A Successful Failure

Starship flew Thursday morning! And for 4 minutes and 1 second, we watched the dawn of the future of human spaceflight.

...then stage separation failed and the ship experienced a Rapid Unplanned Disassembly.

Only in rocket testing can you have an incredible success and also a giant explosion, all on the same flight. SpaceX seems very happy with the test (clearing the pad without destroying it was apparently a big win, lol). Expect a second test launch in 1-2 months.

Image Credit: John Kraus (https://twitter.com/johnkrausp.../status/1649047541651210244)

Starship Launch Alert

The FAA has finally given its approval to SpaceX, and the first real Starship test launch is scheduled for next Monday morning! (If Monday doesn’t work out, there are additional launch windows on Tuesday and Wednesday).

Note: even if all goes perfectly, Starship will not quite reach Earth orbit in this test. Also, there’s a reasonable chance it will explode - Elon has been very honest about this. The Falcon 9 exploded a few times before it flew, too, and it’s now flown over 100 times.

Learn more about the test flight here: https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/04/green-light-go-spacex-receives-a-launch-license-from-the-faa-for-starship/, and you can watch it live on SpaceX’s YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5QXreqOrTA.

Cassiopeia A

Damn. The wonder of the universe, that a single star can create such powerful beauty.

Webb is having a * stellar * week. A new mid-infrared image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope provides one stunning example. It shows the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A (Cas A), created by a stellar explosion 340 years ago from Earth’s perspective.. Cas A is the youngest known remnant from an exploding, massive star in our galaxy, which makes it a unique opportunity to learn more about how such supernovae occur. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2023/webb-reveals-never-before-seen-details-in-cassiopeia-a

Originally posted on Twitter.

Driving While Writer

Further Adventures in "Driving While Writer"

Me: "Okay, Brain, we're going to be doing a lot of driving today, and you know what that means. We've still got some important plot threads to work out in Medusa Falling, and this will be an excellent opportunity to wrangle them into submission."

Brain: "Yep, yep. My subconscious is bustling with possibilities."

Me: "Terrific!"

Me: Cranks car, starts the music, pulls out of the driveway. "Brain, let's do this thing."

Brain: "Okay, hear me out. Alternative idea: let's instead relive the DUALITY Postscript, line by line, word by word, on an endless loop."

Me: ... ... "I can't find a flaw in this idea."

​

There are scenes I have written that will stay with me forever, that I can call up from memory, almost word for word, at any time. Most of them probably won't surprise you.

A non-exhaustive list: Alex and Caleb's fight after Alex is shot on Seneca in Starshine. Richard and Will's reconciliation in Vertigo. Alex's withdrawals after she severs her connection to the Siyane in Abysm. The last chapter of Rubicon. Nika's Plex assault on the Rasu stronghold in TSLG. Miriam's memories as she reawakens in a new body in Inversion. Eren's visit to the grave in Chaotica.

Needless to say, the last scene of Duality joined this Hall of Fame list the instant it was written. And there it will surely stay forever.

*Brain and I did get around to the Medusa Falling work, eventually.

*

Originally posted on Facebook.

Sunrise on Mars

Stunning morning clouds over Jezero Crater, captured by the Perseverance rover’s NavCams on March 18 (Sol 738). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Kevin M. Gill

As Professor of Physics Brian Cox so eloquently said: “A beautiful photograph of clouds in the Martian sky, 200 years after the first photograph was taken and just over a century after the first powered flight. We can do wonderful things when we put our minds to it.”

High-res version: https://flic.kr/p/2onS6xJ

Originally posted on Twitter.

That Magical Moment

I've talked before about the magical point where a book finally comes alive and transforms into a living, breathing entity. Where the characters become real and their words flow freely.

It's not a surprise that it took until the 2/3 point for this to happen with Medusa Falling. The worldbuilding scaffolding has been significant, and it took a lot of painstakingly extracted words for me to get to know the new characters and settings (Marlee's been just fine since the beginning ). But yay, now we're there!

I can't wait to share more about the world of Medusa Falling with you soon.

PS: In case you're wondering what Cosmic Shores is and what comes next for the Amaranthe universe, check out this blog post: https://www.gsjennsen.com/.../the-future-of-amaranthe...

Originally posted on Facebook.

What Is 'Alive'?

I came upon this conversation while working on the Rubicon hardback formatting. I took this screenshot last week - but then this weekend, I was having dinner with family, and we were talking about ChatGPT. Someone posed the question, "if something is designed by us, does that mean it can't be 'alive'?"

While no one (serious) today is suggesting that ChatGPT might be alive, there's going to come a day when we, like Alex, will need to answer this question. It's sure to be one hell of discussion.

Originally posted on Facebook.

Peregrine One

Astrobotic’s Peregrine Mission One is officially launching to the moon on May 4th (yes, yes, May the Fourth Be With You). This mission is near and dear to my heart, as many of my short stories will be onboard the lander! Along with the works of many other writers, artists and musicians), as part of the Lunar Codex project. I’m very excited.

Originally posted on Twitter.

SPSFC Semifinalist Kindle Sale

** SPSFC SEMIFINALIST SALE: FEBRUARY 20-24 **

My fellow authors and I are so excited to have made it to the semi-finalist round of the SPSFC competition, we decided to give away the winning books for pennies (or no pennies). (Yes, yes, Machina was already free - the sentiment is still there ).

While the sub-genres vary, from space opera to hopepunk to cyberpunk to YA to humor to military sf and more, one thing you can count on in this sale is that you will be getting an entertaining, superbly written book - it wouldn't be here otherwise. So download without fear!

Sale ends Friday, so also don't dally: https://tinyurl.com/spsfc2

Brief Haitus

I wanted to give you all a heads up that there likely won’t be many SMBH posts for a little while. I have an ailing mother, and I’m going home to spend some time with her for a few weeks. While I’m out of town, my social media posts will be somewhat sparse. But if I do post something awesome, I’ll be sure to share it with you.

Be back soon!

A Week of Finishing Things

Wednesday was a banner day! I finished all of the following:

(1) most importantly, the deep scene-by-scene edit of Duality. YOU GUYS.

(2) Cyberpunk 2077, by taking V to space. Seriously, how cool is it that this was an option? Fun game - not life-changing, but fun.

(3) The pictured beautiful yet absolute monstrosity of a puzzle. 5,000 pieces, 5 months. 3.5 ft x 5 ft. It's been glued (puzzle glue is awesome), and #MrJennsen insists he will be able to surround it with some sort of "frame," so it can live on forever somewhere OTHER than my dining room table.

Originally posted on Facebook and Instagram.