Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawai'ian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Gary Locke, first Chinese American governor

Gary Locke, born January 21, 1950 in Seattle, Washington, is the first Asian American to become the governor of state in the continental US. His father was born in Taishan, China and moved to the US in 1931.

He attended Yale University, graduating with a BA in political science in 1972. He obtained his Juris Doctor from Boston University School of Law in 1975.  In  1996, He won the general election for governor of Washington, becoming the first Chinese American governor in US history. Locke was re-elected in 2000, but declined a run for a third term.

In March 2009, he was sworn in as President Obama's Secretary of Commerce.  Locke became US Ambassador to China in 2011.  He stepped down as ambassador in November 2013 to spend more time with his family.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Bonnie Dunbar!

Bonnie Dunbar, born March 3, 1949 in Sunnyside, Washington, has flown on five space shuttle missions and been to Mir twice.

Her first flight as aboard Challenger (STS-61-A) as mission specialist in October-November 1985. The mission was funded and directed by West Germany.

Her second flight was aboard Columbia (STS-32) as mission specialist in January 1990.  

Her third flight was again aboard Columbia (STS-50) as mission specialist in June-July 1992.  Its primary objective was the US Microgravity Laboratory 1.

Her fourth flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-71) as mission specialist to the space station Mir in June-July 1995.  It was the first Space Shuttle docking to the Russian space station.

Her fifth and final flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-89) as mission specialist to Mir in January 1998.  The mission swapped crew members aboard Mir. 

Happy birthday, astronaut Anne McClain!

Anne McClain, born June 7, 1979 in Spokane, Washington, went into space aboard Soyuz MS-11 as flight engineer in December 2018 to the International Space Station.  She participated in Expeditions 58 and 59 before returning to Earth in June 2019.

Dick Scobee, Challenger pilot and commander, born 1939

Richard "Dick" Scobee, born May 19, 1939 in Cle Elum, Washington, was commander of the Challenger (STS-51-L) when it exploded after liftoff January 28, 1986.

He had been in space previously aboard the Challenger (STS-41-C) as pilot in April 1984.  The mission lasted almost 7 days.

Happy birthday, astronaut Michael Barratt!

Michael Barratt, born April 16, 1959 in Vancouver, Washington, is a veteran of two space flights.

His first mission was aboard Soyuz TMA-14 in March 2009 to the International Space Station.  He participated in Expeditions 19 and 20.  He and fellow astronaut Gennady Padalka performed two EVAs during the mission.  Barratt returned to Earth October 2009.

His second and final mission was aboard Discovery's final mission (STS-133) as mission specialist in February-March 2011 to the ISS.  Barratt operated the Canadarm2 during the mission.

In October 2004, Barratt participated in the Aquarius underwater laboratory during the NEEMO 7 mission.

"Dante's Peak" released 1997

Dante's Peak, starring Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton, was released February 7, 1997.  The story is about a fictional, dormant volcano, Dante's Peak, Washington, showing signs of erupting.  The eruptions threaten the picturesque town of the same name. 

Brosnan is a US geologist sent to assess the volcano to determine if it is preparing to erupt.  Hamilton plays the mayor/coffee shop owner in town.

Dante's Peak didn't receive favorable reviews although it was better at the box office than Volcano, released a couple of months later.  Its visual effects were not nominated for an Academy Award because it had some stiff competition with Jurassic Park: The Lost World and Titanic, which won the award.

Remembering Gemini and Apollo astronaut Dick Gordon (1929-2017)

Astronaut Richard "Dick" Gordon, veteran of the Gemini and Apollo programs, passed away yesterday in California at the age of 88.  He was born October 5, 1929 in Seattle and received a Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry(!) in 1951 from the University of Washington.

His first flight was aboard Gemini XI with Pete Conrad.  They docked with the Agena Target Vehicle on the first orbit, only an hour and 34 minutes after launch, the first time attempting this maneuver.  Dick performed two EVAs for a total of 2 hours and 41 minutes.

His second and final flight was aboard Apollo 12, which was struck by lightning during takeoff, but made it to the moon safely.  Gordon orbited the moon in the Lunar Orbiter while Pete Conrad and Alan Bean walked on the moon.

He was assigned backup commander for Apollo 15 and was to walk on the moon during the Apollo 18 mission but that flight was cancelled.

Happy birthday, Gemini and Apollo astronaut Dick Gordon!

Richard "Dick" Gordon, born October 5, 1929 in Seattle, Washington, is one of only 24 men who have been to the moon.  He got a degree in Chemistry from the University of Washington and then went on to become a pilot in the military.

He was selected as an astronaut candidate in 1963 and was back-up pilot for Gemini VIII.  His first space flight was as pilot of Gemini XI, with Pete Conrad.

Gordon was Command Module Pilot for Apollo 12 in November 1969, with Alan Bean and Pete Conrad.  He remained in orbit above the moon taking pictures of possible future landing sites, while his comrades were strolling around the Ocean of Storms.

He was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame March 19, 1993.

Apollo-Soyuz Test Project - linking American and Russian spacecraft 1975

In the early 1970's while tensions between Washington, DC  and the Kremlin ran high, a small group of scientists from both country worked toward a collusion...er, a collaboration....perhaps a joint space mission(?) for the space programs of both countries could meet in space.

A cooperative mission was first proposed by NASA Administrator Thomas O. Paine and the Soviet Academy of Sciences president Mstislav Keldysh accepted.  The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) was not universally considered a good idea, with many Americans feeling the ASTP would give the USSR to much access and help them get a step up.

The crew of the Apollo spacecraft was Commander Thomas P. Stafford (from Oklahoma!), Command Module Pilot Vance D. Brand (Colorado) and Docking Module Pilot Donald K. (Deke) Slayton (Wisconsin).  The Soyuz 19 crew consisted of Commander Alexey Leonov and Flight Engineer Valeri Kubasov.

Both spacecraft launched July 15, 1975 within hours of each other and docked on July 17.  The historic handshake between American and Soviet crews too place over Metz, France.  The astronauts and cosmonauts spoke in each other's languages, but because Stafford had a pronounced drawl when speaking Russian, Leonov joed that the languages spoken during the mission were Russian, English and "Oklahomski."

The ships separated after 44 hours and went their separate ways. The Soviets stayed in space for five days while the Americans remained for nine.  Soyuz 19 returned to Earth on July 21.  Apollo returned on July 24, an error occured and the crew was exposed to toxic nitrogen tetroxide fumes.  Brand lost consciousness but Stafford managed to get emergency oxygen masks on him and Brand and gave one to Slayton.  They were hospitalized for two weeks in Oahu (!) but made full recoveries.

Review of "The Legend of Devil's Creek"

I downloaded this book based on the blurb, since it sounded like a good paranormal thriller.  It was a good mystery but I wasn't prepared for the stomach-churning scenes.  Alexander gets a little too graphic in his depictions of the grisly murders that take place in the vicinity of a small college on an island in Washington's Puget Sound.  But they were nothing compared to the tales of child abuse and animal abuse, recalled by the enrolled in a philosophy class at the university.

The gruesome deaths mirror exactly a series of deaths that occurred in the same area nearly a century before.  Back then, a young boy, horribly abused by a step-father, dies at the hands of schoolmates who bullied him without mercy.  Soon after, all the bullies are murdered in horrible fashion.  Afterwards, several more deaths, known child abusers and wife beaters, are killed the same way.  Mysteriously, the murders cease but the killer is never caught.  Some eighty to ninety years later, someone is targeting child abusers and wife beaters again. 

Riddley has just transferred to St. Jerome and is befriended by Chapman, a former high school, buddy of his, Boyd, Lazko, Sandhurst and Catherine.  They are all enrolled in the same philosophy class.  Their professor engages them in lengthy discussions on evil.  Despite the grisly murders being nearby, the class discussion doesn't address the Devil's Creek killer.  Riddley and his classmates discuss the evilness during camping trips involving drinking, smoking weed and swapping growing-up stories, my-step-father-was-worse-than-your-step-father type tales, which serve as the basis for child abuse scenes.

As more bodies are found, the local law enforcement is grasping at straws, since clues are scarce.  They suspect one of Riddley's friends but the final unmasking is a surprise, as any good whodunit should.

Still, Alexander leaves a number of questions unanswered.  For example, why did the killer copy the early murders to the smallest detail?  How did he find his victims?  How could he forge a signature?  What was his connection to the elderly woman who was a friend of the boy killed so long ago?

The Legend of Devil's Creek killer is a good psychological thriller but certainly not one to read on a full stomach.