On June 19, 2006, the prime ministers of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland laid the "first stone" of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault on Spitsbergen Island, Norway. The vault stores seeds from around the world, to provide security for the world's food supply in case of catastrophe, natural disasters, wars, etc.
Spitsbergen Island was chose since it has no tectonic activity and permafrost to help with preservation. It is maintained at a constant -18° C. It is constructed to keep seeds for thousands of years.
Talk about a powerhouse movie with two phenomenal actresses, Dame Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett, as the leads. Notes on a Scandal was released in the US January 26, 2006. Dench and Blanchett play high school teachers in England. When Blanchett's character begins an affair with a teenager, Dench's character tries to use the knowledge to her own benefit.
Dench and Blanchett both received Oscar nominations for their performances.
Ang Lee's controversial, critically acclaimed movie Brokeback Mountain was nominated for 8 Critics' Choice Awards and took home three trophies at the 11th annual ceremony held January 9, 2006. It won Best Picture and Lee won Best Director. Michelle Williams tied for Best Supporting Actress with Amy Adams. A foretaste of numerous awards to come.
Heath Ledger was nominated for Best Actor and Jake Gyllenhaal was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana were nominated for Best Writing. Brokeback Mountain was also nominated for Best Composer and Best Song. I don't remember a song being in the movie.
March of the Penguins won Best Documentary. I was happy to see that because it was a very good movie. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would watch it again.
John Williams won Best Composer for Memoirs of a Geisha. I didn't see this movie, but I wonder if Williams (no relation to Michelle Williams, I'm sure) is tired of winning awards for his music?
Dame Judi Dench should have won Best Actress for her performance in Mrs. Henderson Presents, but lost to Reese Witherspoon.
Surprise! Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong won an award for Distinguished Achievement in Performing Arts. I think it's great when a science fiction movie or monster movie is recognized in any way. The Critics' Choice included it in their ten nominees for Best Picture.
George Clooney (swoon!) won the Freedom Award for his performance in Good Night, and Good Luck.
Dame Helen Mirren won her third Primetime Emmy at the 58th ceremony held August 27, 2006. She took home the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for her performance in Elizabeth I, a miniseries aired on HBO. It was her ninth nomination.
Gillian Anderson was also nominated for the same award for her performance in Bleak House.
Megan Mullaly won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance in Will & Grace.
Jeremy Irons won Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for Elizabeth I.
The wonderful Cloris Leachman won Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her appearance in Malcolm in the Middle.
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, released January 5, 2006, is a classic movie, set in 18th century France is an intoxicating movie about a man with an uncanny sense of smell. Ben Whishaw plays the major role of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, who is in search of the perfect scent.
It was based upon Patrick Suskind's novel Perfume, published in 1985. It also starred Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman.
The Western Black Rhinoceros was officially declared extinct November 11, 2006. They were hunted extensively in the early 20th century. Preservation efforts started in the 1930s but when they declined so did the numbers of the western black rhinos. Poaching continued and by 2000 only about ten survived, and by 2001, only five survived.
STS-115 crew (L-R): Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Christopher Ferguson, Joseph Tanner, Daniel Burbank, Brent Jett, Steve MacLean
Mission patch
Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-115), launched September 9, 2006, was the first assembly mission to the International Space Station following the Challenger disaster in 2003. Its crew consisted of Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Christopher Ferguson, Steven MacLean (CSA), Daniel Burbank, Joseph Tanner, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper.
Burbank and MacLean conducted 3 EVAs to install trusses and new solar arrays on the ISS.
Although it didn't live up to its hype, Snakes on a Plane, released August 18, 2006, is a fun movie. Its campiness makes up for its lack in other areas. The movie gained a lot of pre-release buzz on the Internet, and people were looking forward to seeing it in theaters. However, it did not live up to the expectations New Line Cinema had hoped for. It only grossed about $62M world-wide.
Samuel L. Jackson played the lead and his famous line "I have had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane!" was voted #55 of the 100 Greatest Movie Lines by Premiere in 2007.
Ice Age: The Meltdown, the sequel to the wildly popular first Ice Age movie, was released March 31, 2006. The movie featured the return of the main characters Manny the Mammoth (Ray Romano), Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo) and Diego the sabre-toothed tiger (Denis Leary). Scrat returns as well.
Manny, Sid and Diego realize the Ice Age is coming to an end and must leave the valley before it is flooded. On the way, they meet another mammoth, Ellie, voiced by Queen Latifah, proving that Manny is not the last one.
It was the first 2006 movie to surpass the $100M mark and is the 66th highest-grossing film of all time.
The Sample Return Capsule from the Stardust space probe on January 15, 2006 and landed safely in Utah. Stardust had made a flyby of the comet Wild 2 and taken samples of dust from the coma of the comet.
Among the many compounds discovered was glycine, an amino acid that scientists identify as a fundamental chemical building blocks of life. Scientists at the University of Arizona confirmed the presence of liquid water in Wild 2.
Soyuz TMA-9 crew (L-R): Michael Lopez-Alegria, Anousheh Ansari, Mikhail Tyurin
Mission patch
Soyuz TMA-9, launched September 18, 2006, transported a tourist to the International Space Station and another back to Earth. Its crew consisted of Commander Mikhail Tyurin (Roscosmos) and Michael Lopez-Alegria (NASA). Anousheh Ansari, an Iranian-American engineer, was the first self-funded woman in space, the fourth overall self-funded space tourist, and the first Iranian in space.
Tyurin and Lopez-Alegria were part of Expedition 14. They returned to Earth in April 2007 with space tourist Charles Simonyi, the second Hungarian in space. Ansari stayed only 9 days aboard the ISS.
STS-121 crew (L-R): Stephanie Wilson, Michael Fossum, Steven Lindsey, Piers Sellers, Mark Kelly, Thomas Reiter, Lisa Nowak.
Mission patch
Space shuttle Discovery (STS-121), launched July 4, 2006, carried equipment and supplies to the International Space Station as well as a German astronaut from the European Space Agency. Its crew consisted of Commander Steven Lindsey, Pilot Mark Kelly, Michael Fossum, Lisa Nowak, Stephanie Wilson, Piers Sellers and Thomas Reiter (ESA).
Part of the mission was to test new safety and repair techniques put in place by NASA following the Columbia disaster. Three EVAs were conducted during the mission by Mike Fossum, Mark Kelly and Piers Sellers.
A Chinese news agency announced early December 2006 that a six-week survey of the Yangtze River had failed to detect any baijis (Chinese river dolphins). The species was declared functionally extinct on December 13, 2006.
In the 1950s, the baiji population was estimated at 6000 but by 1970, only a few hundred were left. For years, humans had hunted the baiji and other species using illegal practices, such as electric fishing. Other causes for the baiji's decline were over-fishing, collisions with boats and ships, and pollution. There was a failure to determine what the impact construction the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River would have on the baiji.
Pollution in the water resulted in diseases and pathogens which have also caused the decline in the species.
Although hunting the baiji was declared illegal in China in 1983, the animal was still hunted.
However, there have been a few unsubstantiated sightings of the baiji since 2007. Even if these are confirmed, are there enough of the baiji left to repopulate the species?
Soyuz TMA-8 crew (L-R): Marcos Pontes, Jeffrey Williams, Pavel Vinogradov
Mission patch
Soyuz TMA-8, launched March 30, 2006, carried members of Expedition 13 to the International Space Station. Its crew consisted of Commander Pavel Vinogradov (Roscosmos), Jeffrey Williams (NASA) and Marcos Pontes (first Brazilian astronaut).
Pontes spent about a week on the ISS and returned with the crew of Expedition 12 on Soyuz TMA-7.
Vinogradov and Williams stayed on the ISS until September 29 when they returned to Earth with space tourist Anousheh Ansari, the first Iranian in space and the first self-funded woman in space. Ansari arrived at the ISS about a week before on Soyuz TMA-9.
Back row (L-R): Robert Curbeam, Nicholas Patrick, Sunita Williams, Christer Fuglesang
Front (L-R): William Oefelein, Joan Higginbotham, Mark Polansky
Mission patch
Discovery (STS-116), launched December 9, 2006 to the International Space Station, had 5 rookie astronauts, the only flight for Joan Higginbotham and the first flight for Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang. The crew consisted of Commander Mark Polansky, Pilot William Oefelein, Mission Specialist 1 Nicholas Patrick, Mission Specialist 2 Robert Curbeam, Mission Specialist 3 Fuglesang, Mission Specialist 4 Higginbotham and Mission Specialist 5 Sunita Williams.
Discovery's crew performed 4 EVAs over the 14-day mission. They returned to Earth December 22. Their wake-up call that morning was Perry Como's Home for the Holidays.
The New Horizons spacecraft, launched January 19, 2006, performed the first flyby of Pluto, exceeding everyone's expectations. New Horizons reached Pluto (now 'dwarf planet') in July 2015 and sent back gigabytes of data which NASA scientists will be studying for years.
New Horizons took pictures of Pluto's surface as well as its moons, giving us a much better understanding of Charon.
Buoyed on the success of the mission, the New Horizons team requested and has been granted an extension. New Horizons is headed toward 2014 MU69, a large body in the Kuiper Belt, arriving in 2019. It will study other trans-Neptunian objects as well.
