Breaking News & Random Musings on Space, Technology, Sci-Fi & the View From A Writer’s Window
Perseverance has found the parachute that brought it safely to the Mars surface!
“Looks like @NASAPersevere has spotted the EDL supersonic parachute lying on the ground! This is an image taken with its right Mastcam-Z on April 6, 2022 (sol 401) with a zoom of 110mm. AI-upscaled and adjusted to approximate natural color.” Link
Originally posted on Twitter.
Questions I ask myself while editing CHAOTICA:
(1) How many times is it appropriate to use the words "chaos" and "chaotic" in a book titled...? *looks up synonyms*
(2) How strong can Miriam's tea get? How many simultaneous Rasu attacks must occur before she's forgoing the water and simply eating the tea bags?
(3) How many f-bombs can Alex realistically drop in her opening argument with Mesme after the events in the Oneiroi Nebula at the end of AOT? Is there a limit?
Originally posted on Facebook.
NASA is bursting with great news for us this week!
(1) Following the completion of the final critical mirror alignment steps, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope team now expects that Webb’s optical performance will be able to meet or exceed the science goals the observatory was built to achieve. Every optical parameter that has been checked and tested is performing at, or above, expectations. The team also found no critical issues and no measurable contamination or blockages to Webb’s optical path. The observatory is able to successfully gather light from distant objects and deliver it to its instruments without issue.
The image was taken to "prove" alignment had been successfully completed - and, yes, all those smudges are galaxies. Expect the science images to start arriving this summer!
(2) After 21 flights, NASA has extended Ingenuity’s flight operations through September as it continues with scouting efforts for Perseverance. The helicopter that so many insisted would never be able to fly at all, will now fly on Mars for a second year. Go, Ginny! #thelittlehelicopterthatcould
Originally posted on Facebook.
We are rewatching Voyager (it's fantastic), and last night's viewing included this scene. I cackled for five minutes solid. It might be the perfect Janeway moment - or at least the perfect Janeway *coffee* moment.
VIDEO LINK (it’s only 28 seconds): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk2bYIhaf0Y
Originally posted on Facebook.
Alcyoneus, a radio galaxy 3 billion light years away, now ranks as the biggest galaxy ever discovered - and it stretches for FIVE MEGAPARSECS (16.3 million light years). A single galaxy that's 5 megaparsecs in diameter??? That's as far as it is from the Milky Way to the Asterion Dominion! So that's, you know...big.
I wonder if it's the Rasu's home galaxy? Just speculating.
“The Biggest Galaxy Ever Found Has Just Been Discovered, And It Will Break Your Brain”: https://www.sciencealert.com/at-over-16-million-light-years-across-this-is-the-biggest-galaxy-ever-discovered
Originally posted on Facebook.
“This view, made from images acquired by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on February 17, 2007, shows the effect of "ringshine" on Saturn's night side. Twilight and pre-dawn on Saturn would be pretty bright, thanks to its reflective rings.”
Cassini graced us with a lifetime’s worth of some of the most stunning images imaginable of Saturn and its satellites. Until such time as we can send humans to orbit amidst the rings, let us stare upon them with wonder and joy.
Posted by Jason Major: https://twitter.com/JPMajor/status/1494317365072482307.
Originally posted on Twitter.
WHELP, that didn't take long! CHAOTICA is now firmly on track to overtake Continuum as the 2nd-longest book in the series (will anyone ever unseat Starshine? I doubt it. ).
ALSO, the Chaotica cover art is almost ready, and oh boy, am I ecstatic about this one. Giddy, even.
Perseverance took the gold medal on February 4 for the longest drive made by a Mars rover in a single Martian day, after it traveled more than 245 meters (806 feet), beating the record held by NASA's Opportunity rover since 2015.
And just look at that image it captured when it did…. <3
Originally posted on Twitter.
And that is a wrap on the CHAOTICA First Draft!
I'll be honest - I don't think I've ever loved a book so much this early in the process as I do this one. I LOVE IT. I am so frigging excited to share it with you all! After a lot more work....
I also don't think I've ever met the word count goal on the first draft.... I've gone ahead and upped the goal to 135K; we'll see how much I blow through that one, too.
Originally posted on Facebook.
This is a rather close visualization of how I imagine the Anaden Gateways looking. It's not dead-on - the Gateway rings are smoother (so Eren can run on them, obviously (see the Re/Genesis short story)), the plasma is amber (only the Kats' Mosaic gateway is icy blue), and based on the traversing ships, the Gateways are much larger, but on whole...yeah.
https://www.deviantart.com/redwoodjedi/art/Jump-Gate-905088441
Originally posted on Facebook.
The South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) has released new MeerKAT radio telescope images of the radio emissions at the center of our galaxy, and they are INCREDIBLE! I am once again in awe of our universe. Who wishes they could see radio waves now? Me, that’s who.
The primary image (first below) show nearly 1,000 strands of magnetic filaments, measuring up to 150 light-years in length. "It's unclear what they are, or how they came into existence. What we do know is that they contain cosmic-ray electrons, spinning around in filaments of magnetic fields at close to light-speeds."
"The image captures radio emission from numerous phenomena, including outbursting stars, stellar nurseries, and the chaotic region around the 4 million solar mass supermassive black hole that lurks in the centre of our Galaxy."
About the second image: "The complex, cirrus-like emission from the Galactic centre super bubble dominates this image. This is traversed by the Radio Arc, a complex of many parallel radio filaments. The radio bubble nestles against the diffuse Sagittarius A region in the lower centre of the image. The bright dot near the centre of this region is Sagittarius A*, a 4 million solar mass black hole."
And the third: "In the centre of the image is the supernova remnant G359.1-0.5. To the left is ‘the Mouse’, a runaway pulsar possibly formed and ejected by the supernova event. To the upper right is one of the longest and most famous radio filaments, known as ‘the Snake’."
More about the research here: https://www.sciencealert.com/jaw-dropping-new-image-of... and here: https://www.sarao.ac.za/.../new-meerkat-radio-image.../
Originally posted on Facebook.
…puzzle edition. ;)
Props to Blue Kazoo (https://bluekazoo.games) for a beautiful and challenging puzzle. I have another space one from them in the queue!
Originally posted on Instagram.
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!
