25 Years Ago, in Space

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On August 30, 1983, the Space Shuttle Challenger launched on mission STS-8. Astronauts Richard Truly, Daniel Brandenstein, Dale Gardner, Guion Bluford (first U.S. black man in space), and William Thornton made up the crew. The mission launched the Insat-1B satellite (a multipurpose satellite for India) and was the first shuttle launch in the dark and the first shuttle landing in the dark.

Other mission highlights (edited into bullet format),

– the nose of orbiter was held away from the sun for 14 hours to test the flight deck area in extreme cold
– the crew filmed performance of an experimental heat pipe mounted in the cargo bay
– the orbiter dropped to 139 miles altitude to perform tests on thin atomic oxygen to identify the cause of glow that surrounds parts of the orbiter at night
– the remote manipulator system was tested to evaluate joint reactions to higher loads
– six rats were flown in the Animal Enclosure Module to observe animal reactions in space
– testing was conducted between the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-I (TDRS-1) and the orbiter using a Ku-band antenna
– investigations continued on the Space Adaptation Syndrome

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In other news, Dragon*Con is going fine. I got to visit with several of my writing friends at supper last night, and I’ll be leaving in a little while for Day 2 (featuring the ever-popular Baen slide show).

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A Solution for the Hillary Democrats

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I understand they don’t want to vote for Senator Obama, and it might leave a stain on their souls to vote for Senator McCain. The solution is obvious: they should all vote for the Anti-Candidate!

No party, no speeches, no promises; just a workable slogan based on Jefferson’s maxim, “That government governs best which governs least”: “Governing least–we’d be happy to.” Your convenient write-in vote for any office, anywhere, any time.

Some of the Anti-Candidate’s positions are available on the Anti-Campaign page, and new positions are put on this forum page before they’re added to the main page. If your favorite issue isn’t represented yet, sorry. “Things take time,” as Piet Hein reminded us, and working 2.5 jobs plus church and community service precludes platform-building.

Besides, when you don’t represent a political party and aren’t even on the ballot, having a platform isn’t that critical.

All I ask is, if you’re going to write in my name, that you spell it correctly. 😉

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Oh, for a few hundred bucks and a day off …

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… and a press pass.

Doggone NASA has scheduled a Lunar Exploration Workshop at Johnson Space Center for September 8th, at which

Reporters will have a unique chance to experience lunar life, including driving across and touching a simulated moonscape….

During Monday’s tour, reporters will visit NASA’s lunar yard to view NASA’s prototype lunar truck as it travels across the mock surface of the moon. They will be able to climb into a concept lunar lander in the Altair development lab and examine moon rocks brought back to Earth by Apollo astronauts.

Here’s the press release if you want to read more about it.

Hey, NASA: I’m writing this novel about lunar colonists and the sacrifices they make to keep their colony alive. Can I come?

You’d better believe I would try if I could come up with money for a plane ticket and could take some more time off from my NC State job. (Baen work I can take with me, which is very nice.)

But, since I’m sinking a decent amount into this week’s trip to Atlanta for Dragon*Con — and need to hold back a tidy sum to pay my estimated taxes next month 😡 — and don’t really have any more time off to spare, I guess I won’t try to wrangle press credentials to attend.

Drat.

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Yesterday in Space History

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Ever suddenly realize you don’t know what day it is? Me, too.

I have a wide range of excuses as to why I didn’t post this yesterday–good excuses, too, I assure you–but rather than enumerate them I’ll just post it now.

Fifty (50!) years ago yesterday the U.S. launched Explorer 5 from the Eastern Space & Missile Center. Or, rather, attempted to launch. It didn’t achieve orbit because parts of the rocket and the spacecraft collided in flight.

Why is that significant? Not just because it was a half-century ago, but because it’s so similar to the failure that hit the Falcon-1 program earlier this month. That launch, back on August 2nd, failed because the first and second stages collided in flight.

Spaceflight, contrary to our best wishes, is still hard.

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Moving Ahead, Word by Word

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Passed the 60,000-word mark on MARE NUBIUM tonight.

I’ve got one couple preparing to undergo a painful medical treatment to keep themselves in the lunar colonization program, and another struggling with whether to continue in the program after he was injured during initial setup operations on the moon. In each case, things will get better before they get much worse.

But it’s good to be creeping toward the goal.

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Public Art News: Artist Selections, Temporary Exhibits

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Last night’s meeting of the Cary Public Art Advisory Board went well. I agreed to serve on two Artist Selection Panels: one for the art to accompany the Walker Street Extension project, and another for art associated with the Symphony Bridge at Koka Booth Amphitheatre.

In related news, Cary Visual Arts’ temporary outdoor exhibit is now in place, with ten different sculptures arranged around the Town Hall campus. If you find yourself near Cary Town Hall with a few minutes to spare, stop and take a walk around; some of the pieces are magnificent.

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More From the Anti-Campaign

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Reports of the Anti-Campaign’s demise were nonexistent, but if they had existed they would have been premature (to paraphrase Mr. Twain). No, the Anti-Campaign (“Politics as Unusual”) is still plugging along at its laconic pace. The latest Anti-Candidate positions — on abortion, and the budget — have gone up on the forum thread.

As always, comments, questions, and dissenting opinions are welcome in this, the Anti-Party.

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Space-Related Troubles Policies

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Two items in one: A question about whether growing geopolitical contention with Russia will hinder NASA’s access to the ISS, and an article (sent by one of my old bosses) that considers the results of the National Security Space Independent Assessment Panel.

I posted both items in the Space Warfare Forum, and rather than repeat myself, here are the links:
– How Strained are U.S.-Russian Space Relations?
– New National Security Space Policy Coming?

And yes, new members are always welcome in the Space Warfare Forum.

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Not the El Condor Pasa Snail

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Yesterday Pastor Mark made the comment that, “It was only by perseverance that the snails reached the ark.” I turned to my lovely bride and said, “That’s why it took 120 years for Noah to build the thing.” 😉

Okay, so it’s not that funny, but it seems as if some of those animals had to come from a long way away….

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Novel Status Update

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A little progress on MARE NUBIUM, having crossed the 55,000-word threshold tonight. It’s somewhat slow going, but I’m still having fun with it. Hopefully some readers will get the chance to have fun with it, too.

[BREAK, BREAK]

In the “This Day in Space History” file, ten years ago today the Russians launched Soyuz TM-28 to the Mir space station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The spacecraft returned to earth the following February, but one of the cosmonauts stayed aboard Mir for a year. (The Mir station itself deorbited in 2001.*) See this page for more on the Soyuz TM-series spacecraft.

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*The main character in my story “The Rocket Seamstress,” a worker at Baikonur, considered what she thought of as the ignoble fate of Mir.

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