Breaking News & Random Musings on Space, Technology, Sci-Fi & the View From A Writer’s Window
On July 29, 2011 the Cassini spacecraft's narrow-angle camera took this snapshot and captured 5 of Saturn's moons, from just above the ringplane. Left to right are small moons Janus and Pandora respectively 179 and 81 kilometers across, shiny 504 kilometer diameter Enceladus, and Mimas, 396 kilometers across, seen just next to Rhea.
Originally posted on Twitter.
In this view of Jupiter, NASA’s Juno spacecraft captures swirling clouds in the region of the giant planet's northern hemisphere known as JetN4. Citizen scientist Björn Jónsson created this enhanced-color image using data from JunoCam.
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA23438
Originally posted on Twitter.
I'm finally getting to updating the paperbacks with the Amaranthe rebranding (albeit slowly, because Continuum). I was working on Transcendence today, and since there were a few minor interior updates, I was flipping through the PDF proof to make sure everything looked good.
I accidentally started reading at the point where Matei Uttara attacks Caleb. Two hours later I'm still reading, utterly transfixed. And I might have teared up twice.
I know every "thing" that happens in this book like the back of my hand, but 4.5 years later, the words are brand new all over again.🥰
Oh, how I adore these guys.
Originally posted on Facebook.
“Bendy laser beams fired through the air”: https://www.nature.com/news/2009/090409/full/news.2009.360.html
Yet another example of technology in one highly specific area progressing FAR faster than I had anticipated. We're barely starting to get laser weapons, and already we're bending them!
Though 'arcalaser' is a much cooler name than 'Airy beam,' IMHO....
Granted, the article closes with the following: "Bendy laser beams that can pass through obstacles might, at first sight, also seem ideal for military applications, but that's unlikely, says Kasparian. That's because only beams with small diameters — carrying relatively little energy — can be manipulated to curve significantly. "You are not going to be able to shoot people behind walls with this," says Kasparian."
Well, not YET.😎
Originally posted on Facebook.
Wow. It's been 2 years since I made STARSHINE free for everyone. I'm thrilled (and more than a little relieved) to be able to look back at this blog post, all full of hope and belief and dice rolls and a twinge of fear as it was, and be able to say that I was right about it all.😎
Making Starshine free was the best thing I've ever done in this career (other than writing 11 more books to follow it, obviously). It's brought tens of thousands of readers to Aurora Rhapsody, many of whom might never have found or taken a chance on it. Readers who are now invested in this amazing journey through Amaranthe as we head into Riven Worlds. I am so glad all of you are here.✨
“Starshine Is Free & Other Outlandish Notions” (10/9/17): https://www.gsjennsen.com/news/2017/10/9/starshine-is-free-other-outlandish-notions
Originally posted on Facebook.
Check out Eleanor Lutz's gorgeous orbit map of the planets and 18K asteroids in the solar system. Zoom in (or download the high-res version here) and check out all the detail!
https://www.universetoday.com/142531/an-orbit-map-of-the-solar-system/
Originally posted on Facebook.
Mars Is Heaven: https://buff.ly/2nlVuSm by @BadAstronomer. Grab the full, high-res version of this amazing image taken by @esascience #MarsExpress here: https://buff.ly/2nx28oD
Originally posted on Twitter.
Say what you will, but the man has panache, and a keen sense of the moment. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1178014342031298561
This is the just-assembled Starship Mk1 Prototype, which will make its first test flight (to 20 km) next month. It's intended to be a reusable spacecraft that will go to the moon and Mars.
Curiosity enjoying a beautiful, peaceful and possibly lonely afternoon on Mars. https://twitter.com/marsrader/status/1176488000383045633
Originally posted on Twitter.
"NASA’s New Black Hole Simulation Will Completely Melt Your Brain": https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-black-hole-visualization
It really is stunning. Follow the link above for the trippy visualization flow.
During a recent perijove pass, Juno caught an absolutely incredible image of Io's shadow cast upon Jupiter.😲😍
Unless it's actually millions of monoliths devouring Jupiter's atmosphere. Which is, frankly, equally as likely.
Hi-res quality: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinmgill/48745739051/
Source and credit: https://twitter.com/kevinmgill/status/1173741101515079680
Originally posted on Facebook.
For the second time this year, a lunar lander has experienced an error and crashed in the final meters of its descent to the surface.
SPACE IS HARD, guys. I know I make it look easy in my books (as well as cool, fun and exciting 😋), but it's hard. And it's going to continue being hard for a while yet.
Originally posted on Facebook.
From inside the eye of Hurricane Dorian on Sept. 1. Source: https://twitter.com/GBlack22wx/status/1168273327531679744.
Bless the insane people who bring us these incredible images. 😮
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Is Finally 100% Assembled: https://www.space.com/nasa-james-webb-space-telescope-complete.html
Originally posted on Twitter.
"NASA launched its Spitzer Space Telescope into orbit around the Sun on Aug. 25, 2003. Since then, the observatory has been lifting the veil on the wonders of the cosmos, from our own solar system to faraway galaxies, using infrared light.
Managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, Spitzer enabled scientists to confirm the presence of seven rocky, Earth-size planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system. The telescope has also provided weather maps of hot, gaseous exoplanets and revealed a hidden ring around Saturn. It has illuminated hidden collections of dust in a wide variety of locations, including cosmic nebulas (clouds of gas and dust in space), where young stars form, and swirling galaxies. Spitzer has additionally investigated some of the universe's oldest galaxies and stared at the black hole at the center of the Milky Way.
Spitzer's primary mission lasted five-and-a-half years and ended when it ran out of the liquid helium coolant necessary to operate two of its three instruments. But its passive-cooling design has allowed part of its third instrument to continue operating for more than 10 additional years. The mission is scheduled to end on Jan. 30, 2020.
In honor of Spitzer's Sweet 16 in space, here are 16 amazing images from the mission.": http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/news/2195-ssc2019-15-Sixteen-Images-for-Spitzer-s-Sweet-16
Behind the Scenes at Earth's Most Beautiful Rocket Launch Site: https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/08/behind-the-scenes-at-earths-most-beautiful-rocket-launch-site/
Who’s up for a vacation to New Zealand?
EUROPA. We just *cannot* leave well enough alone....😋 https://www.nasa.gov/feature/europa-clippers-mission-to-jupiter-s-icy-moon-confirmed
*insert ‘all these worlds’ pithy remark*
You all remember how Starshine was 155K words, and that was awesome? Good.🤗
...
I've written over 45K words on this book, and those cover the skeletal first drafts of around 1/3 of the scenes depicted here. #Imjustsaying
I don't post about other books often, mostly because I fully appreciate that readers are a finnicky lot. You like what you like, and just because you like my books doesn't mean you'll like the books I choose to read. Go forth and make your own book choices!
But I'm going to mention the anthology I just finished, "MISSION CRITICAL," edited by Jonathan Strahan, for two reasons. One, I figure there's at least 1 or 2 stories in it that each of you will enjoy; two, a couple of the stories genuinely stoked my imagination.
The premise of the anthology is an exploration of what people will (or won't) do when everything goes wrong (in space), and their actions in the next seconds or minutes or hours will determine who lives and who dies.
I won't comment on the stories I didn't enjoy or were meh/forgettable, because, again, you may disagree. The ones I DID enjoy:
"The Empty Gun" by Yoon Ha Lee. It features an unlikable protagonist and a dark, doom-upon-the-world mood, yet it nonetheless struck a strong chord with me. While I've long been aware of Lee's acclaimed Machineries of Empire books, I've never read them - but when I finished this story I immediately went and purchased Ninefox Gambit.
"Something in the Air" by Carolyn Ives Gilman. This story takes a concept near and dear to my writer heart, our (limited) understanding of quantum indeterminacy and entanglement, and turns it right on its head. In the early pages I thought I saw clear as day where the story was going, and I was wrong. I do feel like it would work better as a novella, as the story was thin in several places, felt rushed and ultimately left so much on the table. But damn if it didn't get me thinking!
"Genesong" by Peter F. Hamilton. Everyone here knows I'm a Hamilton fan, but the interesting thing about this story is how un-Hamilton it is. He's known for his impressive worldbuilding and the epic scale of his stories - not for his stories' emotional depth or resonance. The technological premise did borrow a bit from his Edenists in The Night's Dawn trilogy, but the story was poignant and soulful, even downright heartbreaking. I know how tough it is to stray outside your writing comfort zone, so props to Mr. Hamilton.
"Lost in Splendor" by John Meaney. This one maybe wasn't as unique as the other three, but the GenGs reminded me a lot of the Prevos in Renegades, and Shep was a notably likeable protagonist. Also, silver spiders and golden monkeys....😵
Originally posted on Facebook.
