"Shall We Dance?" wins Critics' Choice Award 1998

Shall We Dance?, the Japanese romantic comedy released in the United States in July 1997, won Critics' Choice Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 3rd annual ceremony held January 20, 1998. It was one of many awards the film garnered, including 14 Japanese Academy Awards. 

I saw this in the theater in Dallas and loved it so much, I haven't bothered to watch the Gere-Lopez version. 

Nozomi, Japanese spacecraft to Mars, launched 1998

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched its first spacecraft to another planet July 3, 1998. Nozomi ("wish" or "hope") was intended to orbit Mars and study the atmosphere and solar wind.  During its first flyby of Earth for a gravitational assist, Nozomi suffered a malfunctioning valve which depleted much of its fuel and left Nozomi with insufficient acceleration to reach Mars.  Two more course corrections used more propellant than planned, leaving Nozomi even more depleted.

JAXA planned to put Nozomi into a heliocentric orbit for four years and make two Earth flybys to gain momentum and reach Mars at a slower velocity.

In April 2002, Nozomi was approaching Earth for another gravity assist when solar flares damaged its onboard communications and power systems.  An electrical short in a power cell caused the remaining hydrazine fuel to freeze.  Fortunately the fuel thawed out by the time it reached Earth, due to its proximity to the sun, and made a successful flyby in December 2002.

Another Earth flyby occurred in June 2003, but in December 2003, efforts to orient Nozomi to prepare for a main thruster orbital insertion at Mars failed.  The mission was abandoned.  The small thrusters were fired on December 9, 2003 so Nozomi would approach Mars to a distance of 1000 km and would not impact the surface.  The spacecraft remains in a heliocentric orbit.

Celebrating Black History Month: Lillian E Fishburne, first African-American female Rear Admiral

On February 1, 1998, Lillian Fishburne was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral by President Bill Clinton.  Born and raised in Maryland, Fishburne was commissioned an ensign after completing Womens Officer School in February 1973. She was assigned as the Personnel and Legal Officer at the Naval Air Test Facility in Lakehurst, New Jersey in August 1974 and assigned as a Navy Recruiter in Miami until November 1977.  She served as Commanding Officer, Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station in Key West, and assumed position as Chief, Command and Control Systems Support Division in Washington, DC.

She retired from the Navy in 2001.

The X-Files episode "How the Ghosts Stole Christmas" airs 1998

I'm always looking for horror-comedies, so the sixth episode of the sixth season of the X-Files How the Ghosts Stole Christmas is a treat. It aired December 13, 1998.  Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) explore a haunted house.  Apparently, two lovers killed each other in a lovers' pact some 81 years before, but it seems they still reside there.

Lily Tomlin had previously mentioned her interest in appearing in an episode and Ed Asner was also on board for the episode.  Scares and laughs abound.  It is a great episode and I look forward to watching it again.

The Pointer Sisters perform in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 1998

My girls, the Pointer Sisters, lovely as always, performed at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, November 26, 1998.  Ruth, June, and Anita rendered an awesome, upbeat rendition of Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer!

"Deep Impact" released 1998

One of two comet/asteroid disaster movies to hit theaters, Deep Impact, opened May 8, 1998.  A seven-mile wide comet is on a collision course with Earth, and the world prepares for a mass extinction.

Steven Spielberg was executive producer.  It starred Robert Duvall, Tea Leoni, Elijah Wood, Maximillian Schell, Morgan Freeman, James Cromwell, Jon Favreau, Denise Crosby (of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame), and Blair Underwood.

The movie is based on the 1993 novel The Hammer of God by Arthur C. Clarke.  

"Star Trek: Insurrection" debuts 1998

Star Trek: Insurrection, released December 11, 1998, is the third in the Star Trek movies featuring the Next Generation cast. 

The movie is about a planet with regenerative radiation, where the people never grow old.  The radiation  regenerates their bodies, making them immortal.  

Jonathan Frakes, who plays Commander Riker, directed.  The entire cast of the Next Generation appeared in the movie.  Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, and Marina Sirtis.  F. Murray Abraham played the main antagonist. 

Endeavour (STS-88) launched 1998

STS-88 crew

Front row (L-R): Sergei Krikalev, Nancy Currie-Gregg

Back row (L-R): Jerry Ross, Robert Cabana, Frederick Sturckow, James Newman

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-88), launched December 4, 1998, carried the first American module, Unity node, to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Robert Cabana, Pilot Frederick Sturckow, Jerry Ross, Nancy Currie-Gregg, James Newman, and Sergei Krikalev (Roscosmos).

Ross and Newman performed three EVAs for a total of over 21 hours, to complete the Unity node installation.

They returned to Earth December 13.  

Deep Space 1 launched 1998

Deep Space 1, launched October 24, 1998, encountered asteroid 9969 Braille and comet 19P/Borrelly.  It was intended to fly by Comet 79P/West-Kohoutek-Ikemura and asteroid 3352 McAuliffe, but a delayed launch and a brief engine failure forced NASA to change Deep Space 1's objectives.

It encountered Comet 9969 Braille on July 29, 1999 and flew by Comet 19P/Borrelly on September 22, 2001.

NASA shut its engines down in December 2001.  Attempts to resume contact in March 2002 were unsuccessful.  Deep Space 1 remains in a heliocentric orbit.

Alabama gets their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame 1998

Super-group Alabama, winner of countless country music awards, was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, October 6, 1998.  They have released almost two dozen albums and have over 40 #1 hits.

Cloris Leachman wins (another) Emmy 1998!

Amazing, talented and beautiful Cloris Leachman won an Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Aunt Ethel Mooster in the Promised Land episode Mooster's Revenge, September 13, 1998.

It was her sixth at the time, and to date she has won nine!

Discovery (STS-91) launched 1998

STS-91 crew

Front row (L-R): Dominic Gorie, Charles Precourt

Back row (L-R): Wendy Lawrence, Franklin Chang-Diaz, Janet Kavandi, Valery Ryumin, Andrew Thomas

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-91), launched June 2, 1998, was the final mission to the space station Mir.  Its crew consisted of Commander Charles Precourt, Pilot Dominic Gorie, Franklin Chang-Diaz, Wendy Lawrence, Janet Kavandi and Valery Ryumin (Roscosmos).

Andrew Thomas joined the crew of Discovery, after he had spent 130 days on Mir.  They returned to Earth June 12.

Columbia (STS-90) launched 1998

STS-90 crew

Front row (L-R): Scott Altman, Richard Searfoss

Last row (L-R): James Pawelczyk, Richard Linnehan, Kathryn Hire, Davydd Williams, Jay Buckey

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-90), launched April 17, 1998, was the final flight of the European Space Agency's Spacelab laboratory module.  Its crew consisted of Commander Richard Searfoss, Pilot Scott Altman, Dafydd Williams (CSA), Kathryn Hire, Richard Linnehan, Jay Buckey and James Pawelczyk.

The mission continued the exploration of the effects of microgravity on the human nervous system.  The crew returned to Earth on May 3.

Endeavour (STS-89) launched 1998

STS-89 crew:

Front row (L-R): Joe Edwards, Terrence Wilcutt, Bonnie Dunbar

Back row (L-R): David Wolf, Salizhan Sharipov, James Reilly, Andy Thomas, Michael Anderson

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-89) was launched January 22, 1998 to the space station Mir.  Its crew consisted of Commander Terrence Wilcutt, Pilot Joe Edwards, James Reilly, Michael Anderson, Bonnie Dunbar, Salizhan Sharipov (Roscosmos) and Andy Thomas. 

Endeavour carried Andy Thomas to Mir and brought David Wolf back.  Both were part of expedition Mir EO-24.  The crew returned to Earth January 31.

"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.

Zarya, International Space Station Core, launched 1998

The first building block of the International Space Station, the Zarya module, was launched November 20, 1998 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.  Two weeks later, the crew of STS-88 attached the Unity module to Zarya during spacewalks.

At this time, the Russian space station Mir was still occupied so the International Space Station remained uninhabited until Mir was deorbited.  Expedition 1, the first crew to the ISS, arrived in November 2000.  The crew members were  William Shepherd (NASA), Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev (Roscosmos).

The ISS is now permanently manned and currently the crew of Expedition 57, Alexander Gerst (ESA), Serena Aunon-Chancellor (NASA) and Sergey Prokopyev (Roscosmos) is station there.

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.

Soyuz TM-27 launched 1998

Soyuz TM-27 crew

 

Mission patch

Soyuz TM-27, the 33rd expedition to Mir, launched on January 29, 1998, carried two cosmonauts and one French astronaut into space.  Its crew consisted of Commander Talgat Musabayev, Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin and Research Cosmonaut Leopold Eyharts.

The crew carried out a number of routine experiements, repaired the Spektr solar panel and installed a new VDU station orientation system.

Musabayev and Budarin returned with Soyuz TM-27 in August 1998 but Eyharts hitched a ride home in February 1998.

John Glenn returns to space 1998

Space Shuttle Discovery Crew - Back row: Mission Specialist 2 Scott E. Parazynski, Payload Specialist 1 Chiaki Mukai, Mission Specialist 1 Pedro Duque, Payload Specialist 2 John H. Glenn, Jr.

Front row: Pilot Steven W. Lindsey, Commander Curtis L. Brown, Jr.

Astronaut and senator John Glenn returned to space on board the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-95), October 29, 1998.  He became the oldest man to date to go into space.  Also aboard was Pedro Duque of Spain, the country's first astronaut.  The rest of the crew consisted of Commander Curtis Brown, Pilot Steven Lindsey, Scott Parazynski, Stephen Robinson and Chiaki Mukai.

Glenn made history as part of NASA's Mercury project to become the first American to orbit Earth. in the Friendship 7 in 1962.  His second return to space was at the age of 77 as a payload specialist.  NASA conducted experiments on Glenn while in space to give them an understanding of the effects of space on aging.

Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services Inc. - A Victory for Gay Rights 1998

On March 4, 1998, the Supreme Court ruled that federal laws banning sexual harassment apply even when both parties are of the same sex.  Although the parties in the lawsuit were heterosexual, the ruling has been hailed as a victory for gay rights. 

Joseph Oncale worked on an off-shore rig for Sundowner Offshore Services in the Gulf of Mexico.  He had to endure humiliating sex-related harassment from his co-workers.  When his complaints to management went ignored, he took his case to the US District Court in Louisiana, who sided with his employer.  When the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit also upheld the decision, Oncale petitioned the Supreme Court.

The late Justice Scalia wrote: Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services set the precedent for analyzing same-sex harassment, and sexual harassment without motivation of "sexual desire", stating that any discrimination based on sex is actionable so long as it places the victim in an objectively disadvantageous working condition, regardless of the gender of either the victim or the harasser.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/96-568.ZS.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oncale_v._Sundowner_Offshore_Services,_Inc.