Breaking News & Random Musings on Space, Technology, Sci-Fi & the View From A Writer’s Window
The James Webb Space Telescope is home! On Monday it completed its orbital burn and inserted itself perfectly into orbit at the L2 Lagrange Point.
What's next? A three-month process of aligning the telescope’s optics to nearly nanometer precision so it can bring us those sweet, sweet images of the cosmos.
Learn more: https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/01/24/orbital-insertion-burn-a-success-webb-arrives-at-l2/
Originally posted on Facebook.
Well my goodness does discovering this make my day! To see one's own words quoted back at me atop a tapestry of beautiful images? It makes me all giddy inside.
(The pic is just of the first 2. There are many more at the link.)
Originally posted on Facebook.
We went skiing in our backyard today.
Yes, I exaggerate - but only by the tiniest amount. It was so beautiful, and I am so damn lucky to be here. #grateful
Our next-door neighbor took the picture of #MrJennsen and I - because, yes, we ran into our next-door neighbor at the ski resort, lol. Also the guy who brought us firewood this fall and the owner of the local burger joint.
And if you worry I'm getting distracted by the mountains' majesty, don't - I'll hit 100,000 words on Chaotica this week.
Well, The Expanse series finale was simply wonderful.
(**Warning: Spoilers** Don't click on the image if you want to experience it for yourself when you watch the episode.)
Was the final season too short? Yes. Did it at times feel both rushed and meandering, leaving some threads dangling? Yes. But they stuck the landing in a beautiful way, showing the power of human goodness and determination to persevere and win the day - and also how humans still remain very, very complicated. Flawed, imperfect, but trying to be better.
Also, they included one of the best Easter Eggs I've ever seen - a cornucopia of sci-fi love packed into one image that was only on the screen for a few seconds. Massive props to #MrJennsen for a keen eye and swift pause finger. Can you identify them all? It's okay, you can cheat (here's the full list): https://winteriscoming.net/2022/01/14/the-expanse-finale-awesome-easter-egg-sci-fi-references/
Originally posted on Facebook.
So it turns out, it DOES snow in Montana. Total shock to us all, I know. In Colorado, we gave storms that dumped this much snow names. Here, we apparently call it "Friday."
#MrJennsen is not short of stature, and yep, it's up past his knees. Also, we lost a tiny tree limb to the weight of the snow that had perched atop it. "Firewood for next year" is the mantra to be uttered whenever this happens.
P.S.: It's wonderful and beautiful - all light and fluffy - and we're so glad we don't need to leave the house for several days!
OMG. This is easily the most insane thing I've ever seen - and that's just the trailer. Science? What science! Doesn't matter. I cannot overstate how excited I am to see this absurdity we call a "film."
”NEW MOONFALL TRAILER COULDN’T BE MORE PERFECTLY RIDICULOUS”: https://nerdist.com/article/moonfall-movie-trailer-halle-berry-patrick-wilson
“Moonfall” trailer on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ivIwdQBlS10
Originally posted on Facebook.
Guys, "Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir is an amazing book.
I realize I might be late to the party here. What can I say - it was a busy year. But here's my endorsement, tardy or otherwise.
Is it as good as The Martian? Maybe, maybe not. Probably not quite. Doesn't really matter.
Is it the same as The Martian? In several ways, yes. There's no question that Weir writes with a very strong "voice" and a very distinctive style; this means that PHM often "feels" like The Martian. In fact, this might be the only type of book that Weir ever writes. But that will be okay, because it's an excellent type of book to write. One way it *isn't* like The Martian, though is the addition of a second, very unique and interesting character for the main character to interact with (I don't think I'm spoiling much here, and I won't say more on it). And that does make all the difference.
No dissertation here. No intellectual analysis or critique. I'm simply of the opinion that this is an excellent book, and as fellow sci-fi lovers, I thought you might like to know.
“Project Hail Mary” on Amazon: https://amzn.to/34lXoau
Originally posted on Facebook.
50% update on CHAOTICA!
Just kidding. No way am I 50% finished with this book. You all totally knew I was joking with that 120K target, right?
Originally posted on Facebook.
Had an awesome weekend playing in the snow with rock star fantasy author and dear friend Katie Cross. Magical portals and quantum wormholes alike were carved through the ice (but, strangely, it was still snowy on the other side...).
Who's very nervous about this launch? I am very nervous about this launch. Next Friday, Christmas Eve, is the moment of truth....
“5 critical moments will determine the success or failure of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope”: https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/5-moments-nasas-james-webb/.
“NASA confirms next Friday for Webb Space Telescope launch”: https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/nasa-confirms-friday-webb-space-telescope-launch-81816784
JWST has been so expensive and delayed so many times, and it's so important (Hubble is on its 18th life now), and it's such a complex yet delicate device.... The article points out 5 big things that can go wrong, but so can 1,000 smaller ones. And if it does fail, will we build another one? Will it take another 20 years to do so? Will we have to wait until one of the billionaires takes pity on the scientists and builds one on the moon?
But I also realize that, excepting the exorbitant cost and absurd delays, these risks apply to every launch. We've lost several rovers to Mars on the landing attempt, but we keep going back. We thought we'd lost Hubble not long after launch, but we fixed it, and look what it's done. So, yes, I'm always nervous at big launches.
Originally posted on Facebook.
This video of the Parker Solar Probe's dive through the sun's corona is absolutely mind-blowing. It's only 13 seconds, so take those seconds to watch it - you won't regret it: https://youtu.be/IQXNqhQzBLM
And look at the Milky Way in the background! WOW. I am amazed and humbled at these incredible images.
More info on the event:
"For the first time ever, a spacecraft has flown through the Sun’s outer atmosphere. The Parker Solar Probe passed through the out portion of the Sun’s corona in April of 2021, passing directly through streamers of solar plasma. Not only are the solar particles and dust visible streaming past the spacecraft, astronomer Karl Battams confirmed that other objects visible in the video are Mercury, Venus, THE MILKY WAY (the large vertical structure seen in the video, which is stunning/jarring when you realize it) then Saturn, Earth and Jupiter. https://www.universetoday.com/.../parker-solar-probe.../
(Note: this video is actually from the probe's previous pass - data from its most recent dive will begin arriving Dec. 23. Might it include an even *more* astounding video?)
Originally posted on Facebook.
NASA’s Curiosity rover captured a remarkable image from its most recent perch on the side of Mars’ Mount Sharp. The mission team was so inspired by the beauty of the landscape, they combined two versions of the black-and-white images from different times of the day and added colors to create a rare postcard from the Red Planet.
More about how the image was created here: https://mars.nasa.gov/news/9080/nasas-curiosity-rover-sends-a-picture-postcard-from-mars/
Originally posted on Twitter.
Now that the season has concluded, I suppose I have to talk about “Foundation,” don’t I? *sigh*
You all know I favor an optimistic, positive outlook whenever possible. So here’s the positive! The production values are incredible, and the show is visually stunning. Several of the performances are very compelling (Lou Llobell as Gaal, Lee Pace as Day, and Jared Harris as Hari Seldon, in particular). More sci-fi on TV is always a good thing, and I give the showrunners props for spending a lot of money to tell a complex, long game story in a thoughtful manner. Also, Seldon’s “crisis” appearance was definitely more exciting than it is in the books!
If you enjoyed the show on its own merits, that’s awesome. I’m not here to harangue you in any way. Continue loving it.
BUT.
Someone on Twitter said, “They’ve always said that Foundation is unfilmable. It still hasn’t been.” I am forced to agree. I knew going in that there were going to be significant differences, but…damn. (Note: I don’t have a problem with the gender-swapping, as a rule; the cast of the first three novels is 99.9% male, so something had to change.)
But…damn. It’s as if they plucked a bunch of character and location names from the novels, threw them all into a blender, dumped the results out onto the counter, and stitched them all back together into something I like to call, “Not Foundation.”
But it’s not really about all the (many) discrete plot changes. It’s that the show doesn’t “feel” like Foundation in any discernable way. In a thousand small ways but two really big ones:
(1) In rereading the series recently (obviously), I was struck anew at how colorful and vivid Asimov’s writing is. His dialogue is over-the-top, often veering into purple prose. The characters are overdramatic, cocky and confident, making grand declarations with a flourish of a hand and a swish of a sash. It’s wonderful.
The show, though? It’s so…heavy. Ponderous. Weighted down. The dialogue is Very Serious, always. This frankly feels like an adaptation of an Arthur C. Clarke story, not an Asimov one (though they were relative contemporaries and share space on the Great Sci-Fi Masters shelf, their writing styles are very different). They should have gotten someone like Joss Whedon to write the dialogue—his style isn’t a perfect match, but it would have gotten much closer to the feel and dynamic of Asimov’s writing.
I hope they never bring in Arkady Darrell, because the writers have shown themselves completely incapable of capturing her ridiculous spirit, gumption and spunk.
(2) The story violates the fundamental underpinnings of psychohistory. At least twice, someone declares that the fate of the Seldon Plan rests on a single, special individual. Hari himself says this!
Look, we all love the “Chosen One” trope (well, some people do), but the Foundation novels do not. It’s stated repeatedly—really, ad nauseum—in the books that psychohistory only predicts the behaviors of great masses of people. It can’t predict the actions of a single person (this is why the Mule nearly wrecks the whole thing).
Because I’m such a ridiculous nerd and always have been, I wrote my AP English paper on the tension between free will and determinism in the Foundation series. And it isn’t only a tension—it’s arguably a fundamental flaw in the books. It IS individuals who solve the Seldon Crises. The main character of each story arc saves the day because they’re clever and smart and think their way through a seemingly unwinnable situation. Psychohistory posits that it was inevitable that someone would do so, but it doesn’t care who it would be.
This contradiction(?) is a totally reasonable criticism of the novels—but it IS what the novels say. The show abandons an excellent opportunity to play with this tension in favor of going all in on the “Chosen One.”
So, yes, I’m disappointed. I’m disappointed at the stories that aren’t being told here, and at the opportunities being passed by. Honestly—and I hate to say this—the experience makes me even more reluctant to option Amaranthe for the screen (should the opportunity ever arise). I’ve always been terrified of what Hollywood might do the characters, the story, the soul of Amaranthe. This show embodies exactly why I’m right to be worried. On the other hand, Dune is a beautiful adaptation of the source material, so I’m not saying never. It can be done—which is why it’s so disappointing it wasn’t done in this case.
(By the way, I could have written another 1,000 words here. In fact, I did, but #MrJennsen came over, put his hand on the keyboard, and said, “It’s time to stop posting.”)
Originally posted on Facebook.
Perseverance has captured its first Mars sunset in a compelling panoramic image. Such serene, yet lonely, beauty.
https://twitter.com/NASAPersevere/status/1461486482573512704
Originally posted on Twitter.
The weather + launch time combined to create some uniquely stunning images of this week’s SpaceX Falcon9 launch of additional Starlink satellites. Head over to their Flikr page to download high-res versions: https://www.flickr.com/photos/spacex/with/51676136282/
Originally posted on Facebook.
Alex's analysis of mysterious portals (and everything else) in a nutshell. Am I right, or am I right?
Motto: Always go through the portal.
Thanks to Angeliki Zafeiropoulou for the find!
Originally posted on Facebook.
We've got so much further we want to go and so much more we want to explore, but look what we've done already. My goodness.
"Space can be a cruel mistress, but she is a beautiful one.
As we await the launch of ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer and the return of Thomas Pesquet, let us marvel at the fact that humans live and work in space, an environment so inhospitable to us.
As Thomas nears the end of his six-month mission Alpha on the Space Station, he took this image, noting that living on the International Space Station “really feels like flying on a spaceship into the cosmos… or wait… that’s what we do.”"
Read more and download the high-res image: https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2021/11/Mind_the_stars#.YYQCdwJtqh8.link
Originally posted on Facebook.
It will be many months before we have The Great Library v2.0, but as of today, we DO have the carefully curated, hand-picked and lovingly placed His & Hers Living Room Library!
(If you see a first-in-series book on the shelf, rest assured that the rest of the series is sitting in a box downstairs, waiting impatiently for TGLv2.)
(His on the left, Hers on the right, obviously - though we fought over who got to claim several of the books. I'm glaring at you, Neuromancer....)
(Also, I daresay this probably represents a higher percentage of signed books than any other room in Montana.)
