Starship Version 3 Takes Flight

Starship V3 is alive and kicking! The new, massively upgraded Starship and SuperHeavy rocket made its debut on Friday, and it was simply beautiful.

Starlink provided absolutely gorgeous high-quality video of the entire hour+ flight - far and away the best video of spaceflight I've ever seen. One of the mission objectives was to deploy 20 Starlink satellites (which it did), and one of the satellites switched on to capture a view of Starship after it deployed. It's really incredible video, and you can check it out here: https://x.com/SpaceX/status/2057962516282577014

The mission did not hit 100% success - the booster engines shut off early after separation, and one of Ship's engines didn't light. But it flew just fine on 5 engines (redundancy FTW) and executed a perfect soft splashdown in the Indian Ocean (and then exploded when it tipped over, but that was TOTALLY PLANNED and the only way for the splashdown to end). MechaZilla chopstick catches will be attempted in the near future.

Over 1,000 upgrades were made to the ship and rocket since the last flight - which is great, but this meant 1,000+ opportunities for new failures. I was nervous, I admit. But it did fantastic.

Now, let's get our asses to the moon, then Mars.

Zero-Point Energy

Zero-point energy is creeping out of the realm of scifi and toward reality, as Dr. Sonny White - the man who advanced Alcubierre’s warp bubble concept from ‘fanciful math’ to ‘maybe conceivably possibly within our reach one day’ - continues to prove he's the real deal. His company, Casimir, Inc., has exited “stealth mode” to announce the pending 2028 commercialization of MicroSparc, a chip that the company claims uses customized microscale geometries to capture unlimited ‘free’ energy from the quantum world.

Zero point energy, a favorite tech of science fiction from Stargate to, well, me, is based on a real process called the Casimir Effect (hence the company name), and Dr. White believes he can make it practical. If he pulls it off, it will revolutionize energy here at home and in space.

Read all about it here: https://thedebrief.org/free-energy-from-the-vacuum-warp-drive-pioneer-unveils-battery-free-microsparc-that-allegedly-draws-power-from-the-quantum-vacuum/

The Exoplanets of the Milky Way

NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) has released its most complete view of the starry sky to date. The blue dots represent over 700 *confirmed* exoplanets, while the orange dots correspond to over 5,000 candidates awaiting verification. All cast upon the beautiful plane of the Milky Way.

You can learn more about TESS’ mission and this update here: https://science.nasa.gov/missions/tess/nasas-planet-hunting-tess-reveals-dazzling-night-sky/

My Preciouseses

You guys.... *wipes a tear away* They'll keep me company, right beside my desk. Every day.

I try not to boast, but today, I'm so proud of what I've created. This universe and these characters will live on forever, in the world and in my heart, and I could not be happier.

And when this arrives on the day you start outlining the final book in earnest, well...emotions are going to be experienced.

Hyperion Cantos

Books 2-4 of the Broken Binding special editions of the Hyperion Cantos arrived. I'll be honest, I don't think I've ever seen more beautiful books in my life. Words fall short of capturing how stunning they are.

My #1 career goal isn't to see my books on the screen in movies or TV series - it's to have a full-out, every flourish Broken Binding edition of the Aurora Rising novels. Or, you know, all of them. ;)

Record Store Day. Who Knew?

I realize the answer is probably, "Everyone...? What rock have you been living under, Jennsen?" And it's not like I didn't know Record Store Day *existed.* But despite being a passionate lover of music, I'm not a vinyl afficionado, nor am I a hipster (which probably isn't even a thing any longer....).

But Collective Soul sent me an email saying they had an exclusive record out for Record Store Day, and it's a nice, sunny, spring Saturday, so Mr. Jennsen and I decide to jaunt out to the local record store.....

Where we find a line of 50 people! What is this madness? The doors open and everyone crowds in, running for the special "Record Store Day" racks so they can fight over 1 of the 3 copies of the special record by their niche artist of choice. I'm taken back and a little confused about what I have wandered into, but nonetheless determined. So I jostle with the best of them, suppressing my inner introvert urge to go hide in a corner from the sea of humanity.

But, nope, denied. Collective Soul is all already gone. Because apparently some people camped out overnight??? *sigh* However, while I was jostling, Mr. Jennsen was browsing the rest of the store, and he came up with the Brandi Carlile record for me, so, cool.

I think I mentioned that it was a beautiful spring Saturday, so we decided to hop down the road to Spokane, where there are many more record stores (honestly, a disproportionate number for the city's size; not sure what's up with that).

First stop, nope. But they had hindu love gods, so it's all good. Next stop, also no...but they had Joe and a double-dose of Muse. At this point, I figure I'm SOL, but now we're on an adventure, so we press on. Third stop? They just sold out, dangit. Fourth stop - SCORE! Last copy.

I got my prize. And wayyyy more records than we left the house intending to bring home.

Artemis II Images

I’m sure you all know that the Artemis II lunar flyby mission was a tremendous success, and the astronauts returned home safely. They captured a ton of incredible images while they were up there. I’ve included a few of the best below, but you can see more at https://images.nasa.gov or just scroll my X feed to check out my many, many posts and shares about the mission: https://x.com/GSJennsen.

Hyperion

My big Birthday present from Mr. Jennsen, guys: a special edition of Hyperion from The Broken Binding. Pictures will never convey how absolutely stunning this book is. Gobsmackingly beautiful.

Time for a confession, and a bit of a ramble. I've been reading scifi since I was 13 years old and writing it for 15 years...and until this year, I'd never read Hyperion. YES, I know it's considered one of the greatest scifi books ever written. YES, I know it's beloved by millions, who rant about it at every opportunity. How do you know I know? Because I've owned a beaten-up mass market paperback of this book for 35 years. It's followed me across the country and through my many moves, and been shelved in every single one of my houses. I always intended to read it.

So why hadn't I? My excuse is that I always believed Dan Simmons to be just a horror writer, in the vein of King and Koontz; which is fine - I've read some King and a lot of Koontz in my time - but I just couldn't bring myself to believe that he could write great scifi, or not the kind of scifi that I love, anyway. If you read the book description, it's about a monster called the Shrike who's killing everyone - obviously it's horror! So I let it sit.

Then, in February, Mr. Simmons passed away, and the accolades poured across the internet in a tidal wave. I read so many impassioned testimonials about this book, I was blown away. So in honor of Mr. Simmons' laudable career, I decide I would read it.

Um, so...Hyperion is an INCREDIBLE book. It is literary (in the true sense of the word - the plot is structured as an homage to The Canterbury Tales, and this story-telling style absolutely elevates the novel in myriad ways). It IS science fiction - in fact, every page is jam-packed with scifi concepts. Far-future humanity spread out amongst the stars; FTL travel, rejuvenation therapies; hundreds of exocolonies. Advanced AI plays a large role in the story (seemingly benevolent, but with interests and goals beyond our comprehension). It explores the consequences of time dilation on relationships and the impact of a post-scarcity, abundance society.

And, yes, it IS horror. The Shrike IS a monster that kills people in violent ways (it may also be much more than that - TBD). As such, it's not what I would characterize as a "happy" book. The backstories of the main characters are often tragic, and they're facing a terrible trial.

But above all, it is simply beautifully written. Every sentence feels lovingly crafted. I loved almost every minute of it.

Now, it does end on a cliffhanger - and not a gentle one. Drops you straight off a sheer cliff. This is a 4-book series. I'm currently about halfway through book 2, and the story has taken a turn into areas I did not entirely see coming. I will say that so far Book 2 is not AS good as Hyperion, in large part due to the absence of the Canterbury Tales "pilgrims' stories" structure. But it's still excellent, and I am invested.

So here's my unqualified endorsement, 30+ years after I first acquired the book: read it if you haven't.

P.S.: Mr. Jennsen also wrapped all my presents in space- and book-themed wrapping paper, then set them on the counter 4 days early so I could enjoy it.

To The Moon!

Or around it, anyway…. The Artemis II astronauts are officially on the their way to orbit the moon (and briefly journey farther than any human has ever traveled). First, though, they'll orbit Earth and test out a bunch of systems.

I won't lie; the SLS rocket had me nervous. I am a child of the shuttle disasters, and I was biting my nails during the ascent. But SLS got it done.

Now, onward into our future in space.

Enjoy some spectacular shots of the launch, and a bonus shot of Earth from the Orion spacecraft this morning (a view human eyes haven’t enjoyed in too many decades).

Image credit:

Pictures 1 and 2: Eric Kuna https://x.com/erikkuna)

Picture 3: Andrew McCarthy (https://x.com/AJamesMcCarthy)

Picture 4: NASA

BMAC

It's my once a year reminder that I have a fun Buy Me A Coffee program you can subscribe to if you like (think Patreon, without all the heavy-handed rules and fees). It comes with different tiers, so you can subscribe to exactly what you want and nothing more. Perks include:

- monthly wallpaper downloads from my book covers and other art

- monthly livestream chats, where we cover space news, tech advancements, scifi media, my books and whatever else you inquire about...oh, and I read excerpts from my current WIP

- getting every new ebook 10 days early

- getting to listen to the new audiobook as Pyper is recording it

Learn more here: https://buymeacoffee.com/gsjennsen

Emerald City Comic Con After-Action Report

TL;DR: it was awesome!

First off, the venue is just lovely. The con takes place across 2 convention centers, but the Writers' Block is in Summit, which is a new building, and it shows. The floor is carpeted and the ceiling is high with tons of skylights; even when it's cloudy (hello, Seattle....), the space is bright with natural light.

I'm a big fan of the "Writers' Block" setup, where all (or most) of the author tables are together in one place, complete with a giant sign hanging overhead so people can find it. I got to hang out with a bunch of authors (my favorite people after #MrJennsen, family and readers) all weekend. And most of the people who came down the aisle were there because they love books, so it was a target-rich environment.

Book sales were fantastic - comparable to Dragon Con, and my costs were much lower. I sold out of The Thief way early (the IAP award caught people's fancy!), so I'll bring many more copies of it in the future. Medusa Falling did great as well. Starshine always sells by far the most number of copies - but the people who love cyberpunk *really* love cyberpunk, so I'll always bring Machina as well. (Note: The Universe Within has also done well when I've brought it instead of The Thief, but, inside baseball: pitching readers on 5 different titles is too overwhelming; 3 to 4 is the sweet spot.)

Mr. Jennsen and I simply love Seattle and the whole Puget Sound region. We don't live there for several good reasons, but we get tempted every time we visit, and I'm so happy to live within driving distance of it now.