Hayabusa returns from asteroid Itokawa 2010

Hayabusa (not to be confused with Hayabusa 2) returned to Earth after visiting the near-Earth asteroid Itokawa, June 13, 2010.  Launched in 2003, it was the first spacecraft designed to land on an asteroid and then take off again.  

Scientists at the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) studied particles taken from Itokawa, most of which were about 10 micrometers in size.  They determined that the grains were extraterrestrial in origin, meaning they resembled meteorites and asteroids, rather than known rocks from Earth. 

STS-131 launch & landing (4-5-10)

STS-131 crew

Seated (L-R): James Dutton, Alan Poindexter

Standing (L-R): Richard Mastracchio, Stephanie Wilson, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Naoko Yamazaki, Clayton Anderson

STS-131 mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-131), launched April 5, 2010, was the longest mission for Discovery and the last 7-man crew flight.  Its crew consisted of Commander Alan Poindexter, Pilot James Dutton, Richard Mastracchio, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Stephanie Wilson, Naoko Yamazaki (JAXA), and Clayton Anderson.

The primary payload was the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo.  Discovery carried food and science supplies to the International Space Station, as well as the Muscle Atrophy Resistive Exercise (MARES) rack.

The crew returned to Earth April 20, after over 15 days in space. 

"Up" Wins two Golden Globes 2010

Up, one of the best movies of all time, both live and animated, won two Golden Globe awards at the 67th ceremony held January 17, 2010.  It took home the award for Best Animated Feature Film and Best Original Score by Michael Giacchino. Since it won the two categories it was nominated for, Up scored 100%! 

Sandra Bullock beat out Helen Mirren for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama?  Hmmm...Meryl Streep beat Bullock and Meryl Streep for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, but I reported on that year before last.

"Up" wins 2 Academy Awards 2010

Up, the heartwarming masterpiece from Disney Studios and Pixar an directed by Peter Docter, won two Academy Awards at the 92nd ceremony, held March 7, 2010.  It won Best Animated Feature Film, and it also won Best Original Score for Michael Giacchino.  Up was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Sound Editing.

The reboot of Star Trek won Best Makeup.  It was nominated for Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects.

District 9 was nominated for four awards.

Helen Mirren and Meryl Streep were both nominated for Best Actress.

Kavoshgar 3 launched 2010

Iran's Aerospace Research Institute launched its first biological payload aboard Kavoshgar-3 (Explorer-3) February 3, 2010.  It carried one rodent, two turtles, and several worms into sub-orbital space, and returned them alive back to Earth. 

"Up" wins two Grammy Awards 2010

Disney's and Pixar's computer-animated masterpiece Up won the Grammy for the Best Original Score at the 52nd annual ceremony January 31, 2010. Composer Michael Giacchino was also nominated for his score for Star Trek.  

His song from Up Married Life won the Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition.  His Up with End Credits was nominated for Best Instrumental Arrangement.

Meryl Streep wins Golden Globe 2010

Meryl Streep won her 7th Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy for her role as Julia Child in Julie & Julia.  She received the honor at the ceremony held January 17, 2010.  She was up for the same award for her role in It's Complicated.

"TRON: Legacy" released 2010

The long-awaited sequel to Tron, TRON: Legacy, was released December 17, 2010.  I enjoyed Tron and I was not disappointed by its sequel.  Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner reprise their roles as Kevin Flynn and Alan Bradley, respectively.  

Although it opened to mixed reviews, it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Sound Editing.  It won two Saturn Awards:  Best Production Design and Jeff Bridges won for Best Actor.

Daft Punk, the French duo who composed the score, won an Austin Film Critics Association award for Best Original Score. 

Soyuz TMA-19 launched 2010

Soyuz TMA-19 crew (L-R): Douglas Wheelock, Shannon Walker, Fyodor Yurchikhin

Mission patch

Soyuz TMA-19, launched June 16, 2010 (America time), carried members of Expedition 24 to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin (Roscosmos), Shannon Walker and Douglas Wheelock.  The spacecraft remained docked to the ISS for Expeditions 24 and 25.  The crew returned to Earth November 2010.

Donna Summer releases "Crayons" 2008

Goddess of Disco Donna Summer released her seventeenth and final studio album Crayons May 20, 2008.  It was her first full-length album in fourteen years.  Unfortunately, it only reached #17 on the Billboard 200 charts.

Stamp Your Feet was the first single, released April 15, 2008. The second single I'm A Fire reached #1 on the Billboard dance/club chart, her 13th #1 on that chart.

Akatsuki, JAXA Venus Climate Orbiter, launched 2010

Akatsuki (Dawn), launched May 20, 2010, is a Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency spacecraft to study the Venusian atmosphere.  The spacecraft was supposed to attain orbit over Venus in December 2010, but the maneuver failed.  Akatsuki was placed in a heliocentric orbit.

A second orbital insertion burn was initiated in December 2015 and the maneuver was successful.  Akatsuki began its operations in May 2016.  Its mission has been extended through the end of 2020 and further missions may be possible.

Atlantis (STS-132) launched 2010

STS-132 crew

Seated front: Ken Ham

Seated back (L-R): Garrett Reisman, Stephen Bowen

Standing back row (L-R): Michael Good, Dominic Antonelli, Piers Sellers

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-132), launched May 14, 2010, was the penultimate flight of Atlantis.  Its crew consisted of Commander Kenneth Ham, Pilot Dominic Antonelli, Garrett Reisman, Michael Good, Stephen Bowen, and Piers Sellers.

The primary mission was to deliver the Russian Rassvet Mini-Research Module to the International Space Station.

Reisman, Bowen, and Good performed three EVAs for a total of over 20 hours.  The crew returned to Earth May 26.

This was to be the last flight of Atlantis but NASA declared that Atlantis would fly the final mission of the entire space shuttle program, STS-135.

"Iron Man 2" released 2010

Iron Man 2, directed by Jon Favreau, was released in the US May 7, 2010.  It was the sequel to Iron Man released in 2008.  It starred Robert Downey, Jr in the title role with Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan.

It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.   It was the seventh-highest grossing film of 2010.

Soyuz TMA-18 launched 2010

Soyuz TMA-18 crew (L-R): Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Aleksandr Skvortsov, Mikhail Korniyenko

Mission patch

Soyuz TMA-18, launched April 2, 2010, carried three members of Expedition 23 to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Aleksandr Skvortsov, Mikhail Korniyenko, Tracy Caldwell Dyson.

They returned to Earth September 24 after several attempts to undock the Soyuz TMA-18 spacecraft from the ISS.

ABBA inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2010

Swedish super-group ABBA was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame March 15, 2010.  The Bee Gees Barry and Robin made the announcement.  ABBA released eight studio albums and have won numerous international music awards.

Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad  were on hand to accept the recognition.  Bjorn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Faltskog are the other two members of the group.

Genesis was inducted the same night.

"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.

"RED" released 2010

RED, released October 15, 2010, is one of the best action-comedies ever filmed.  It starred Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich and Morgan Freeman.  Mary Stuart Masterston, Karl Urban, Ernest Borgnine, Brian Cox and Richard Dreyfus finished out the ensemble cast.

Bruce Willis plays a retired CIA agent (RED = Retired Extremely Dangerous), living quietly when he realizes that someone is trying to kill him. He contacts his old team to find out why he is being targeted. 

Helen Mirren won the Alliance of Women Film Journalists for Actress Defying Age and Ageism for her work in RED.

Soyuz TMA-01M launched 2010

Soyuz TMA-01M crew (L-R): Scott Kelly, Aleksandr Kaleri, Oleg Skripochka

Mission patch

Soyuz TMA-01M, launched October 7, 2010, carried the members of Expedition 25 to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Aleksandr Kaleri (RSA), Oleg Skripochka (RSA) and Scott Kelly (NASA).  It was the first flight of the new TMA-M spacecraft, which Kelly praised for the upgrades.

They continued experiments on life sciences, remote sensing and activities of the European Space Agency.  They returned to Earth in March 2011.

Endeavour (STS-130) launched 2010

STS-130 mission patch

Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-130), launched February 8, 2010, was the 10th flight of Endeavour to the International Space Station. Its crew consisted of Commander George Zamka, Pilot Terry Virts, Kathryn Hire, Stephen Robinson, Nicholas Patrick and Robert Behnken.

Patrick and Behnken performed 3 EVAs during the mission for a total of 18 1/2 hours.

They returned to Earth on February 22.

Soyuz TMA-20 launched 2010

L-R: Catherine Coleman, Dmitri Kondratyev, Paolo Nespoli

Mission patch 

Soyuz TMA-20, launched December 15, 2010, carried the second crew of Expedition 26 to the International Space Station. Its crew consisted of Commander Dmitri Kondratyev (Roscosmos), Catherine Coleman (NASA) and Paolo Nespoli (ESA).  The spacecraft docked with the ISS two days later.

The first crew of Expedition 26 arrived on Soyuz TMA-01M in October. 

After 157 day, Soyuz TMA-20 undocked from the ISS and touched down in Kazakhstan May 24, 2011.