Inspiration4 Adventure

It was a big week for the future of civilian and tourist space flight! SpaceX completed the first "all-private" crew to space in a Dragon capsule on a Falcon 9 rocket. The Inspiration4 mission was privately funded and will be raising money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

The crew orbited the Earth for 3 days - can you imagine it? Then they returned safely home from what will be the first of many such missions.

You can learn more about the crew members here: https://www.upi.com/.../SpaceX.../7831631288629/, and more about the entire mission here: https://inspiration4.com/.

Special shout-out to the stuffed golden retriever tagging along for the adventure.

Originally posted on Facebook.

Staring At The Sun

“On April 29, 2015, NuSTAR, Hinode, and Solar Dynamics Observatory all stared at our Sun. 

Flaring, active regions of our Sun are highlighted in this image combining observations from  Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR (shown in blue); low-energy X-rays from Japan's Hinode spacecraft are green; and extreme ultraviolet light from Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, are yellow and red. This NuSTAR image is a mosaic made from combining smaller images.

The active regions across the Sun’s surface contain material heated to several millions of degrees. The blue-white areas showing the NuSTAR data pinpoint the most energetic spots. During the observations, microflares went off, which are smaller versions of the larger flares that also erupt from the sun's surface. The microflares rapidly release energy and heat the material in the active regions.”

https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/staring-at-the-sun

pia19821-nustar_xrt_sun.jpg

Originally posted on Twitter.

CosmoQuest-A-Con Recap

I had a fabulous time at CosmoQuest-A-Con last weekend. The sci-fi improv panel Friday evening (with Keren Landsman, Stephen Granade, Mur Lafferty and Greg Gbur) was ridiculous and hilarious - Hitchhiker's Guide has nothing on the stories we wove - and the spec-fic discussion on Sunday was a delightful celebration of being a geek in the '80s sci-fi heyday.

But, objectively, the *best* panel had to be "Imagining Humans In Space" (with Tim Chrisman, Brian Gray and Morgan Rehnberg). We had such a fascinating conversation about growing up in the space shuttle era, how we lost our way in the '90s and 2000s, and what we're doing - and still need to do - to seize the opportunity the burgeoning private space race has given us and get humanity to the stars to stay. I'm proud to have been part of this excellent discussion.

If you missed the panel but would like to check it out (it lasts an hour and change), you can watch it on Twitch here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1089556001?t=01h22m50s.

Panel.jpg

Originally posted on Facebook.

Montana Valley Book Store

During our mountain getaway, we stumbled upon this small-town used bookstore. It doesn't look like much from the outside, does it?

Well, that impression quickly changed on venturing inside. There are definitely 100,000 books available (thanks to a huge basement that is just amazing). Classic paperback releases with old-school covers, new hardbacks and everything in between. Books on every topic imaginable. A hefty section of signed and special books.

We spent half an hour talking to the wonderful owner. She followed her father into the used book business, and she regaled us with a lifetime of stories of funny author readings (starring local authors James Lee Burke and James Crumley, plus a great story about J.K. Rowling), as well as crazy tales of rare and signed books that had passed through the store.

We walked away with 5 books, of course, and a desire to return. And because we live in the modern world now, it turns out the store has a lovely website: https://www.montanavalleybookstore.com/.

Sometimes it's worth it to venture off the interstate.

Originally posted on Facebook and Instagram.

New Shepard Launch and the Future of Space Tourism

You know something important is happening when every member of my (non-spacey) family messages me to see if I'm watching.

Jeff Bezos, Wally Funk (now the oldest astronaut), Mark Bezos and Oliver Daemen (now the youngest astronaut) have gone to space and returned to Earth in Blue Origin's first crewed flight of New Shepard! I love the unabashed joy we heard from the crew as they floated in weightlessness, looking down upon the Earth and up into the stars.

The future of human tourism in space is now upon us. Yeah, yeah, they paid $28 million for the privilege. But that price is going to drop like a...well, like a rocket booster on its way back down, lol. I'm starting my savings fund today.

Originally posted on Facebook.

Dragons

From reader Sam Ash Rob on Facebook:

“Re-reading 'Starshine', a fun game came to me. Post the opening lines of a famous book, and add 'and that was when the dragon attacked.'

I'll start.

'James Bond, with two double bourbons inside him, sat in the final departure lounge of Miami Airport and thought abo'ut life and death. And that was when the dragon attacked.'

Goldfinger, Ian Fleming”

My contribution:

"In the week before their departure to Arrakis, when all the final scurrying about had reached a nearly unbearable frenzy, an old crone came to visit the mother of the boy, Paul. And that was when the dragon attacked."

- Dune, Frank Herbert

This generated a really awesome thread on Facebook - so many great opening lines from incredible books, and each one turned funny, witty, ridiculous and more with the addition of dragons. ;) If you’re so inclined, give the comments a read, and add your contribution below!

The Size of Space

This isn't the first "relative size of objects in the universe" graphic to be created, but this one caught my attention beause it includes several of the famous nebulae we all recognize, and the comparison casts them in a new light.

Just use the arrow keys or swipe to experience how tiny we are, and how vast the universe is: https://neal.fun/size-of-space/

Thanks to James Jackson for the link!

Screenshot 2021-06-15 at 15-57-48 The Size of Space.png

Originally posted on Facebook.

Red Rock Canyon

Okay, one more hike. This one (Red Rock Canyon) was a little different, scenery-wise: less forested mountains, more central Colorado's vaunted red rocks and expansive vistas.

The picture of me sitting on the ledge comes with a story. When we we came upon the outcropping, I immediately scrambled up it and plopped down. Then I declared, "This is exactly like in DISSONANCE when Alex and Caleb visited Seneca's doppleganger planet in the Mosaic. They went up into the mountains, then found a ledge, sat on the edge of it to contemplate the view, and said philosophical things."

#MrJennsen: "And what philosophical things do you have to say?"

Me: "That I wrote a scene where my characters sat on a ledge in the mountains and said philosophical things."

Originally posted on Facebook and Instagram.