Rosetta, first spacecraft to land on a comet, launched 2004

Rosetta, launched March 2, 2004 by the European Space Agency, is the first spacecraft to orbit a comet and then deploy a lander. It reached comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in August 2014 and entered actual orbit in September.  The Philae lander detached from Rosetta in November and landed, bouncing twice before coming to a rest.

As the comet traveled further from the sun, light reaching the solar panels decreased.  A decision was made to end the mission by impacting Rosetta onto the comet surface. The impact maneuver began on September 29, 2016 and was completed the next day.

Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are" inducted into Grammy Hall of Fame 2004

My man Billy Joel's Just the Way You Are was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame at the 46th awards ceremony February 8, 2004.  The single was released in September 1977 and won two Grammys in 1979 for Song of the Year and Record of the Year.

Other songs inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame 2004 included Simon and Garfunkel's The Sound of Silence, Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, and the soundtracks to West Side Story, Fantasia and Saturday Night Fever.

Janet Jackson performs Super Bowl XXXVIII Halftime Show 2004

We all remember Janet Jackson's 'wardrobe malfunction' when she performed at the halftime show during Super Bowl XXXVIII February 1, 2004.  She was blackballed after the incident, in which Justin Timberlake also appeared.

Whatever.

I'm still proud of her for performing!  I'm still a big fan!

Godzilla receives his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame 2004

Godzilla, "The King of the Monsters", got his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, November 29, 2004, fifty years before he stomped onto movie screens and all over Tokyo.  The unveiling came just before the premiere of Godzilla: Final Wars.  Godzilla was created by nuclear testing and has been protecting the Earth from aliens and King Ghidorah ever since.

"The Incredibles" released 2004

The Incredibles, released November 5, 2004, is an award-winning animated film from Pixar and Disney.  It follows a family of superheroes, trying to live incognito in suburbia, but are called back in action to save the world.  It starred Craig T. Nelson, Samuel L. Jackson and Holly Hunter.

It won two Academy Awards: Best Achievement in Sound Editing and Best Animated Feature Film.  It was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay and Best Achievement in Sound Mixing.

"Catwoman" released 2004

So it wasn't exactly a milestone in movie history, or at least not in a positive way.  Catwoman, starring Halle Berry in the titular role, was released July 23, 2004.  It has been universally panned as one of the worst movies ever.  Halle Berry won a Razzie Award for worst actress. She is the first actress to receive her Razzie Award while holding her Oscar award. 

Halle Berry has rarely been sexier.  Benjamin Bratt is always sexy.  Frances Conroy is always good.  Alex Borstein is always funny!

Soyuz TMA-5 launched 2004

Soyuz TMA-5 crew (L-R): Leroy Chiao, Yuri Shargin, Salizhan Sharipov

Mission patch

Soyuz TMA-5, launched October 14, 2004, carried members of Expedition 10 to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of  Commander Salizhan Sharipov (Roscosmos), Leroy Chiao (NASA), and Yuri Shargin (Roscosmos).

Shargin stayed eight days and returned on Soyuz TMA-4.  Sharipov and Chiao remained on the ISS until they returned in April 2005 with Italian astronaut Roberto Vittori (ESA). 

Stardust encounters comet Wild 2 2004

Comet Wild 2 as seen from Stardust

NASA's Stardust spacecraft encountered the comet Wild 2 January 2, 2004.  That's pronounced "vilt" since it was named after Paul Wild, the Swiss astronomer who discovered it in January 1978 and that's how his name is pronounced.

Stardust was launched in February 1999 to collect dust samples from the coma of the comet, but it also flew by and studied asteroid 5535 Annefrank.

The Sample Return Capsule separated from Stardust and entered Earth's atmosphere January 2006.  Samples from Wild 2 were sent to Johnson Space Center in Houston for analysis.  Scientists announced that glycine, an amino acid which is a fundamental chemical in building blocks of life, was detected for the first time in material ejected from a comet.

Stardust was given an extension and made a flyby of comet Tempel 1 in February 2011, although no samples were collected.  The spacecraft was decommissioned March 2011.

Billy Joel receives Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame 2004

My man Billy Joel got his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, September 20, 2004!  He joked about writing the song Say Goodbye to Hollywood, and now he'll never leave.  He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and lived in Santa Monica early in his career.

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.

"The Day After Tomorrow" released 2004

The Day After Tomorrow, released May 28, 2004, has been panned as one of the most scientifically inaccurate movies ever, but its still a fun movie.  There are worse ways of spending a couple of hours watching Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal and Dash Mihok.

Directed by Roland Emmerich, who likes these apocalyptic type movies (see 2012), the movie has a huge global storm over the northern hemisphere that plunges the Earth into a new Ice Age within a matter of days.  Of course, it's extremely unlikely but it's got great special effects.  I also enjoyed seeing Sela Ward, Ian Holm and Tamlyn Tomita.

Spirit, Mars rover, lands on Mars 2004

Spirit (MER-A: Mars Exploration Rover - A or MER-2) landed on the Martian landscape January 4, 2004.  It was launched June 10, 2003 and was planned for a 90 day mission, but Spirit proved to be more valuable.  Spirit operated for 2269 days before contact was lost.  It logged 4.8 miles of driving, much more than the planned 0.4 miles.  After more than 5 years of exploration, Spirit got stuck in soft soil.  For eight months, NASA tried to free it but finally announced in January 2010 Spirit was permanently stuck, but it continued to conduct scientific research from its stationary position.

Spirit captured a dust devil moving across the Martian landscape: 

Three weeks after Spirit landed, its twin rover, Opportunity (MER-B) landed on the opposite side of Mars.

"Godzilla: Final Wars" released 2004

December 4, 2004, Godzilla: Final Wars was released in Japan.  Due to the poor performances of the previous three movies, Toho announced this would be the last Godzilla movie for at least ten years.  The American version Godzilla was released in 2014.

This film brought back past enemies of the G-man, such as Gigan, Anguirus and Hedorah.  Mothra appears as an ally of Godzilla, the first time since Destroy All Monsters!.

Mannheim Steamroller releases "Halloween Monster Mix" 2004

Mannheim Steamroller released its second album of spooky holiday music, Halloween Monster Mix, September 21, 2004.  It contains some eerie arrangements of classic music pieces such as In the Hall of the Mountain King, Night on Bald Mountain and my favorite, The Sorcerer's Apprentice (listen below).  It also features Crystal from Fresh Aire IV.

Halloween Monster Mix was released just two days shy of the anniversary of the first album of spooky favorites, Halloween, which was released in 2003.

MESSENGER, spacecraft to Mercury, launched 2004

Artist's rendering of MESSENGER in orbit around Mercury.

MESSENGER (Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging) launched August 3, 2004 was the first spacecraft to orbit the planet closest to the sun in our solar system. On March 18, 2011 it achieved orbit. It was planned to orbit Mercury for only a year but lasted over four. With seven scientific instruments on board, the craft sent back over 10TB of data, including almost 300,000 images and numerous map products.

In May 2016, NASA released a 3-D image of the first global topographic model of Mercury (see video below).  The extent of the data received from MESSENGER will keep scientists busy for years to come.

First photo from orbit.

On April 30, 2015, MESSENGER yielded to Mercury’s gravity and crashed on the surface just north of the Shakespeare basin. It created a crater estimated to be 52 feet in diameter.

The last photo taken before impact.

"Godzilla: Final Wars" released 2004

The previous two or three Godzilla movies had been disappointments at the box office, and if you have seen "Godzilla, Mothra, King Gidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack" and "Godzilla: Tokyo SOS" you understand. 

Toho Company produced "Final Wars" and declared that there wouldn't be another Godzilla movie for 10 years.  That held true when the American release of "Godzilla" came out in 2014.  "Final Wars" obviously draws on other movies such as "Aliens" and "The Matrix" but its plot is one that has been  used over and over: Aliens come to Earth and try to rid the planet of Godzilla by pitting their monsters against him.  If you always do what you've always done, you will always get what you've always gotten.

Akira Takarada makes his 6th appearance in a Godzilla movie, since starring in the original movie in 1954. 

Here Godzilla battles Zilla, from the 1998 movie with Matthew Broderick.  It is referred to as Zilla because the producers felt the American version took "God"  out of "Godzilla".