July 1999
Judy Seils Subscribes to Info-Alert!
Hey, not everybody gets their own headline, but Judy was the only new
person this time who requested the Info-Alert in their email box. On the
other hand, we are adding a sizeable group of people to be notified when
the new Info-Alert hits the Web page. However you got here, welcome,
and fasten your seatbelts. And we are off.... As always, how far off you
have to determine for yourself.
Info Alert Web Page - http://www.clever.net/cam/archive/
Pete Conrad, Third Human to Walk on the Moon, Gone
It seems that almost every issue we are having to report a significant death.
This time it was the first man to shout "Whoopee!" from the surface of the
moon. News reports have been non-specific, but reading between the lines
it is likely he died as a result of pushing the envelope. The irrepressible
Charles P. (Pete) Conrad (Capt., USN, Ret.), Gemini / Apollo 12 / Skylab
Veteran, died late Thursday night, July 8, 1999, in a hospital in Ojai, CA
of injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident. He was 69.
Conrad's first words upon touching lunar soil were "Whoopee! Man, that
may have been a small one for Neil, but that's a long one for me". The
reference was to first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong's famous words,
"That's one small step for a man; one giant leap for mankind". Among
Conrad's numerous awards are the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, two
NASA Distinguished Service Medals, two NASA Exceptional Service medals,
two Navy Distinguished Service Medals and two Distinguished Flying Crosses.
He was enshrined in the Aviation Hall of Fame in 1980. Private funeral
services will be at 11 a.m. EDT Monday, July 19 at Fort Myer Chapel at
Arlington National Cemetery. After the private services, there will be
a procession to the gravesite that the public may attend.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to:
City of Hope
Bone Marrow Transfer
1500 E. Duarte Rd.
Duarte, CA 91010
For more information see:
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/apollo/apollo12/conrad/index.html
ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/1999/99-079.txt
What Do Berney Fulcher and Clif Davis Have in Common??
Easy. An interest in Science and Science Fiction AND they both
registered with the Fandom Directory. The online version of the
Fandom Directory is a great place to troll for people with shared
interests, and of course registering is free. The search procedure
leaves a bit to be desired but the price is right.
It is true that registering in the directory could result in junk mail,
but as a partial consolation, it is likely to be _interesting_ junk mail
for a change. The more fans that register, the more valuable this
resource is. In addition to registering fans they also register
businesses, clubs and other organizations, conventions, and zines or
other publications. Friends of Fandom has been registered for years,
but the Info-Alert and Clif will appear starting the 1st of August.
Your name and organization could too.
Fandom Directory - http://www.fandata.com/
Forthcoming SF&Fantasy Books
July releases from Anne McCaffrey, Frederik Pohl, Josepha Sherman
& Susan Schwartz.
For more sf&f new book listings and more detail (updated monthly),
see http://www.clever.net/cam/forthcomingsf.html .
Campbell and Sturgeon Awards - And the Winners are ....
The John W. Campbell Award for the best science-fiction novel of the
year is one of the three major annual awards for science fiction. The
first Campbell Award was presented at the Illinois Institute of Technology
in l973. Since then the Award has been presented in various parts of the
world, since 1979 at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.
The Award was created to honor the late editor of Astounding Science
Fiction magazine, which is now named Analog. Campbell, who edited
the magazine from l937 until his death in l97l, is called, by many writers
and scholars, the father of modern science fiction.
Writers and critics Harry Harrison and Brian W. Aldiss established the
award in Campbell's name as a way of continuing his efforts to encourage
writers to produce their best possible work. The Award differs from the
other two major awards in the field by being restricted to the novel and
by its method of selection.
The Hugo Awards are voted upon by some thousand of the several
thousand members who pay advance fees to attend the World Science
Fiction Convention, which meets annually at different locations on Labor
Day weekend. The Nebula Awards are voted by some hundred of the nearly
one thousand members of the Science Fiction Writers of America and
presented at the annual Nebula Award meeting usually held late in April.
Though a smaller award, the Locus Poll awards is based on the fraction of
Locus readers that answer the poll. The Campbell Award is the only award
of the four selected by a committee small enough to discuss among its
members the novels published during the year and to arrive at an informed
consensus choice.
The Theodore Sturgeon Award, a similar award for the best short science
fiction of the year, was established in 1987 by James Gunn, Director of
the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas,
and the heirs of Theodore Sturgeon, including his widow Jayne Sturgeon
and Sturgeon's children, as an appropriate memorial to one of the great
short story writers in a field distinguished by its short fiction.
Sturgeon, born in 1918, was closely identified with the Golden Age of
science fiction, 1939-1950, and was often mentioned as one of the four
writers who helped establish that age. The others were Isaac Asimov,
Robert A. Heinlein, and A. E. van Vogt; all four had their first SF
stories published in 1939. In addition to fiction (his best-known novel
is the classic, More Than Human), Sturgeon also wrote book reviews,
poetry, screenplays, radio plays, and television plays, including two
classic teleplays for the original Star Trek.
George Zebrowski's Brute Orbits (HarperPrism) has won the John W.
Campbell Memorial Award for the best science fiction novel of 1998.
Second place in the Campbell competition was Poul Anderson's
Starfarers (Tor); third place was Distraction by Bruce Sterling (Bantam
Spectra).
Ted Chiang's "Story of Your Life" (Starlight 2 - ed. Hayden, Tor Books)
has won the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for the best short SF
of 1998.
Second place in the Sturgeon competition was Michael Kandel's "Wading
River Dogs and More" (Asimov's May 1998), and third place was Ian
R. MacLeod's "The Summer Isles" (Asimov's Oct/Nov 1998).
The winners were announced by awards chairman James Gunn and
presented at a dinner at the University of Kansas on Friday, July 9.
Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas
http://falcon.cc.ukans.edu/~sfcenter/
The John W. Campbell Award - http://falcon.cc.ukans.edu/~sfcenter/campbell.htm
The Theodore Sturgeon Award - http://falcon.cc.ukans.edu/~sfcenter/sturgeon.htm
Brute Orbits - George Zebrowski
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0061050261/fantasicfuturesbA
Starfarers - Poul Anderson
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0312860374/fantasicfuturesbA
Distraction: A Novel - Bruce Sterling
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0553104845/fantasicfuturesbA
Starlight 2 - Patrick Nielsen Hayden(Editor)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0312861842/fantasicfuturesbA
Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine - http://www.sfsite.com/asimovs/
Also take a look at the Locus Awards presented by Locus magazine
http://www.locusmag.com/1999/News/News07a.html where Bruce
Sterling won Best Short Story for Maneki Neko and tied for Best
Novelette with Greg Egan with Taklamakan.
Speaking of Bruce ....
Our good friends at Adventures in Crime & Space (Austin's bookstore
specializing in Mystery, Science Fiction, & Horror) report they are
hoping to get Bruce Sterling to do a signing for his new collection,
A Good Old Fashioned Future, on Saturday, July 24 while Martha Wells
tentatively signs the paperback of The Death of the Necromancer.
Also in their July Newsletter http://www.eden.com/~acs/nljul99.html
they announce a signing by Thomas Harlan whose new fantasy novel
from Tor is The Shadow of Ararat, on Thursday, July 22nd from 6-8pm.
Walter Jon Williams is tentatively scheduled to sign The Rift on August
21. They are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the First Manned Lunar
landing by giving 20% off any books with men walking on the moon
from July 19-25. Then they are celebrating National Psychic Week
August 2-6 with 10% off any books with psychic powers.
Adventures in Crime and Space - http://www.eden.com/~acs/
Bruce Sterling - http://lonestar.texas.net/~dub/sterling.html
http://www.levity.com/corduroy/sterling.htm http://www.brucesterling.com/
http://www.altculture.com/aentries/s/sterlingxb.html
Walter John Williams - http://www.thuntek.net/~walter/index.htm
Martha Wells - http://www.charisat.com/
Forthcoming SF, Fantasy, & Gaming Cons
Fans will be marking their calendars for DeepSouthCon 37 / Crescent
City Con XIV, August 6-8 in the New Orleans, LA area; for Bubonicon
31, August 20-22 in the Albuquerque, NM area; and for the 1999
NASFIC CornuCopia, August 26-29 in Anaheim, CA.
For a more complete listing see our monthly What's Happening list
at http://www.clever.net/cam/concalendar.html .
Where in the Worldcon is Carmen Femfan?
Last time under the heading of Ghost of Worldcon Future we reported
on strange case of the competing San Jose in '02 Worldcon bid and the
San Francisco in '02 Worldcon bids put on by the same Worldcon
Committee suddenly being resolved by the San Francisco major con
hotel being taken out from under them by another organization.
We may have left the impression that the San Jose in '02 Worldcon
bid was the sole remaining bid for that year. Strictly speaking that's
not true.
There is in fact a competing Roswell, New Mexico in 2002 bid. This is
a valid bid and so could, in theory, win - so technically it isn't a
hoax. It is however a bid put on by members of LASFS, the Los Angeles
Science Fantasy Society who are proposing a three track program: one for
new-agers, one for aliens, and one for SF fans. Look at their web site
at http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Quadrant/7111/
and reach your own conclusions. The dancing alien getting down at the
bottom of their web page is, by itself, worth the price of the journey.
For the record, these are the Outstanding Worldcons, NASFICs, and
Worldcon bids:
1999: Aussiecon Three, the 57th World Science Fiction Convention
http://www.aussiecon3.worldcon.org/
(Nice frames optional site)
1999: Conucopia, the 1999 NASFIC - http://www.99.nasfic.org/
2000: Chicon 2000, the 58th World Science Fiction Convention
http://www.chicon.org/
2001: The Millennium Philcon, the 59th World Science Fiction
Convention
http://www.netaxs.com/~phil2001/
(Site Selection for the 2002 Worldcon will be administered by
Aussiecon 3.)
San Jose in 2002 - http://www.sfsfc.org/worldcon/
Roswell, New Mexico in 2002 - http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Quadrant/7111/
Seattle in 2002 (Defunct) - http://www.webwitch.com/seattle02/
(Site Selection for the 2003 Worldcon will be administered by Chicon
2000.)
Cancun in 2003 - http://world.std.com/~sbarsky/concancun.html
Toronto in 2003 - http://www.torcon3.on.ca/main/index.html
Charlotte in 2004 (relatively new bid)
http://www.scenic-city.com/charlotte2004/
UK in 2005 - http://www.panix.com/~gokce/nextuk/
Chichin Itza in 2012 - A bid for the End-of-the-Worldcon
http://www.radix.net/~bungalow/chichen.htm
(The Mayan Calendar, accurate over a period of many many thousands
of years, ends in 2012. They list a tentative schedule so that the con
ends with the end of the world, followed by the dead dog party).
Moscow in 2017 (Status unknown)
Tranquility Base in 2069 (Web page has disappeared).
Babylon 5 in 2258 - rastb5mod@aol.com
(Talia makes a comment about a convention having just taken place
in an episode set in 2258).
Z'ha'dum in 2258 - http://www.zhadum.com/
"We know what you want." Bid chair: Dr. Anna Sheridan
(Website under construction).
Trantor in 23,309
And of course Minneapolis in '73 - ddb@terrabit.mn.org
That's 1973 - Post-supporting memberships available.
Which (speaking of ghosts) brings us to ...
Ghosts of Cons Past
We now have a second fan con review (from Anne Collins Smith) for
REVELcon 10 posted at:
http://members.aol.com/~gnomones/REV99.html
Should anyone send in a con review for the 1999 I Think Therefore
I Con, we'd be happy to mention such a link as well!
Worldcon in Cyberspace
As part of the continuing movement of Science Fiction Fandom onto
the Internet, the 57th Worldcon will have a significant Virtual Reality
extension onto the web.
Parts of Aussiecon Three will be held inside some amazing virtual worlds
in several virtual universes. You will be able to talk with many science
fiction celebrities who were unable to make it to the convention - writers,
film directors, actors, special effects people, artists, scientists, and
technologists.
There will be science fiction worlds and space ships for you to explore,
and people for you to meet. Some of this will only be seen at the
convention, but much of it will be accessible to anyone, anywhere on
the planet.
There will be a video and audio feed from the real convention into the
Virtual Reality worlds so that people around the planet can see what
goes on at a Worldcon. A projection screen will show the virtual worlds
to people at the convention (as well as being accessible from the
computers in the convention's Internet lounge).
For more information on this please check out the Worldcon-VR pages.
http://www.outerworlds.com/worldcon/ (requires Java enabled
web-client and good eyesight). Click on the Big VR for a list of the real
links or explore the navigation bar on the left. Artists that think they may
be interested in participating in the Virtual Reality Art show should
contact virtual_art@hotmail.com . Registered Outerworlds Citizens who
wish to enter the SF World building contest should hurry as the
deadline is July 22.
Amazon.questionable-security.com
Long-time readers of the Info-Alert will be aware that editors Margaret A.
Fincannon and Clif Davis maintain a relationship with Amazon.Com
(completely independent of Friends of Fandom, which has no such
relationship), and additionally use Amazon.Com links in the Info-Alert
primarily for the value of the summaries and reviews submitted by readers.
As a result, we view with some alarm the case of Katherine Neville.
Although (thank the fannish ghods) such a thing has not been reported
with respect to a Science Fiction/Fantasy author, she has been the both
the victim of a campaign of negative reviews which have driven the rating
of her book, The Magic Circle (historical romance), down from four out
of five stars to two out of five stars, while favorable reviews of her books
have mysteriously disappeared.
The rash of vicious, and suspiciously similar critiques of "The Magic Circle"
have similar peculiarities - common spelling errors and grammatical mistakes.
The word "unbelievable," for instance, is misspelled in nearly a dozen of the
reader reviews, and "worse" is mistakenly used instead of "worst" in several
instances. Neville's publisher, Ballantine Books, contacted Amazon.com last
month. Amazon.com responded that the company has no way to verify or
check against multiple review submissions and that readers have the right to
"voice their opinions - even repeatedly!" Neville's passionate fans are
rushing to her defense and posting gushing reviews to balance the negative
impact of her critic, boosting the rating to three stars as of the end of June.
In early June, Vicki Kondelik, a librarian at the University of Michigan and
host of the Unofficial Katherine Neville Home Page noticed that her 1997
review of "The Eight" had disappeared from Amazon.com, along with at
least five other reviews. A computer printout of the reviews from late April
confirms the disappearance. Lizzie Allen, Amazon.com's director of public
relations, said she could not explain the mystery of the disappearing reviews.
She said that submissions are deleted only when they don't adhere to the
review guidelines prohibiting "profanity, obscenities, or spiteful remarks."
For more details, see the report in Salon Magazine:
http://www.salonmagazine.com/tech/log/1999/06/21/amazon/index.html
(And in spite of the spelling angle, Clif disclaims any responsibility).
Science Fiction on the Web
Be sure and check out The Third Alternative (the print publication
currently has an interview with Michael Moorcock) whose Shadowlink
Web page has Fiction and interviews available.
http://www.tta-press.freewire.co.uk/samples.html
Analog and Asimov's have their Hugo Nominees on the Web for
reading.
This includes:
Catherine Asaro: Aurora in Four Voices
http://www.sfsite.com/analog/hugos/aurora.html
Allen Steele: Zwarte Piet's Tale
http://www.sfsite.com/analog/hugos/zwarte.html
Michael A. Burstein: Cosmic Corkscrew
http://www.sfsite.com/analog/hugos/cosmic.html
Get Me to the Church on Time by Terry Bisson
http://www.sfsite.com/asimovs/hugos/church.html
Oceanic by Greg Egan
http://www.sfsite.com/asimovs/hugos/oceanic.html
The Summer Isles by Ian R. MacLeod
http://www.sfsite.com/asimovs/hugos/summer.html
The Planck Dive by Greg Egan
http://www.sfsite.com/asimovs/hugos/planck.html
Steamship Soldier on the Information Front by Nancy Kress
http://www.sfsite.com/asimovs/hugos/steamship.html
Echea by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
http://www.sfsite.com/asimovs/hugos/echea.htm
Taklamakan by Bruce Sterling
http://www.sfsite.com/asimovs/hugos/taklamakan.html
Whiptail by Robert Reed
http://www.sfsite.com/asimovs/hugos/whiptail.html
Radiant Doors by Michael Swanwick
http://www.sfsite.com/asimovs/hugos/radiantdoors.html
The Very Pulse of the Machine by Michael Swanwick
http://www.sfsite.com/asimovs/hugos/pulse.htmL
Wild Minds by Michael Swanwick
http://www.sfsite.com/asimovs/hugos/wildminds.html
Locus Online Magazine, discussing the need for immediacy on the web,
has gone on record as predicting that Web publications divided up into
"issues" (not to mention "volumes" and "numbers") will soon seem as
quaint as early cinematic efforts that planted an unmoving camera before
a staged dramatic production.
http://www.locusmag.com/1999/News/AetherVibrations06b.html
Such an online magazine, one oriented towards our own interests of
space, science and science fiction, though in a quite different mix, is
FTL Magazine.
Their current Data Bank has reports on how the solar wind picks up its
unexpected speed by surfing actual waves in the sun's atmosphere, Hubble
images of Mars taken at its closest approach, Mir news, and rumors of the
return of Blake's 7 in two 75 minute episodes picking up some years after
the end of the final TV episode with at least Paul Darrow likely to reprise
his role as Kerr Avon, computer mastermind and all-round leader-hero.
FTL Magazine - http://ftlmagazine.com/
Science Fiction At The Movies
Star Wars opened in Japan on July 10.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/ap/entertainment/story.html?s=v/ap/19990710/en/japan_star_wars_1.html
The opening of Episode 1 drew more than 500,000 people to 412 theatres,
according to early estimates, breaking the record set by ``Godzilla''
last July.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/en/story.html?s=v/nm/19990711/en/film-starwars_1.html
In the US. the Phantom Menace held on to the number 6 slot earning some
$7.4 mil. for the weekend while Wild Wild West (which few people have much
good to say about) dropped to the number two position after one week.
http://infoseek.go.com/Content?arn=a1424reuff-19990509&qt=%2BStar+%2BWars&sv=IS&lk=noframes&col=NX&kt=A&ak=news1486
Meanwhile in Briton, the original Star Wars movie (Episode 4) has topped
satellite broadcaster BSkyB's Millennium Movies poll, a list of the top
100 films of all time as voted by 60,000 Brits. "Citizen Kane" came in
at #41 and neither Charlie Chaplin nor Woody Allen made the list.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/re/story.html?s=v/nm/19990712/re/film_britain_2.html
We are receiving a ton of Star Wars Humor and there is even more on
the Web, most of it too extensive to go into here, some of it inappropriate
for a broad-based publication, and some just not very funny, but some we
want to inflict on you.
There may still be someone somewhere who still hasn't seen the
Phantom Menace, so we'll forgo spoilers for now (if you aren't afraid
of spoilers see Weird Al Yankovic's Running with Scissors CD, The Saga
Begins lyrics at
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/4656/27alb011.htm#s1 ).
We predict that it still leaves a lot of Star Wars humor in your future.
But we are cheating, it's all in the stars ....
Having trouble understanding your boss, fellow workers, friends in
general (or yourself)? Here's a handy guide to a Star Wars Zodiac
that may make everything clearer!
ARIES (March 21 - April 19)
Star Wars Character : The Emperor
The Emperor has demonstrated his liking to inflict pain on people just
as people born under the sign Aries often do. He feels he is at the
center of the universe and he must be in control. He enjoys being a
leader and his aggression and quick-tempered attitude also helps him
with this.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TAURUS (April 20 - May 20)
Star Wars Character : Chewbacca
Chewbacca is a dependable creature but he can tend to be stubborn.
He likes material possessions and loves to win at games. He tends to
hate being bossed around or losing and he may succumb to his physical
strength when upset..
------------------------------------------------------------------------
GEMINI (May 21 - June 20)
Star Wars Character : Ewok
Ewoks are playful little creatures as are Gemini's. They tend to be
extremely curious, craving knowledge but sometimes having short
attention spans. For the most part they are charming and lovable
beings but they can seem scattered and high-strung at times.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CANCER (June 21 - July 22)
Star Wars Character : Luke Skywalker
Luke seemed to be somewhat whinny sometimes but he eventually
developed the thick hard shell of a cancer. He is strong willed and
persistent to get what he wants. He never shys away from a fight at
the first sign of danger. Not to mention he began to master the element
of mind manipulation.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LEO (July 23 - Aug. 22)
Star Wars Character : Princess Leia
Leia adds a whole new meaning to high self-assurance which is
evident in Leos. She is a nurturing person with great physical strength.
Like many Leos she will see that her mission for good is completed and
she is very optimistic about the outcome.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
VIRGO (Aug. 23 - Sept. 22)
Star Wars Character : C3P0
C3P0 shows his efficiency when working for a good caused but he
tends to be a little bit fussy when it comes to doing something out of
the ordinary. Like many Virgos he wants to stay out of the spotlight
and he does well at picking up minute details.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LIBRA (Sept. 23 - Oct. 22)
Star Wars Character : "Obi Wan" Kenobi
As always Obi Wan continues forward in his pursuit of justice and he is
determined to succeed. He conveys his art of persuasion through the
force. He displays his supreme intelligence and is very talented in
obtaining balance between himself and his surroundings.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCORPIO (Oct.. 23 - Nov. 21)
Star Wars Character : Han Solo
Han is a powerful character. He also tends to be possessive and lusty
which would explain Han's greedy nature. He feels threatened by Leia's
attempt to order him around which displays the disliking scorpios have
for people who try to control them. He is often prone to suspicion and
jealousy as seen in the empire strikes back. However, his resilience and
passion lead him to get what he wants.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 - Dec. 21)
Star Wars Character : Yoda
Yoda is superbly wise and he has been known to spread this wisdom
widely. He seems to be impatient and pushy when people take his
teachings too lightly. As always his philosophical side always peeks
through.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 - Jan. 19)
Star Wars Character : R2D2
R2's ambition and inexhaustible desire to reach their goals/destination
is rarely fulfilled. This causes resentment towards winners.
He is a very loyal, sometimes going to great lengths to help someone
out. He is a very social unit winning the hearts of many with his cute
personality, however close friends are few.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 - Feb. 18)
Star Wars Character : Darth Vader
Vader can be cruel and torment people who disagree with him but deep
down there is a peace-loving, friendly side to him. He has a knack for
inflicting pain on people and he uses his intellect during battle.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PISCES (Feb. 19 - Mar. 20)
Star Wars Character : Lando
Lando is the typical character with his head in the clouds. He is
self-sacrificing but may be too passive to stand up to Vader. He
became fairly pessimistic when put under pressure. He also posses as
a chameleon wanting to change his scenery on occasion.
-------------
>From a Star Wars Humor page as seen at:
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/3898/other0.html
You can follow the latest Star Wars related news stories at
http://www.clever.net/cam/news.starwars.html
Have no Fear - Arnold is Here
Arnold Schwarzenegger has agreed to star as the brainy pulp superhero
Clark Savage Jr. in the upcoming film Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze.
According to Variety, Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures are developing
the project, with Chuck Russell and Frank Darabont to share producing
and directing duties.
The film is based on the Doc Savage character--created by pulp author
Lester Dent back in 1933--who starred in his own magazine and later
appeared in numerous novels. In 1975, Warner came out with a Doc
Savage: The Man of Bronze film, but the campy flick was denounced
by both critics and fans.
With Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins.
According to Variety magazine Faculty star Elijah Wood has signed on
to play Frodo Baggins in New Line's upcoming movie trilogy based on
J.R.R. Tolkien's famous fantasy series The Lord of the Rings. Wood will
work under the guidance of director Peter Jackson, who plans to begin
production on the first of three Rings films in October. Jackson will
likely spend more than a year shooting the first film, which is titled Part
One: The Fellowship of the Ring. The production schedule calls for all
three movies to be filmed back to back, with a combined budget of $130
million.
Don't Panic
Jay Roach, the director of both Austin Powers movies is said to be keen on
the Disney feature film adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,
which is based on the Douglas Adams novel of the same name. That project
is being scripted by Adams for Roach to both produce and direct.
And speaking of Disney ...
Cheese? The Mouse Gets Its Own Portal!!
This is a little off topic, but Disney is buying more of Infoseek - will
buy up to 72% and will allow current Infoseek stockholders to hold the
remaining 28%. See: http://cnnfn.com/1999/07/12/deals/disney/
Science Fiction on TV
The news as of July 15th, 1999 (as seen here:
http://homes.acmecity.com/babylon5/lurker/2/news.html
"Although it is not official yet, word is that the 'powers that be'
may let actors contracts go the full run, past the options period,
and then if ...Crusade works go back and renegotiate.
If this is the case, then our job is not yet over.
In light of this, I suggest that you continue to send in that snail mail folks!
PLEASE do not stop! Persistence will pay off!"
See:
http://homes.acmecity.com/babylon5/lurker/2/news.html
http://www.astro.umd.edu/~fleming/latest_news.html
Also, you don't want to miss the July/August issue of _Amazing
Stories_ with its new Babylon 5 story written by JMS himself!
See:
http://www.wizards.com/Amazing/
Dinotopia
Do you remember James Gurney's delightful illustrated series, Dinotopia?
According to Variety, ABC plans to air a six-part miniseries in May 2001
based on the first two books. The books center around a utopian island
where talking dinosaurs and humans live in peace and harmony.
The ABC series is being developed by Hallmark Entertainment, which
has signed Gulliver's Travels writer Simon Moore to do the screenplay.
The project will be executive produced by Robert Halmi Sr. and Robert
Halmi Jr., with a reported price tag of $50 million.
The miniseries will likely be shot in Australia, New Zealand, the Gobi
Desert and Mongolia, with a mixture of computer-generated effects and
animatronics used to bring the dinosaurs to life. To date the Dinotopia
books have sold more than 2 million copies, and HarperCollins plans to
publish the third installment in the series, Dinotopia: First Flight,
in October.
Dinotopia : A Land Apart from Time
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0060280034/fantasicfuturesbA
Dinotopia : The World Beneath
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0060280069/fantasicfuturesbA
Dinotopia : First Flight
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0060280077/fantasicfuturesbA
For more information about Science Fiction on TV, see our listing at
http://www.clever.net/cam/sftv.html .
Interesting Times ....
The Day The Sky Fell
On June 30, 1908 at 0h 14' 28"" (Greenwich time) at a height of 5-10 km
over Tunguska in Central Siberia, there was an explosion releasing an
energy between 10 and 20 million tons of TNT (Megaton), that corresponds
to about one thousand Hiroshima's bombs. It devastated about 2,150
square kilometers of uninhabited Siberian taiga and felled more than
60 million trees. It was long considered the result of an impact of an
asteroid or comet, but the nature and composition of the Tunguska
Cosmic Body is still unclear. Neither macroscopic remnants of the body,
nor a typical impact crater were ever observed.
Nevertheless, it is the cosmic body that caused the greatest damages
during historical times and is one of the great scientific mysteries of the
last century.
Albert (Al) Jackson, Houston physicist (rocketeer and science fiction
fan) suggested in the scientific literature that the explosion was
caused by a collision with a miniature black hole, still a possibility,
though subsequent developments in our understanding of Quantum physics
have made the stability of such an object questionable.
Now, a scientific expedition to Tunguska has being organized by the
Department of Physics of the University of Bologna (Italy), in cooperation
with the Turin Astronomical Observatory and the Institute of Marine
Geology of the National Research Council (CNR) of Bologna. The goal
of the expedition is to carry out a systematic exploration of the site where
the so-called "Tunguska event" took place and to definitively establish
the nature of the body which caused the devastation.
On July 14,1999 the expedition will depart for the base camp project on
Cheko Lake where men are already at work in order to build the green
area for helicopter landing. You will be able to follow the progress of
their expedition from the Tunguska page of the University of Bologna
at http://bohp03.bo.infn.it/tunguska96/ . (There is also a link to a
message from Sir Arthur Clarke).
For more details see the BBC report at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_380000/380060.stm .
Interesting Times Part II....
World Plays Russian Roulette with MIR Space Station
As you may recall, last time we talked about MIR's troubled history and
how it has suffered an increasing number of problems as it ages, being
kept running by spit, bailing wire, and sheer determination.
Under pressure from the US to abandon MIR and concentrate on the
International Space Station (Russia is going to be close to two years
behind on its ISS commitments in the very best of circumstances and
some of these commitments like the living quarters for the astronauts
are critical as NASA cannot proceed with in-orbit construction work
without the module), the Russian government is withdrawing funding
for the MIR.
A determined alliance centered in Moscow has formed to keep MIR
alive but the joker is the huge cost of operating MIR. Russians Viktor
Afanasyev and Sergei Avdeyev and Frenchman Jean-Pierre Haignere
are due to leave Mir next month and the station will be unmanned for
up to half a year as Moscow tries to raise money to send a new crew.
If the money is not found, they are likely to be the last crew and the
MIR will be ditched into the ocean under remote control.
In late June, the air pressure aboard MIR started dropping. The Russians
kept it secret for two weeks, before an unidentified Russian space official,
denying that the problem should be identified as a leak, revealed that the
station was no longer hermetically sealed.
http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9907/10/mir.reut/index.html
"There is no danger. The air pressure has been dropping for about two
weeks," said the official, who declined to be identified. "They are calmly
trying to find what is causing the problem. ... We are not treating this as
an accident or an emergency, and there is no need for panic. They have
plenty of oxygen supplies," the official said.
But other problems were waiting for the space station, and from an
unlikely source.
The Soviet Union made the Baikonur Cosmodrome its primary space
launch pad, and Russia continues to use it under commercial agreement
with Kazakhstan, which inherited the site when communism collapsed in
1991.
The Russians, while far ($300 million) behind on their payments, continue
to use the Cosmodrome to launch its Proton rockets. The Proton is the
workhorse of the Russian space program, ferrying up commercial satellites
as well as crews to the Mir space station and modules of the new
international space station.
The commercial satellites are of some importance since the Proton can
carry heavier loads than the American launch vehicles and they are an
important source of badly needed revenue for the Russians.
Another reason for the importance of the Proton rockets are that, except
for those associated with the Space Shuttle, American launch vehicles
have been blowing up with expensive cargo aboard for the last few years,
with rather disturbing regularity (six in the last year). The Proton
rocket by contrast is very reliable (the last Proton accident had
occurred in 1993 and many, many successful flights have taken place since).
Until the first week of July 1999.
A Proton booster rocket loaded with a communications satellite having
nothing to do with the MIR crashed.
A malfunction detached the engine and parts of the booster, causing them
to crash onto the steppe. The satellite itself crashed in the remote Altai
region of Siberia. It was, in fact, rather spectacular. Scattered debris
rained over the central Karaganda region of the Kar-Karalinsk district.
To make matters worse, this flight was also a test of a new upper stage
rocket motor to deliver commercial satellites to their intended orbits.
A 200-kg (440 lb.) chunk of the rocket fell into the courtyard of a
private house in the district, around 160 km (100 miles) from the main
regional center of Karaganda.
The following day Kazakhstan said it would suspend rocket launches from its
Baikonur Cosmodrome. "We have informed the Russian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs about our decision to stop launches from Baikonur until reasons for
the crash are fully identified and accident damage evaluated," Kazakhstan's
Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The maker of the Russian Proton booster rocket which crashed Monday
while carrying a communications satellite defended the model Tuesday,
saying it was still reliable. "The Proton is the most reliable machine in the
world and this accident in no way spoils this statistic," said Igor Dodin,
director of the Khrunishev Space Center factory. Dodin told a Reuters
reporter he thought the ban was likely to be lifted by the end of the
month. Khrunichev, the builder of the rocket, then announced it would
not launch any more Proton rockets until the inquiry is complete.
A spokeswoman for International Launch Services said the next commercial
Proton mission was scheduled for Aug. 31 but it was too early to say if
there would be a delay. U.S. space officials said they were awaiting
information about the crash before determining whether it would delay
the $60 billion International Space Station further.
A Kazakhstan government commission left for the central Kar-Karalinsk
region Wednesday to assess the damage caused by Monday's crash.
"A government commission has been set up under deputy prime minister
(Alexander) Pavlov, and this morning it set off to the scene of the
accident," a ministry spokesman said by telephone from the capital Astana.
Chemists and other specialists had been at the scene since Tuesday to
establish whether toxic rocket fuel had affected the local water supply
and soil, he said. Local officials said no such evidence had been found
so far. Tokushev told Reuters that a Russian delegation was also expected
to arrive Wednesday, and the groups' findings would be made known in
two to three days. He confirmed that no one had been hurt by falling debris.
Kazakhstan demanded compensation from Russia for the accident.
Thursday a Zenith-2 rocket carrying a Ukrainian-Russian satellite was
due to have blasted off at 11:37 local time. Russian sources at Baikonur
said that the takeoff would probably now take place Friday or Monday.
"The delay of the launch was not connected with any technical problems,
but with Kazakhstan's ban on flights from the cosmodrome," a Russian
space source said. "We expect a decision this evening on whether it will
take place tomorrow or Monday."
The foreign ministry of Kazakhstan repeated Thursday that all flights would
be banned until the commission made its final report on the accident.
Russia apparently began to get nervous as only six days remained before
the planned July 14 launch of a navigation system vital for the manned Mir
space station. The computer system was to be launched on a Soyuz rocket
carrying a Progress resupply ship. The last Russian-French crew is due to
leave Mir in late August, and the system is being installed as a precaution
against the station crashing to earth while Moscow tries to raise the
extra cash needed to send up a new crew. A Kazakh foreign ministry
spokesman said by telephone from Astana that Russia had asked Pavlov
to allow the next two launches to go ahead as planned.
Kazakh officials continued checking the water supply and soil for traces
of a highly toxic fuel. "If we discover that there is such contamination,
then people will be evacuated from the area which must then be urgently
deactivated," Serikbek Daukeyev, minister for ecology and natural resources,
said on Khabar state television.
Witnesses saw pieces of the rocket fall into a nearby lake and said there
was a strong smell of rotten fish, which specialists said came from a
rocket fuel component known as "giptil" in Russian. Meirbek Moldabekov,
head of Kazakhstan's space agency, said that at least 115 square miles
had been affected and that "giptil" was "highly toxic." An official at
Russia's mission control center said it was "sufficiently toxic."
"There were explosions in the air and poisonous gas was released into
the atmosphere," Moldabekov told Reuters by telephone from Karaganda,
a town not far from the crash scene.
"The Russian side must take full responsibility for this (material loss),"
Daukeyev said.
Russia said only Proton Rockets should be suspended.
Kazakhstan said the ban applies to all craft.
"They have threatened the whole space program and even the lives of
the team aboard Mir, because the Progress ship...is critical," Sergei
Gorbunov, press secretary for the head of the Russian Space Agency,
told Khabar from Moscow.
Kazakh officials criticized the absence of senior Russian representatives
at the scene of the crash. Kazakhstan's foreign ministry said it expects
rent payments for Baikonur to resume this month. The annual charge is
$115 million according to the 1994 agreement allowing Russia to rent the
Cosmodrome for 20 years.
On Friday, engineers announced the rocket exploded because of a rapid
chain reaction in its engines. Rocket scientists at the Khrunichev
Space Center, where the heavy Proton boosters are built, said a commission
was leaving for Kazakhstan Friday to investigate the crash of the rocket,
which it was now revealed was carrying a defense satellite into orbit.
Sergei Petrakovsky, deputy chief designer at Khrunichev, said the Proton
exploded when a problem spread through the four engines in the booster
rocket's second stage. "The incident was like an explosion," he said
at a news conference. "It was something that spread quickly -- in one
of the engines, then in the others. ... The whole incident happened in
a second -- it is very tough to analyze it now," he said.
He said he expected the commission to report preliminary results of its
investigation by the 20th.
Engineers said they believed the newly-tested upper stage Briz rocket,
designed to maneuver and place a number of satellites into different
orbits, was shielded from the blast.
Khrunichev Deputy Director Anatoly Nedaivoda said the Briz, carrying
a Raduga defense communications probe, may have fallen to earth with
its fuel, the toxic mix, giptil. "The engine of the Briz could have made it
to earth in that stage, and in that stage are about six tons of giptil. The
only thing that could have an ecological affect on the place where it fell
is that component in the central tank," he said. However he also said it
was unlikely that giptil had fallen into a lake and contaminated the
water supply.
Kazakhstan claimed to have found traces of giptil in the lake.
Nedaivoda said Kazakhstan's response was emotional but predicted the space
program would soon be back on track. "A rational solution will be found.
Space progress will continue." He said the launch of the next module of
the $60 billion International Space Station, planned for November on a
Proton, would not be postponed.
Sunday, Kazakhstan accused neighboring Russia of negligence in the
increasingly acrimonious row over space launches that threatened
to ground the key supply rocket carrying food and air to the manned
Mir space station.
Kazakh Prime Minister Nurlan Balgimbayev said Moscow had failed to
react adequately to the accident. "Unfortunately, we do not feel that the
Russian side is particularly concerned," Balgimbayev said in a statement.
Yuri Koptev, head of the Russian Space Agency, told Balgimbayev at a
meeting Sunday that preliminary tests by Russian scientists showed there
was no trace of giptil. He said a team of top specialists would fly to
the scene of the accident Tuesday to investigate further.
Koptev repeated an appeal for Kazakhstan to waver its flight ban for
the Progress ship, due to take off Wednesday with food supplies for the
French-Russian crew as well as a vital navigation system for the troubled
station. The crew is due to leave the station by late August, and the system
is a precaution against Mir crashing to earth while Moscow scrapes the
funds together to send up another team.
The Mir has an inclined orbit that "shifts" as the Earth rotates beneath
it, so without the navigation system it could come down virtually anywhere.
The Mir Crew have a lifeboat and could abandon the Mir as supplies run
out, but then when the navigation system was launched, there would be no
crew to install it.
Balgimbayev said a general agreement under which Russia rents Baikonur
may have to be restructured. "All of this forces Kazakhstan to rethink
a number of aspects as to how Baikonur is used, including moving from
a system of warning about impending launches to a permission system,"
he said.
Russian media speculated today that the launch ban had nothing
to do with environmental damage caused by the accident, but
was an attempt by Kazakhstan to force Russia to pay the back
debt it owes for renting Baikonur.
"The background of the conflict is strictly mercantile, and not
ecological," the daily Segodnya newspaper said. "It's clear that
(Kazakhstan) is playing the Baikonur card because it knows full
well what the launches mean to the Russian space program."
A Baikonur spokesman said preparations for the Progress launch were
underway in spite of the suspension. "We are preparing for the launch
Wednesday," he said. "However, it is not clear what the situation over
the ban is, and I'm not prepared to try to predict what will happen."
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/ap/international/story.html?s=v/ap/19990709/wl/russia_kazakstan_mir_1.html
http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9907/11/mir.dispute.reut/index.html
*** Last Minute Flash ****
Russia and Kazakhstan reached some kind of deal while continuing to
criticize each other. The Mir guidance system WILL go up. Whew!!!!
The ban was lifted Wed. July 14 and a Progress rocket is scheduled to
be launched Friday July 16, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Has It Really Been 30 Years??
July 20, 1999 will be the thirtieth anniversary of Neil Armstrong's
"One small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind". For the
record the first word spoken from the surface of the moon was "Houston".
As in "Houston, this is Tranquility Base".
We quote from the Web Page http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/ap11ann
On July 20, 1969, the human race accomplished its single greatest
technological achievement of all time when a man first set foot
on another celestial body.
Six hours after landing at 4:17 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (with less
than 30 seconds of fuel remaining), Neil A. Armstrong took the
"Small Step" into our greater future when he stepped off the Lunar
Module, named "Eagle," onto the surface of the Moon, from which he
could look up and see Earth in the heavens as no one had done before
him.
He was shortly joined by "Buzz" Aldrin, and the two astronauts spent
21 hours on the lunar surface and returned 46 pounds of lunar rocks.
Their liftoff from the surface of the moon was (partially) captured
on a TV camera they left behind, and they successfully docked with
Michael Collins, patiently orbiting the cold but no longer lifeless
moon alone in the Command Module "Columbia."
Take a look at the Apollo 11 graphics at
http://cass.jsc.nasa.gov/expmoon/Apollo11/Apollo11.html
and the Apollo 11 factsheet at
http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/history/apollo/apollo-11/apollo-11.html
and the CNN special report:
One Giant Leap (CNN Special Report: Apollo 11 at 30)
http://cnn.com/TECH/specials/apollo/
Chandra at Last - Commander Eileen Collins at Last
NASA has targeted targeted late July 19 for the launching of
its $2.7 billion Chandra X-ray Observatory from the Kennedy Space
Center in Florida aboard the shuttle Columbia.
Chandra was developed to observe the highest energy events in the
universe and could help astronomers locate the mysterious dark matter
that may make up much of the cosmos, as well as explain activities
around supermassive black holes.
Named for the late Indian-born theoretical astrophysicist and Nobel
prize winner Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, the Chandra is a companion
to the Hubble Space Telescope, launched in 1990, and the Compton
Gamma Ray Observatory, launched in 1991. The last of the observatories
in the series, the Space Infrared Telescope Facility, is slated for launch
in 2001.
But the Chandra, it seems, has had almost as many problems as the Mir.
Setbacks during the past year for the Chandra flight added $53 million
to the mission's hefty price tag, but space agency managers vowed to
correct every difficulty before approving the launch.
The latest difficulty arose after the April 9 launching of an Air Force
Titan 4 rocket with a missile warning satellite. The Titan's upper stage
rocket, which is identical to the Chandra's propulsion system, failed to
separate into its two components, and the military satellite was lost.
NASA awaited the outcome of a classified Air Force investigation into
the expensive mishap before electing to proceed with the Chandra
mission.
"We decided to do a variety of things based on the information we've
gotten and made corrections on our (propulsion system)," said Fred
Wojtalik, NASA's Chandra program manager.
At 50,162 pounds and 57 feet, the Chandra observatory and its
propulsion system is the largest shuttle payload. Most of the mass --
30,600 pounds -- belongs to the propulsion system.
The satellite's rocketry is essential to boosting the X-ray
observatory to its final destination, an elliptical orbit that will
range between 6,200 miles and 87,000 miles above the Earth, a
good third of the way to the moon at its furthermost point.
Columbia's five-member crew will be led by veteran astronaut Eileen
Collins, the first woman to command a crew of space travelers, a
mission on the 30th anniversary of the first moonwalk
Eileen Collins said it was about time, and that such an opportunity had
"been a long time coming."
"Women helped pioneer aviation," Collins told a news briefing, adding
that starting around 1930, "women were not given the same
opportunities as men."
"NASA is very serious about giving all Americans a chance to fly in
space. But to be an astronaut you can't just walk into this job. You
have to prepare yourself," Collins said.
Although barriers had started to fall, Collins said more young women
needed to choose technical and scientific careers before women could
be fully represented in space. "If you don't have large numbers of
women apply, it will be hard to select large numbers of women," she
said.
Women have flown in space since the 1960s and their presence in space
has been routine since the 1980s, but Collins will be the first woman
in charge.
The Soviet Union sent a woman alone into space in the early 1960s, but
she flew on a spacecraft controlled from the ground. Collins, an Air
Force colonel and test pilot, flew the shuttle (the first woman to do
so) in missions in 1995 and 1997 to Russia's Mir space station.
The traditional route to command at NASA is to fly military combat
aircraft, which women were not allowed to do until the mid-1970s.
Her crew consists of pilot Jeffery Ashby and mission specialists Steven
Hawley, Catherine Coleman and Michel Tognini, a French astronaut.
"We're very excited about this flight," she said.
Chandra Project
http://station.nasa.gov/shuttle/archives/sts-93/index.html
Chandra/Collins
http://www.chron.com/content/interactive/space/missions/sts-093/
Commander Eileen Collins
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/women/intro.html
http://hyperion.advanced.org/20117/es.html
But the Robots are Gaining Fast
It's one small step in the history of robotic space flight; but it may turn
out to be one giant leap for computer-kind:
Artificial intelligence software was put in primary command of a
spacecraft for the first time.
Known as Remote Agent, the software began operating NASA's
Deep Space 1 mission and its futuristic ion engine 11 a.m.
Pacific Daylight Time, May 17. The question: Can a spacecraft function
entirely on its own nearly 75 million miles from Earth, without detailed
instructions from the ground?
As reported in our May issue, in spite of software glitch Remote Agent
successfully controlled the spacecraft and even resolved a simulated
instrument failure. By the time it was halted, the experiment had already
achieved approximately 70 percent of its test objectives, enough to prove
that artificial intelligence software can indeed operate a spacecraft millions
of miles from Earth. Perhaps more importantly, however, it demonstrated
that Remote Agent can also play doctor, diagnosing its own problems and
developing effective action plans to regain its own good health.
In an impressive show of its own strength, Remote Agent itself provided all
the clues for scientists to diagnose and resolve the situation precisely.
"Remote Agent showed us how powerful it is by providing a list of possible
reasons for the bug," said computer scientist Nicola Muscettola at NASA's
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, where much of the Remote Agent
code was written.
Scientists found that the bug was related to a timing error when two
parts of the program were exchanging information - easy to fix
permanently in coming months, and safe for completing tests the
week of May 17 without immediate modifications. "After defining
the bug, our experiment team was confident we could complete the
flight test. We asked Remote Agent to develop a new plan and then to
fly Deep Space 1 solo for six more hours."
The happy end result: In 29 hours starting at 11 a.m. on Monday, May
17, and in six hours on Friday, May 21, the remote agent team met 100
percent of their experiment objectives.
"We ran the program about 3,000 times on Earth before the space test,
and this bug never appeared," Muscettola said. "The sudden occurrence
of this bug is an example of why we tested the software during space
flight instead of only on the ground."
"If had not been for Remote Agent's ability to do onboard planning,
we would not have been able to complete the tests so quickly. It
would have taken days for the ground team to come up with a new plan,"
said Dr. Pandu Nayak, deputy manager of Remote Agent development at Ames.
To demonstrate Remote Agent's versatility, the tests threw unique
challenges in the software's path. Scientists created four simulated
failures designed to test Remote Agent's mettle to the max.
On May 17, the spacecraft's camera appeared to be stuck in the "on"
position. Remote Agent craftily responded by formulating and executing
a new plan that accounted for the fact that the camera could not be
turned off, thus impacting total spacecraft power availability.
Then, on May 21, "when the artificial intelligence detected that an
electronics unit had 'failed,' the software fixed the unit by
reactivating it, not unlike rebooting a personal computer after the
screen freezes," said Dr. Marc Rayman, Deep Space 1 deputy mission
manager and chief mission engineer at JPL, Pasadena, CA. Next, a
sensor 'failed,' and Remote Agent correctly recognized the sensor
was the problem, not the device it was sensing. This pair of problems
is akin to finding that the engine warning light has come on in your
car. The light can mean one of two things: either the engine has a
problem, or the sensor that triggers the light has a problem. In each
case, Remote Agent correctly distinguished which situation it was in.
The final simulated failure was a thruster stuck in the "off" position,
which Remote Agent detected and for which it compensated by switching
to a different set of thrusters.
"This technology will allow us to pursue Solar System exploration missions
that only a few years ago would have been considered too elaborate, too
costly or too dependent on teams of Earth-bound controllers," said Dr.
Doug Bernard, Remote Agent manager at JPL.
An Internet web page contains a log of events on Deep Space 1 during the
ambitious artificial intelligence test: http://rax.arc.nasa.gov
In June the futuristic ion propulsion system on NASA's Deep Space 1
spacecraft is the winner of Discover Magazine's Award for
Technological Innovation in the exploration category.
Discover magazine's annual awards, now in their 10th year, honor
teams whose innovations improve the quality of everyday life.
Twenty-seven technologies were selected as finalists. Nine winners,
featured in Discover's July issue, were announced at a recent ceremony
in Florida.
The award went to NASA's Solar Electric Propulsion Technology
Application Readiness (NSTAR) program team, which developed and
delivered Deep Space 1's ion propulsion system. Accepting on behalf
of the team was former NSTAR manager Jack Stocky of NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA.
The ion drive combines a gas found in photo flash units with
some of the technologies that make television picture tubes work
to deliver a thrust only as powerful as the pressure of a sheet
of paper resting on the palm of a hand. Despite the almost
imperceptible level of thrust, this engine, for a given amount of
fuel, can increase a spacecraft's velocity 10 times more than can
a conventional liquid or solid fuel rocket.
Deep Space 1, launched last October, has tested 12 new
technologies, including ion propulsion, so that they can be
confidently used on science missions of the 21st century.
Deep Space 1 and the Remote Agent's next task will be to chase
down asteroid 1992KD on July 29.
Deep Space 1 - http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ds1news
And No Comets Moved on the Face of the Deep
In the March 18 issue of Nature, cosmochemist Geoff Blake and his team
showed that Hale-Bopp contains sizable amounts of "heavy water," which
contains a heavier isotope of hydrogen called deuterium. They determined
this from the data from Caltech's Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO)
Millimeter Array used to study organic molecules in the jets emitted from
the surface of Hale-Bopp's nucleus.
"Hale-Bopp came along at just the right time for our work," Blake
said. "Hale-Bopp was quite large, and so it was the first comet that
could be imaged at high spatial and spectral resolution at millimeter
wavelengths." The results show that Hale-Bopp is
composed of 15 to 40 percent primordial material that existed before
the sun formed. Hale-Bopp contains sizable amounts of "heavy water,"
which contains a heavier isotope of hydrogen called deuterium.
If Hale-Bopp is a typical comet, and if comets indeed gave Earth
its water supply billions of years ago, then the oceans should have
roughly the same amount of deuterium as comets. In fact, the oceans
have significantly less, the researchers said. This strongly suggests
that comets did not give Earth its water, contrary to the longstanding
belief of many planetary scientists.
From the lunar cratering record, we know that, shortly after they were
made, both the moon and Earth were bombarded by large numbers of
asteroids or comets. It now seems apparent the asteroids must have
dominated and been the source of the majority of Earth's water.
Comets, Comets, and More Comets.
Just nine days after scrapping one comet exploration mission over cost
concerns, NASA announced a similar mission with exactly the same
price tag to exactly the same comet.
The new mission, Deep Impact, aims to crash a 500 kilogram (1,100
pound) copper spacecraft into Comet Tempel 1 in 2005, creating a
crater as big as a football field and as deep as a seven-story
building.
The earlier mission, Champollion or Deep Space 4, was to map the icy
surface of the comet, land a small spacecraft there in 2005 and
collect samples for on-site analysis and a later return to Earth.
NASA attached $240 million price tags to both missions and Deep
Impact, like Champollion, will be managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory.
So what's the deal?
Jay Bergstralh, NASA's program scientist for the division that
includes Deep Impact, said Friday that the newer mission is unique in
that it will sample the comet's core. He said the decision to can
Champollion was "not in any way predicated on the selection of Deep
Impact."
"We think that the pristine matter in comet nuclei is the stuff that
the solar system is made of," he said. "These are fossils. If we can
get through this processed crust and look at the pristine matter
beneath it we think we'd have a better idea of the chemicals that were
in the nebula, the cloud of gas and dust that the solar system formed
from."
"Champollion got the ax because of problems with funding. It had grown
beyond it's original scope. The phasing of costs over time was one
reason Champollion got the ax. Champollion was supposed to be
principally a technology demonstration program and it had grown outside
that envelope," Bergstralh said. "Deep Impact is a qualitatively different
kind of mission. It doesn't do the same kinds of things Champollion was
intended to do."
The earlier mission was headed up by NASA's Brian Muirhead, leader of
the Mars Pathfinder mission. The new mission will be led by Michael
A'Hearn at the University of Maryland in College Park. That move
follows a NASA cost-cutting trend to put more aspects of missions
in the hands of university researchers and contractors.
The day after NASA scrapped Champollion, the European Space Agency
grabbed media attention by unveiling a model of the Rosetta
spacecraft, set for a 2012 rendezvous and landing on the comet
Wirtanen. That feat would have made them the first agency to land on a
comet given the cancellation of Champollion.
NASA's Deep Impact will precede the European landing -- although it's
clear that a controlled crash is not the same as a landing.
Bergstralh said NASA planned months ago to announce the Deep Impact
mission in July. As for whether the European Space Agency timed its
unveiling to upstage NASA following the death of Champollion,
Bergstralh wouldn't venture to say.
Deep Impact, which shares its name with a 1998 movie about a comet
crash on Earth (this is definitely a coincidence as the name was
selected before the movie was announced), is set for a January 2004
launch (Champollion was set for a 2003 launch). The plan is to put
a camera and infrared spectrometer aboard Deep Impact to collect
data on the icy spray from the crash, which is set to occur July 4,
2005.
The impact date hearkens to the Pathfinder landing of July 4, 1997.
NASA's other missions involving asteroids and comets include:
- Deep Space 1, set to pass by asteroid 1992KD on July 29.
- The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous mission, set to enter orbit
around asteroid Eros on Valentine's Day, 2000.
- The Stardust mission to gather samples of comet dust and
return them to Earth.
http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9907/01/comet.lander.ap/
Europe's Comet Lander - The Rosetta Lander
http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9907/01/comet.lander.ap/
A Messenger of Real Optimism
Last Wednesday, NASA also announced a $286 million mission to
Mercury, set for a spring 2004 launch. The mission marks NASA's first
return to Mercury since the Mariner 10 flybys in 1974 and 1975. A
primary goal of the Messenger mission will be to look for water-ice in
Mercury's polar craters, similar to that detected at the lunar poles.
Messenger will following a flight path that includes two fly-bys apiece
of Mercury and Venus and an orbital tour of Mercury to start in
September 2009.
Saturn Bound
The Cassini spacecraft, marking the 617th day of its voyage
to Saturn, June 24, 1999, successfully completed its second
flyby of the planet Venus, once again on time and on target.
Now it's on to a flyby of Earth on August 18 (August 17 Pacific
time at 8:28 p.m. PDT), then it's on to Jupiter for a December 30,
2000 flyby. The giant planet's gravity will bend Cassini's flight
path to put it on course for arrival into orbit around Saturn on
July 1, 2004.
Cassini's mission is to study the ringed planet, its
magnetic and radiation environment, moons and rings for four
years. Cassini will also deliver the European Space Agency's
Huygens probe to parachute to the surface of Saturn's moon Titan.
Titan is of special interest partly because of its many Earthlike
characteristics, including a mostly nitrogen atmosphere and the
presence of organic molecules in the atmosphere and on its
surface. Lakes or seas of ethane and methane may exist on its
surface.
Cassini - http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini
The Write Stuff (Pen and Ink Optional!)
Keeping In Character
Need help trying to create that new character for your story?
Try out the Online Personality test found at:
Keirsey
http://keirsey.com/
Now that you've got that character fleshed out, what is his (or her)
name? Need some more help? Try:
Baby Namer
http://www.babycenter.com/babyname/index.html
Baby Names (Including meaning of names)
http://www.babynames.com/
The End of Agents??
Still trying to get "discovered"? A new "slush pile" site may
help your work get over that transom and onto a publisher's desk!
See Rosedog.com (and read their letter to us below):
http://www.rosedog.com
For more information about writer's resources see our listing at:
http://www.clever.net/cam/writers.html
FFFeedback
From Jim Davidson:
Dear Margaret,
Well, that [June Info-Alert] was a very long message.
Sad about DeForrest Kelly. I really liked his
acting, especially in all those Westerns. Can't
say I cared very much for the character "Bones"
but he had some of the most memorable lines.
Hello to Larry Friesen and all my other fannish friends.
Feel free to check out the Space Capitalists web
site and web message forum.
Link to http://www.spacecapitalists.org/
Regards,
Jim Davidson
President,
Houston Space Society, Inc.
http://www.houstonspacesociety.org/
From Margaret Middleton:
Thanks enormously. Very good reading. I'm sorry to hear of Joanne's
death, but the reminiscence by Clif of the view from the backside
of Erraticon was a real nostalgia trip.
I haven't been to your con listing site yet: do you list cons adjoining
Texas? If-so, I draw your attention to our web page: www.rockon.org
ROC*KON**2000 will be held the first weekend in May of next year. In
past years, we've had folks from Houston occasionally make the pilgrimage.
Hope to lure some more.
[Editor's note: Yep, we sure do list cons outside Texas.
We cover cons in TX-AR-LA-OK-NM. See our updated Roc-Kon listing!]
http://www.clever.net/cam/concalendar.html
Regards,
Margaret Middleton
(who is greatly bemused to be ID'd in your "new subscribers" list as
"The legendary filker...")
[Clif's Note - We call them as we see them.]
From the Rosedog.com staff:
You need more than talent to get published. You need to get noticed.
And your chances of getting noticed depend on how easy you make it
for agents and publishers to get to know you and your work.
RoseDog.com is a smart, easy-to-use site that helps agents and
publishers spot talented authors fast and efficiently. Our software
is engineered to let them search for, organize, route and discuss
manuscripts at the click of a mouse.
Writers can showcase as many manuscripts and as much supporting
information as they wish. Your work gets equal exposure on RoseDog, so
you've an equal chance of getting noticed.
We're organized, we're interactive and we're free. But we're not
exclusive; so feel free to make us part of any smart strategy to get
published.
PRIZES: To mark the launch of RoseDog, and until July 31, we're giving
away a free copy of "The Ultimate Book of Writing Contests" to the
authors of every 10th manuscript posted to our showcase. Check us out
now at http://www.rosedog.com .
From Patti Prevett:
Clif
Thanks for listing my web page on the FoF June Info Alert.
I've had an invitation to show art at ROC*KON 99 because of the listing.
Thanks again.
Patti E. Prevett
From Anne Collins Smith:
Hello, Clif & Margaret!
I finally typed up and posted my REVELcon report for this year; you can
find it at: http://members.aol.com/~gnomones/REV99.html. Feel free to
excerpt it for the newsletter, put the URL in the newsletter, link to
it from your REVELcon page, etc.!
If you go to my main page, http://members.aol.com/~gnomones, you will
also find links to two other convention reports, MW*C 18 and MW*C 19;
the former is so long I broke it into pieces, including two pages of
photos, whereas the latter is short enough to fit on one webpage.
All three reports tend to focus on the "Ratty" side of things, i.e.,
Rat Patrol activities, but contain info of general interest as well.
Thanks for the great newsletter!
Cheerio,
Anne
Anne Collins Smith
And that wraps up another issue.
Except that Clif and Margaret want to THANK Joe Pumilia who provided and
scanned the photos on the Joanne Burger Memorial page (that finally seems
stable at http://www.clever.net/cam/burger.html ).
Send any email comments or suggestions regarding fannish
activities/events in the greater Houston area (or within Texas) or
regarding this Info Alert to fof@www.clever.net . If you received this
Info Alert as a sample and would be interested in receiving future
editions directly, email clifton@cs.uh.edu or click on "sign up"
on any of our Web pages as listed above and register. Alternately
you can register directly on http://www.clever.net/cam/register.html .
Be seeing you!
Margaret A. Fincannon, Friends of Fandom Info-Alert Staff
Clifton B. Davis, Friends of Fandom Info-Alert Staff
http://www.clever.net/cam/fof.html fof@www.clever.net
And now we sense a disturbance in the fine print generator....
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