduating with a BA in political science in 1972. He obtained his Juris Doctor from Boston University School of Law in 1975.  In  1996, He won the general election for governor of Washington, becoming the first Chinese American governor in US history. Locke was re-elected in 2000, but declined a run for a third term.

In March 2009, he was sworn in as President Obama's Secretary of Commerce.  Locke became US Ambassador to China in 2011.  He stepped down as ambassador in November 2013 to spend more time with his family.

"Apollo 13" wins two Academy Awards 1996

Ron Howard's space masterpiece Apollo 13 was nominated for a whopping 9 Academy Awards, but went home with two at the 68th annual ceremony held March 25, 1996.  It won Best Film Editing for Mike Hill and Daniel P. Hanley, and Best Sound for Rick Dior, Steve Pederson, Scott Millan, and David MacMillan.

It received nominations for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor for Ed Harris, Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published, Best Original Dramatic Score, Best Art Direction, and Best Visual Effects.  Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and Gary Sinise did not get nominated for their performances in Apollo 13.  The movie was based on the book Lost Moon by Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger.

Pocahontas went two-for-two that night, winning Best Original Musical or Comedy Score and Best Original Song for Colors of the Wind; Music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. 

The X-Files wins 5 Primetime Emmys 1996

The X-Files won five Primetime Emmys at the untelevised portion of the ceremony held September 7, 1996. It had been nominated for three more.

Two episodes won two awards each.  Episode Nisei won Outstanding Sound Editing for a Drama Series, and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series.  Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose won for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for Peter Boyle, and Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.

Episode Grotesque won for Outstanding Cinematography.

The X-Files were nominated for Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Gillian Anderson.  Episode Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space' was nominated for Outstanding Art Direction for a Drama Series.  

Mars Global Surveyor launched 1996

The Mars Global Surveyor, launched November 7, 1996, was a successful NASA project that mapped the surface of Mars, helping future missions identify potential landing sites. It traveled about 10 months to Mars, reaching it in September 1997.

It began its primary mapping phase in April 1999, after a series of aerobraking maneuvers to get it into an optimum orbit.

Its mission was extended in February 2001, and it was extended a second time in February 2002.  In October 2006, its mission was extended a third time for another two years, but in November it suffered an error attempting to reorient a solar panel.  A few days later, NASA detected a weak signal that it had gone into 'safe' mode and was waiting for instructions.  Attempts to re-establish contact with the probe failed and NASA officially ended the mission in January 2007.

Millennium TV series promo starring Lance Henriksen

MillenniuM, a spin-off from the X-files, debuted October 25, 1996.  It featured Lance Hendriksen as Frank Black, a former FBI profiler with a "gift" that he could see into the mind of the killer.  MillenniuM had a much darker and more violent tone than the X-files, which is one of the reasons it lasted only three seasons.

During its run, however, it won several awards and was nominated for many more.  Lance Hendriksen was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama series all three seasons.

Peter Boyle wins Emmy for guest appearance in "The X Files" 1996

Peter Boyle won a Primetime Emmy for his role as Clyde Bruckman on the X-Files episode Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose, September 8, 1996.  Boyle played a psychic who could see people's death.  At the end of the episode, Bruckman commits suicide.

Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny appeared as FBI agents Scully and Mulder.

Endeavour (STS-77) launched 1996

STS-77 crew

Front row (L-R): Curtis Brown, John Casper

Back row (L-R): Daniel Bursch, Mario Runco, Marc Garneau, Andrew Thomas

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-77), launched May 19, 1996, carried a Coca-Cola fountain dispenser into space as part of opening the commercial space frontier.  Its crew consisted of Commander John Casper, Pilot Curtis Brown, Andrew Thomas, Daniel Bursch, Mario Runco, and Marc Garneau (CSA).

The Coca-Cola dispenser was developed for use on the Endeavour to see if carbonated beverages can be produced in microgravity, which causes bubble nucleation resulting in foam formation.

They returned to Earth May 29.

The X-files episode "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" aired 1996

For the first few seasons of The X-Files, one episode contained dark humor and a little lighter mood than the rest of the episodes.  In Season 3, that episode was the twentieth, Jose Chung's From Outer Space.  It is one of my favorite episodes of the show.  Charles Nelson Reilly stars as a science fiction writer writing a non-fiction book about an alien abduction.  The accounts from the witnesses seem to differ greatly, so anything could have happened.

Jesse Ventura and Alex Trebek appear as Men in Black.

Atlantis (STS-76) launched 1996

STS-76 crew

Front row (L-R): Ronald Sega, Kevin Chilton, Richard Searfoss

Back row (L-R): Michael Clifford, Shannon Lucid, Linda Godwin

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-76), launched March 22, 1996, was the third Shuttle mission to dock with the space station Mir.  Its crew consisted of Commander Kevin Chilton, Pilot Richard Searfoss, Ronald Sega, Michael Clifford, Linda Godwin and Shannon Lucid.

Godwin and Clifford performed a space walk on March 27 which lasted 6 hours.  Shannon Lucid stayed on board Mir as part of Expedition Mir EO-21.

The rest of the crew returned to Earth March 31.

NEAR-Shoemaker, spacecraft to Eros, launched 1996

The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezous-Shoemaker (NEAR Shoemaker), launched February 17, 1996, is the first spacecraft to touchdown on an asteroid. On its way to the near-Earth object Eros, the spacecraft passed by Mathilde, an asteroid approximately 50 km in diameter, and took pictures of nearly 60% of its surface.

Orbital insertion above Eros occurred in February 2000, after a near-catastrophic event back in December 1998, during which the spacecraft was nearly lost. Starting January 2001, the spacecraft began a series of close passes to the surface and then made a slow, controlled descent to the surface, landing on February 12, 2001 near the saddle-shaped feature Himeros. 

NASA scientists were amazed to discover NEAR Shoemaker had survived the landing and was operational.  The craft continued to send signals until February 28, when it was shut down.  A final attempt to contact the probe on December 10, 2002 was unsuccessful.

"Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion" released 1996

The sequel to Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, Daiei Studios released Gamera 2: Attack of Legion, July 13, 1996.  A meteor has crashed on Earth, carrying hundreds of dangerous alien creatures,. thus the term 'Legion', a reference to the Bible in which a man is possessed by many demons named 'Legion'.

It is up to Gamera to save the world once again.

This is the first giant monster film to win the Nihon Science Fiction Taisho Award, give by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan (equivalent of the Nebula Award) in 1996.

Columbia (STS-78) launched 1996

Front row (L-R): Terence Henricks, Kevin Kregel

Back row (L-R): Jean-Jacques Favier, Richard Linnehan, Susan Helms, Charles Brady, Robert Thirsk

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-78), launched June 20, 1996, studied the effects long-duration spaceflight on the human body, in preparation for International Space Station expeditions.

Its crew consisted of Commander Terence Henricks, Pilot Kevin Kregel, Richard Linnehan, Susan Helms, Charles Brady, Jean-Jacques Favier (CNES) and Robert Thirsk (CSA).

When the Solid Rocket Boosters were recovered, analysis showed damage to field joints, probably caused by hot gases.  There was no action with safety, but it was similar damage that caused Challenger to break apart in 1986.

They returned to Earth July 7.

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.

"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!

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.

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.

"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.

"Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie" released 1996

Mike Nelson, Tom Servo and Crow made it to the big screen in Mystery Science Theatre 3000: The Movie, released April 19, 1996.  Universal gave it a limited release but it was distributed to so few theatres, many fans did not realize that it had been released.

The cast - Mike Nelson, Trace Beaulieu, Kevin Murphy and Jim Mallon - spoofed a science fiction movie This Island Earth, a 1955 release which is better than most of the movies they usually riff.

Apparently, they had such a bad experience with the studio, they spoofed their experience when they skewered The Incredible Melting Man.

I enjoyed it, but many of the television episodes are funnier.

Soyuz TM-23 launched 1996

Soyuz TM-23 crew: Yuri Onufrienko, Yury Usachov

Soyuz TM-23, launched February 21, 1996, was the 25th manned mission to the space station Mir.  Its crew consisted of Commander Yuri Onufrienko and Flight Engineer Yury Usachov.  It docked with Mir on February 23, and joined expedition EO-21 which included Shannon Lucid.

They performed an EVA on March 15, the second on May 20, a third May 24, the fourth on May 30, the fifth on June 6 and the final one on June 13. 

Soyuz TM-23 undocked from Mir on September 2 and returned to Earth with Claudie Andre-Deshays on board.

STS-72 launched 1996

Left to right - Seated: Brent Jett, Brian Duffy; 

Standing: Winston Scott, Leroy Chiao, Koichi Wakata, Daniel Barry

 Mission patch

Space Shuttle Endeavour blasted off January 11, 1996 on its tenth mission (STS-72).  Its primary mission was to capture a Japanese microgravity research satellite and return it to Earth.  

Endeavour's crew consisted of Commander Brian Duffy, Pilot Brent Jett, Mission Specialist Leroy Chiao, Mission Specialist Winston Scott, Mission Specialist Koichi Wakata (JAXA) and Mission Specialist Daniel Barry.

Wakata operated the remote manipulator system arm on the shuttle to capture the satellite.

On the seventh day of the flight, Scott climbed into the payload bay and Endeavour was maneuvered into a position where he would be exposed to the extreme cold of space (-104 °F) to test how his spacesuit would protect him.