Well, that took about 10 seconds! Now to go construct an elaborate self-canon that explains Alex Solovy being on Bastion wearing N7 armor.... #1stWorldWriterProblems
Originally posted on Twitter.
70K for The Stars Like Gods
Did you know The Stars Like Gods already has 70,000 words? Messy words, but words nonetheless.
Yesterday I reached the point where I needed to map out what I had, so I could identify holes still needing to be filled. Plot holes, but mostly character holes. So I grabbed some paper and a bunch pens and created a gorgeous flow chart in my infamous scrawl. (I swear, I couldn't draw a straight line if I had a gun pointed at my head.) 🤣 The holes I found are in red. 💢
Yes, it's a tiny picture, for good reason. 😋
Originally posted on Facebook.
A Celebration of Opportunity
The NASA press conference was a beautiful, heartfelt celebration of the 15 years of Opportunity's mission and a look to the future of Mars exploration.
Over the last 9 months, the team sent over 1,000 recovery commands to try and wake Opportunity up, ultimately to no avail. The last message Opportunity sent translated as “My battery is low and it is getting dark.” 🥺 Amidst a month-long, record-setting dust storm, it was simply too cold and too dark for too long.
Now the internet is overflowing with personal tributes, and more than a few tears. Here are a few, as well as some images and infographics:
Official statement and mission recap from JPL: https://mars.nasa.gov/…/nasas-opportunity-rover-mission-on…/
XKCD Comic "Opportunity": https://xkcd.com/2111/
A comic with a happy ending, one day: https://twitter.com/GlenMaffews/status/1095514961940488192
More hope for a reunion in the future: “And in 200 years time the little rover will awaken to someone cleaning and repairing it and fitting new batteries, and it'll roll outside and look out over the city of the same name, its home.”: https://twitter.com/od_stuff/status/1096069782724591616
A thread on what went wrong for Opportunity: https://twitter.com/JacobMargolis/status/1095436908899913729
A thread on what Opportunity has meant for humanity, and why we cry at its loss: https://twitter.com/shannonmstir…/status/1095730251873714176
A live blog thread on the NASA press conference: https://twitter.com/tanyaofmars/status/1095759187227770880
Another beautiful goodbye: https://twitter.com/MarsRovers/status/1095760214169546752
A eulogy by Rachel Feltman: https://www.popsci.com/mars-opportunity-eulogy
A whole Flikr gallery of images from Opportunity over the years by Jason Major: https://www.flickr.com/…/lightsinth…/sets/72157669559511817/
Curiosity’s tribute to Opportunity: https://twitter.com/MarsCuriosity/status/1095788439155306496
Even The Onion got sentimental: https://www.theonion.com/spacecraft-travel-from-all-over-galaxy-to-honor-end-of-1832602862
Beautiful thoughts from Scott Maxwell, who relayed commands to Opportunity for years: https://twitter.com/marsroverdriver/status/1095786993957535744
Ad astra to Opportunity, the finest planetary rover we’ve ever known: https://twitter.com/DeanBobbyBraun/status/1095778180269522944
I'm not crying, you're crying. Okay, fine, we're all crying. 😭
Originally posted on Facebook (with updates).
Opportunity Update
NASA will hold a press conference Wednesday at 2PM EST to share the results of its efforts to reestablish contact with Opportunity. All indications are that it won't be good news, and may very well mark the end of the mission.
It's been 9 months since communication with the rover was lost during a massive Mars dust storm.
Whatever happens, here's a beautiful piece about Opportunity and some of the lives it's touched by Shannon Stirone: https://medium.com/…/its-time-to-say-goodbye-to-our-beloved…. Expect a lot more pieces like this to be posted in coming days.
Cassini Drive-By
Io in front of Jupiter; a color-composite made from images captured by Cassini on Jan. 1, 2001 as the spacecraft passed by on its way to Saturn. Io was 9.55 million km from Cassini, Jupiter was 9.9 million km away. Io is about 3,630 km across...about 155 km wider than our Moon. Shared by Jason Major.
Originally posted on Twitter.
Tour Alien Worlds
Surround yourself with the beauty of deep space with these sweet new FREE posters. SEE MORE >>
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/tour-alien-worlds-with-new-multimedia-treats
Originally posted on Twitter.
Last Light
"All these worlds are yours (except Europa)." *shrug* It seemed appropriate. 😌
This image is being called "last light," a bookend to the first full image from Kepler, captured a decade earlier (https://www.nasa.gov/content/keplers-first-light).
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/ames/kepler-s-final-image-shows-a-galaxy-full-of-possibilities
New Device Is Better Than Old Device
The new model Kindle Paperwhite has replaced an aging (if not *technically* broken) Voyage. It's an upgrade in every way - thinner, lighter, faster, better screen - but it's an incremental upgrade, not a revolutionary one.
I'm very happy with it, but Amazon...I'm pretty sure I know how to work a Kindle, and I'm frankly a little insulted that you think I need❗THREE⁉️ User Guides.... 😶
Great American Eclipse
Wide Field View of Great American Eclipse in August 2017. Image Credit: Nicholas Lefaudeux (https://buff.ly/2sRTGQ6)
Originally posted on Twitter.
Just A Little Inspiration
Just a little inspiration, for me as much as for you, on a morning when I'm trying to write despite having the flu, and am gently kicking ACX over where the h*ck my audiobook is. 🤨
I couldn't find any attribution for the quote, but shout if you know who said it.
Hat tip to We Rate Dogs for teaching me how to keep my cursing clean. (Don't worry, this won't extend to the books, lol. Or any other part of my life. But We Rate Dogs is awesome.) 😋
Did anyone else immediately think of Akeso when they read the first two sentences?
Originally posted on Facebook.
Foothills of Mount Sharp
Bits of the foothills of Mount Sharp, imaged by Curiosity yesterday on Mars.
Originally posted on Twitter.
New Hi-Res Image of Ultima Thule
A new higher-resolution image of #MU69 #UltimaThule has been released by @JHUAPL, captured by @NewHorizons2015 MVIC at 05:26 UT (12:26 a.m. EST) on Jan. 1 from a distance of 6,700 kilometers (4,200 miles). http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/News-Article.php?page=20190124
Via Jason Major.
Originally posted on Twitter.
Stunning Animation of a Solar Flare Captures Its Life from Birth to Death
The headline says it all: https://www.space.com/43034-solar-flare-animation.html
Originally posted on Twitter.
Here's the best-ever image (so far) of Sagittarius A*, the black hole at the center our galaxy: https://futurism.com/black-hole-image-devouring-galaxy
Originally posted on Twitter.
It's All Getting Better
A positive reminder that, though on any given day or even year it might not seem like it (and it's in the media's interest not to report it), humanity, the world, society - it's all getting better. We've made amazing progress over the last 200 years; the improvements began accelerating in the last 80 years, and a simple extrapolation from historical data suggests those curves are going to keep accelerating upward.
THIS is why we'll go to the stars. Better yet, this is why we'll deserve to. 🤗
Via Bill Gates: https://twitter.com/BillGates/status/1086662632587907072
More information on the data behind the graphs: https://ourworldindata.org/a-history-of-global-living-condi…
Rereading Nuggets
I'm updating my paperbacks (front/back matter), and I've often found myself rereading random scenes while flipping through.
This interchange in RELATIVITY, from when Eren first makes the acquaintance of Alex, Caleb and Valkyrie, made me smile for the whole damn day.
#bookquote #ilovemycharacters
The Nika Show
OMG Nika, would you quit being such an attention whore and let someone else talk for five seconds! 🙄
(Okay, okay, this is actually totally normal. She is the glue that holds the story together and the thread that weaves through it from beginning to end. While I'm getting the core elements of the tale down, it's her story. But I don't think she minds....)
Originally posted on Facebook.
Titan In Infrared
Titan's Thick Clouds Obscure our View, but Cassini Took these Images in Infrared, Showing the Moon's Surface Features
Originally posted on Twitter.
25 Greatest Sci-Fi Tropes
Wait...people write entire books about only 1 of these at a time? 🤔
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/the-25-greatest-science-fiction-tropes-ranked/
Originally posted on Facebook.
The best science images of the year: 2018 in pictures
They’re not all space-related, but the ones that are….😍
The first two are stunningly gorgeous, but I’ve always loved that Rosetta gif of Comet 67P. Just haunting.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07684-4 (image credits at the link)
Originally posted on Twitter.