Sting and Steely Dan win Grammys 2001

 

Sting won his 16th Grammy Award and Steely Dan won their very first at the annual ceremony held February 21, 2001. 

Sting won Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for his song She Walks the Earth.

Steely Dan won Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for Two Against Nature. The album was awaarded Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.  They also won Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for Cousin Dupree.  

John Williams won Best Instrumental Composition for The Theme from Angela's Ashes.

The Foo Fighters won Best Short Form Music Video for Learn to Fly. They also won Best Rock Album for There is Nothing Left to Lose. 

Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawai'ian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Angela Buchdahl, first Asian American rabbi

Angela Buchdahl, born July 8, 1972 in Seoul, South Korea, is the first Asian American to be ordained as rabbi in the US.  Her mother was a Korean Buddhist and her father was Jewish.  Her family moved to the US when she was 5 and raised Jewish in Tacoma, Washington.

She graduated from Yale University with a BS in Religious Studies in 1994 and started her rabbinic studies at Hebrew Union College.  She was ordained as a rabbi in 2001 by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion becoming the first Asian American rabbi.  In 2013, Buchdahl was named Senior Rabbi of the Central Synagogue. 

In December 2014, she delivered led prayers at the White House Hanukkah celebration, welcomed by President Barack Obama.

Star Trek: Voyager episode Endgame wins two Primetime Emmys 2001

The series finale of Star Trek: Voyager Endgame won two Primetime Emmys at the 53rd annual ceremony held November 4, 2001.  It took home the trophies for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore), and Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series. The episode Workforce was nominated for the same two awards.  Star Trek: Voyager was also nominated Outstanding Costumes for a Series, Outstanding Hairstyling for a Series, Outstanding Makeup for a Series, and Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series.

The X-Files won the award for Outstanding Makeup for a Series for Deadalive, tying with The Sopranos.  The series was nominated for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single Camera Series.

The mini-series Dune won Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special for Part I, and Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries or Movie for Part II.  Part III was nominated for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or Special.

Soyuz TM-32 launched 2001

Soyuz TM-32 launch crew (L-R): Dennis Tito, Talgat Musabayev, Yuri Baturin

Soyuz TM-32 mission patch

Soyuz TM-32, launched April 28, 2001, carried the crew of ISS EP-1 to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Talgat Musabayev and Yuri Baturin.  They were joined by space tourist Dennis Tito, an entrepreneur who funded his own trip into space. 

Soyuz TM-32 returned to Earth in October 2001 with Viktor Afansayev, Claudie Haignere and Konstantin Kozeyev.

Endeavour (STS-100) launched 2001

STS-100 crew

Front row (L-R): Yury Lonchakov, Ken Rominger, Umberto Guidoni, Jeffrey Ashby, John Phillips

Back row (L-R): Scott Parazynski, Chris Hadfield

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-100), launched April 19, 2001, installed the Canadarm2 robotic arm on the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Kent Rominger, Pilot Jeffrey Ashby, Chris Hadfield (CSA), John Phillips, Scott Parazynski, Umberto Guidoni (ESA), and Yury Lonchakov (Roscosmos).  

Parazynski and Hadfield conducted two EVAs for almost 15 hours.  

The crew returned to Earth May 1, 2001.

2001 Mars Odyssey launched 2001

2001 Mars Odyssey

Mission patch

2001 Mars Odyssey, launched April 7, 2001, is a spacecraft orbiting Mars.  It reached Mars orbit on October 24, 2001.

In May 2002, NASA reported that Odyssey had detected large amounts of hydrogen, which could mean ice just under the planet's surface.  

By October 2008, Odyssey had mapped the distribution of water below the surface of Mars.

In December 2010, it broke the record for the longest serving spacecraft at Mars and currently holds the record for the longest-surviving continually active spacecraft in orbit around a planet other than Earth.  Its mission has been extended until 2025.

In 2013 the Siding Spring Comet passed very closely to Mars, but Odyssey, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and MAVEN were unaffected.

The X-Files episode "Nothing Important Happened Today" airs 2001

The first episode of the ninth season of the X-Files, Nothing Important Happened Today, aired November 11, 2001.  I had lost touch with the series, but when I saw Lucy Lawless in the promos, I made a point to watch it.  David Duchovny was not in this episode, so Gillian Anderson (Agent Scully) was paired with Robert Patrick (Agent Doggett), as they investigate a beautiful woman (Lucy Lawless) who can breathe underwater.  

Cary Elwes also appears in this episode.  

"2010" released 1984

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.

Soyuz TM-33 launched 2001

Soyuz TM-33 crew (L-R): Konstantin Kozeyev, Viktor Afansayev, Claudie Haignere

Mission patch

Soyuz TM-33, launched October 21, 2001, carried a new crew and supplies to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Viktor Afansayev (Roscosmos), Claudie Haignere (ESA) and Konstantin Kozeyev (Roscosmos).  The crew returned to Earth on October 31 on Soyuz TM-32. 

Soyuz TM-33 returned to Earth on May 5, 2002 with Commander Yuri Gidzenko (Roscosmos), Roberto Vittori (ESA) and Mark Shuttleworth, a space tourist from South Africa.

I could not find a video of the launch.

Deep Space 1 encounters Comet 19P/Borrelly 2001

Deep Space 1, a NASA probe launched October 1998, made a close encounter of Comet 19P/Borrelly September 22, 2001.  The spacecraft's main purpose was a flyby of asteroid 9969 Braille, which it completed in July 1999.

The original mission was to visit comet 76P/West-Kohoutek-Ikemura and asteroid 3352 McAuliffe, but its launch was delayed so its targets were changed to Braille and comet 107P/Wilson-Harrington.  Due to a malfunction with Deep Space 1's star tracker, the encounter with Wilson-Harrington was  cancelled and set to rendezvous with Comet Borrelly.

The comet was discovered by Alphonse Borrelly in December 1904 from Marseilles, France during a routine search for comets.  Deep Space 1 discovered its nucleus to be shaped like a bowling pin.

Discovery (STS-105) launched 2001

STS-105 crew

Center (L-R) Fredeirck Sturckow, Patrick Forrester, Daniel Barry, Scott Horowitz

Top Left (L-R): James Voss, Yury Usachev, Susan Helms

Top Right (L-R): Mikhail Tyurin, Frank Culbertson, Vladimir Dezhurov

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-105), launched August 10, 2001, carried the third crew to the International Space Station and brought the second crew back home.  Its crew consisted of Commander Scott Horowitz, Pilot Frederick Sturckow, Patrick Forrester and Daniel Barry.  The members of Expedition 3 were Frank Culbertson, Mikhail Tyurin and Vladimir Dezhurov.

Barry and Forrester conducted 2 EVAs lasting a total of 11 hours and 45 minutes. Discovery returned to Earth August 22 with the crew of Expedition 2: Yury Usachev, James Voss and Susan Helms.

During the mission they woke up to Sting's Brand New Day!

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.

"Jurassic Park III" released 2001

The third installment of Steven Spielberg's awesome dinosaur movies, Jurassic Park III opened in theaters July 18, 2001.  It seems to be universally considered to be the worst of all the Jurassic Park movies, but it still did well at the box office, being the eighth-highest-grossing movie of 2001.

I find it interesting that it was released on the anniversary of Aliens (1986) because to me JPIII had a  similar plot.  People going into a hostile environment to save a child. 

Sam Neill reprised his role as Dr. Alan Grant and Laura Dern as Ellie, even though she had little more than a cameo.  William H. Macy and Tea Leoni starred as the Kirbys (from Enid, Oklahoma!), whose son has gone missing on Isla Sorna.  Despite the lame story line, the dinosaurs are cool!  The Spinosaurus and the Pteranodon get their time in the limelight.

Atlantis (STS-104) launched 2001

STS-104 crew.  Seated (L-R): Seated - Charles O. Hobaugh, Steven W. Lindsey; 

Standing (L-R) - Michael L. Gernhardt, Janet L. Kavandi, James F. Reilly

Mission patch

The Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-104), launched July 12, 2001, was a installation and repair mission to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Steven Lindsey, Pilot Charles Hobaugh, Michael Gernhardt, Janet Kavandi, and James Reilly.

The mission installed the Quest airlock, which is the primary entrance and egress for spacewalks.  Gernhardt and Reilly performed three EVAs lasting over 16 hours total. 

They returned to Earth July 22.

Discovery (STS-102) launched 2001

Crew of STS-102 

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-102), launched March 8, 2001, was a resupply mission to the International Space Station.  It also rotated the Expedition 1 and Expedition 2 crews to ISS.  The crew that launched and then returned March 21 consisted of Commander James Wetherbee, Pilot James Kelly, mission specialist Andy Thomas and mission specialist Paul Richards.

They carried the members of Expedition 2 to the station, who were Yury Usachov, James Voss and Susan Helms.  Expedition 1, which consisted of William Shepherd, Yuri Gidzenko, and Sergei Krikalev.

Shenzhou 2, Chinese spacecraft, launched 2001

China's second unmanned spacecraft, Shenzhou 2, was launched January 9, 2001.  A monkey, a dog and a rabbit were aboard the life support system, which separated from the orbital module after a week in orbit. 

Here's the strange part.  Although Chinese officials said the landing was successful, no photos have been released of the capsule, leading some to believe the landing failed.  A Swedish Space Center news site reported that one of the connections between capsule and parachute failed.  I can't find any videos of Shenzhou 2's launch or landing.  The references cited at the end of the Wikipedia.com page have been removed from Space.com's website.  So what happened, fellas?  The only article I could find on their site that mentioned Shenzhou 2 was the one listed below

The orbital module continued orbiting until August 24 when it re-entered over the western Pacific Ocean.

https://www.space.com/17457-spaceflight-firsts-russia-nasa-china-study.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenzhou_2

Endeavour (STS-108) launched 2001

L-R: Mark Kelly, Linda Godwin, Daniel Tani, Dominic Pudwill Gorie

Mission Patch

Endeavour (STS-108) launched December 5, 2001, was the first mission after the 9/11 attacks and the crew honored the victims during the flight.  Endeavour's crew was Commander Dominic Pudwill Gorie, Pilot Mark E. Kelly, Mission Specialist Linda Godwin and Mission Specialist Daniel Tani.

She carried the crew of Expedition 4 to the International Space Station: Yuri Onufrienko, Carl Walz and Daniel Bursch.  On her return, she brought back the crew of Expedition 3: Frank Culbertson, Mikhail Turin, and Vladimir Dezhurov.

An American flag that was recovered the morning of Sept 12, 2001 from the site of the World Trade Center wreckage, a USMC flag recovered from the Pentagon and an American flag flown over the State Capital in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania flew on the Endeavour that mission.

Also, 23 badges of fallen NYPD officers and 6000 small American flags to honor those lost flew on the Space shuttle.  The 6000 flags were given to families who lost loved ones on 9/11.

During the mission Linda Godwin and Daniel Tani performed an EVA which lasted a little over 4 hours.  Endeavour landed on December 17.

"Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack" released 2001

I don't know why I post the anniversary of this movie's release every year.  Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, released December 15, 2001, is the first film to feature King Ghidorah in a "hero" role and I just can't have him being the "good guy" and Godzilla being the "bad guy".

Anyway, the movie has some great battle scenes.  I've only managed to sit through this one twice.

"Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack" released in 2001

This one ranks down at the bottom of my list, just above "Godzilla's Revenge".  I mean, come on, guys!!  King Ghidorah as a good guy and the G-Man is evil?  How much sake had you been drinking that day?

Here's the trailer in Japanese.  Makes about as much sense as the rest of the movie.