A plethora of links for your weekend reading:
Meet the stewards of the James Bond film franchise: Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson. With Daniel Craig due to retire from the role following No Time To Die this spring, the producers will be looking for a new actor to take on the role. My suggestion would be to hire Anthony Horowitz to adapt his own Bond novel for the next film. It's an origin story of sorts and would work well as a screenplay especially since they will have to cast a new Bond anyway. Related: Daniel Craig pokes a little fun at his cinematic alter ego:
DeWolf Hopper made a name for himself on the vaudeville stage with his dramatic recitations of Ernest Thayer's poem Casey At The Bat. But it turns out that Hopper was quite the baseball fan.
Sometimes a seemingly small decision can pay big dividends: how a single mail order ad transformed a family owned business into a billion dollar enterprise.
Strange but true: Sesame Street was once banned in Mississippi.
A fascinating deep dive into the world of ghostwriting. It's a problem for readers when they don't know if the person whose name is on the cover is actually the one who wrote the book. It's a bigger problem than you might imagine.
Last year for the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, the NASA History office tweeted out the mission in real time. This year for the 40th anniversary of Apollo 13 they are going to have the mission audio available in real time on their website.
Trivia buffs rejoice! Some fans have created the Jeopardy! question database featuring almost every answer (and question) contained in the last 36 seasons of the show.
Dr. Howard Conyers is on a mission to preserve the tradition of the whole hog barbecue. He also happens to be a rocket scientist.
Before there was Photoshop, the Soviets had mastered the method for removing people from photographs.
At one ski resort in Sweden after a day on the slopes you can ski right into McDonalds for a quick bite.
Showing posts with label NASA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NASA. Show all posts
Friday, January 24, 2020
Friday, May 02, 2014
Daily Links 5-2-14
A huge roundup of links for your weekend enjoyment. In today's edition: learning from Calvin and Hobbes, rethinking the grind, moon shots, Disney and God, and more.
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What Calvin and Hobbes has to teach us about the medium and the message. Some really good points in this article particularly in how we share the message of the gospel.
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Putting things in perspective: how differently famous landmarks look from a distance (hat tip: Challies)
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Some advice on how to write about writing.
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The power of doing less: how you can increase productivity by saying no more often. I do think there is something to this idea that we have to force ourselves to be less busy and focus on tasks that are most important and most deserving of our time and energy.
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Moon shots:: NASA's Lunar Orbiter Recovery Project has been working since 2009 to recover images taken during the the agency's lunar exploration programs. Some very cool photos in this slideshow.
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Helpful hints on how to protect your privacy online.
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Say it ain't so: is the Oxford English Dictionary disappearing (at least in print)?
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Did Disney prohibit the Frozen songwriters from using the word God in their songs? Not exactly. In fact, the real story is more interesting.
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Baseball continues to be a fascinating game. In fact, it's remarkable how in some ways it can be so very predictable.
***********
And then there is this:
***********
What Calvin and Hobbes has to teach us about the medium and the message. Some really good points in this article particularly in how we share the message of the gospel.
***********
Putting things in perspective: how differently famous landmarks look from a distance (hat tip: Challies)
***********
Some advice on how to write about writing.
***********
The power of doing less: how you can increase productivity by saying no more often. I do think there is something to this idea that we have to force ourselves to be less busy and focus on tasks that are most important and most deserving of our time and energy.
***********
Moon shots:: NASA's Lunar Orbiter Recovery Project has been working since 2009 to recover images taken during the the agency's lunar exploration programs. Some very cool photos in this slideshow.
***********
Helpful hints on how to protect your privacy online.
***********
Say it ain't so: is the Oxford English Dictionary disappearing (at least in print)?
***********
Did Disney prohibit the Frozen songwriters from using the word God in their songs? Not exactly. In fact, the real story is more interesting.
***********
Baseball continues to be a fascinating game. In fact, it's remarkable how in some ways it can be so very predictable.
***********
And then there is this:
Friday, June 06, 2008
TV Preview: When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions
In the past hundred years, the single greatest achievement of mankind is without a doubt our conquest of space. In less than 10 years, the American space program would go from knowing next to nothing about putting a man in space to landing atwo men on the moon and returning them to Earth.
Discovery Channel chronicles the first 50 years of NASA's successes and failures in a brand new documnetary entitled When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions which premieres on June 8 at 9PM EDT/PDT. The series is narrated by award-winning actor Gary Sinise. Over three consecutive Sunday nights, this series will take the viewer on a journey through the history of the space program like no other documentary ever has before.
"This project started out as a preservation endeavor," said executive producer Bill Howard in a recent interview. "We sat down with NASA and explained to them that we wanted to go back through their archives and preserve and remaster all of their original film source material, the film that had been to the moon and had been in space, the real treasures of the NASA archives."
Click here to listen to an interview with executive producer Bill Howard.
What followed was a painstaking process in which the producers viewed more than 500 hours of footage and converting over 100 hours into HD to be used in this series. HD copies were then donated back to NASA.
But they didn't stop there. The producers also went through the process of digitizing the audio archives which also proved to be a monumental task.
"At the time of Mercury and Gemini, they didn't record the audio on the same medium as the picture," explained Mr. Howard. "Film would be shot in space and the audio would be recorded back in Houston on some custom government magnetic reel to reel tape and you go back and you try to access those magnetic tape sources. Some of them are completely degraded and can't be played. Others are fragile and have to be handled with such care that you only get one chance to digitize it."
The result of all this work is a visually stunning series that puts the viewer right in the middle of what the astronauts experienced on these missions. You feel as if you're in the spacecraft alongside these astronauts as they embark on these magnificent adventures. For the first time, mission footage has been synchronized with the audio so that viewers will get to not only see but hear the astronauts during these missions.
Interspersed with the archival footage are present day interviews with both the astronauts and some of the flight directors. Viewers will get a greater understanding of the character of the men and women who undertake the challenge to explore space.
The first episode, entitled "Ordinary Supermen", begins with the earliest days of NASA. The Soviets have already launched Sputnik to begin the Space Race. NASA is working feverishly to try to catch up. They recruit the best pilots they can find to become the first astronauts. Out of 110 who qualify, only seven will become Mercury astronauts. Interviews with the two surviving Mercury astronauts, John Glenn and Scott Carpenter, are included to provide insight and personal recollections from their missions. In order to make it into space, NASA has to invent completely new technology. As flight director Gene Kranz puts it, learning to fly into space was like "learning to drink from a fire hose".
Episode two, "Gemini-Friends and Rivals", provides rare footage of the recruiting and training process and focuses on the steps that must be achieved to make it to the moon. Ed White's inaugural space walk on Gemini 4 is stunning to watch in HD. Another highlight is Gene Cernan's space walk on a later Gemini mission. For the first time, we get to hear Cernan's struggle to work in space with the mission audio synchronized to the film. Cernan also provides present-day recollections that add to the drama.
The third episode, "Apollo-Landing the Eagle", opens with the first major tragedy of the space program: the Apollo 1 launchpad fire that killed astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee. NASA bounces back to a few months later launching Apollo 8 which was the first mission to achieve lunar orbit. The footage from this mission (including shots of the stages of the Saturn V rocket separating) is absolutely incredible. The episode concludes with the Apollo 11 landing and NASA's greatest achievement to date.
Episode 4, "A Home in Space", begins with Apollo missions 12-17 and the near-disaster of Apollo 13. Astronauts Jim Lovell and Fred Haise and flight director Gene Kranz put us right in the middle of the drama with their recollections of the ill-fated mission. As the Apollo program winds down, NASA decides to take the leftover hardware to create Skylab, the first attempt to put a space station into orbit.
Episode 5, "The Shuttle", brings us to the next great chapter of NASA's history. Astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen share their memories of the first shuttle launch which holds the distinction of being the first time that NASA will test a new vehicle with astronauts aboard. Both Young and Crippen tell us what it's like to ride a thoroughly untested spaceship. Another highlight is the footage from astronaut Bruce McCandless' untethered spacewalk which was the first time it was ever attempted. The episode concludes with the Challenger explosion and includes some specially declassified material of the solid rocket boosters being destroyed following the explosion of the Challenger.
As episode 6, "A New Space Age", opens, NASA is reeling from the Challenger disaster and scrambles to get the shuttle flying again. Their next great endeavor is the Hubble Space Telescope. But after deployment, they discover huge problems with it that require a daring repair mission that is documented here. After the successful repair of Hubble comes the Columbia disaster which, as the mission footage shows, might have been avoided. The onboard footage of the crew as they begin re-entry is eerie to watch. As with the other missions, the film is remarkable to watch. The series concludes with the construction of the International Space Station and the next great chapter of space exploration.
Unlike other documentaries about space, this series focuses more on the men and women of NASA than the technical achievements.
"What we tried to do is look at it as an adventure story: real heroes, real stakes, and relal jeopardy," said Mr. Howard. We gave it a theatrical score and built it as we would build an adventure movie and I think that's our effort any way to make it relevant to people now by putting it in a medium they understand: high definition television with a full theatrical score."
When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions certainly accomplishes that objective. It is our greatest adventure.
When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions will air on the Discovery Channel at 9PM EDT/PDT on June 8, 15 and 22.
This article was originally published at Blogcritics.
Discovery Channel chronicles the first 50 years of NASA's successes and failures in a brand new documnetary entitled When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions which premieres on June 8 at 9PM EDT/PDT. The series is narrated by award-winning actor Gary Sinise. Over three consecutive Sunday nights, this series will take the viewer on a journey through the history of the space program like no other documentary ever has before.
"This project started out as a preservation endeavor," said executive producer Bill Howard in a recent interview. "We sat down with NASA and explained to them that we wanted to go back through their archives and preserve and remaster all of their original film source material, the film that had been to the moon and had been in space, the real treasures of the NASA archives."
Click here to listen to an interview with executive producer Bill Howard.
What followed was a painstaking process in which the producers viewed more than 500 hours of footage and converting over 100 hours into HD to be used in this series. HD copies were then donated back to NASA.
But they didn't stop there. The producers also went through the process of digitizing the audio archives which also proved to be a monumental task.
"At the time of Mercury and Gemini, they didn't record the audio on the same medium as the picture," explained Mr. Howard. "Film would be shot in space and the audio would be recorded back in Houston on some custom government magnetic reel to reel tape and you go back and you try to access those magnetic tape sources. Some of them are completely degraded and can't be played. Others are fragile and have to be handled with such care that you only get one chance to digitize it."
The result of all this work is a visually stunning series that puts the viewer right in the middle of what the astronauts experienced on these missions. You feel as if you're in the spacecraft alongside these astronauts as they embark on these magnificent adventures. For the first time, mission footage has been synchronized with the audio so that viewers will get to not only see but hear the astronauts during these missions.
Interspersed with the archival footage are present day interviews with both the astronauts and some of the flight directors. Viewers will get a greater understanding of the character of the men and women who undertake the challenge to explore space.
The first episode, entitled "Ordinary Supermen", begins with the earliest days of NASA. The Soviets have already launched Sputnik to begin the Space Race. NASA is working feverishly to try to catch up. They recruit the best pilots they can find to become the first astronauts. Out of 110 who qualify, only seven will become Mercury astronauts. Interviews with the two surviving Mercury astronauts, John Glenn and Scott Carpenter, are included to provide insight and personal recollections from their missions. In order to make it into space, NASA has to invent completely new technology. As flight director Gene Kranz puts it, learning to fly into space was like "learning to drink from a fire hose".
Episode two, "Gemini-Friends and Rivals", provides rare footage of the recruiting and training process and focuses on the steps that must be achieved to make it to the moon. Ed White's inaugural space walk on Gemini 4 is stunning to watch in HD. Another highlight is Gene Cernan's space walk on a later Gemini mission. For the first time, we get to hear Cernan's struggle to work in space with the mission audio synchronized to the film. Cernan also provides present-day recollections that add to the drama.
The third episode, "Apollo-Landing the Eagle", opens with the first major tragedy of the space program: the Apollo 1 launchpad fire that killed astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee. NASA bounces back to a few months later launching Apollo 8 which was the first mission to achieve lunar orbit. The footage from this mission (including shots of the stages of the Saturn V rocket separating) is absolutely incredible. The episode concludes with the Apollo 11 landing and NASA's greatest achievement to date.
Episode 4, "A Home in Space", begins with Apollo missions 12-17 and the near-disaster of Apollo 13. Astronauts Jim Lovell and Fred Haise and flight director Gene Kranz put us right in the middle of the drama with their recollections of the ill-fated mission. As the Apollo program winds down, NASA decides to take the leftover hardware to create Skylab, the first attempt to put a space station into orbit.
Episode 5, "The Shuttle", brings us to the next great chapter of NASA's history. Astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen share their memories of the first shuttle launch which holds the distinction of being the first time that NASA will test a new vehicle with astronauts aboard. Both Young and Crippen tell us what it's like to ride a thoroughly untested spaceship. Another highlight is the footage from astronaut Bruce McCandless' untethered spacewalk which was the first time it was ever attempted. The episode concludes with the Challenger explosion and includes some specially declassified material of the solid rocket boosters being destroyed following the explosion of the Challenger.
As episode 6, "A New Space Age", opens, NASA is reeling from the Challenger disaster and scrambles to get the shuttle flying again. Their next great endeavor is the Hubble Space Telescope. But after deployment, they discover huge problems with it that require a daring repair mission that is documented here. After the successful repair of Hubble comes the Columbia disaster which, as the mission footage shows, might have been avoided. The onboard footage of the crew as they begin re-entry is eerie to watch. As with the other missions, the film is remarkable to watch. The series concludes with the construction of the International Space Station and the next great chapter of space exploration.
Unlike other documentaries about space, this series focuses more on the men and women of NASA than the technical achievements.
"What we tried to do is look at it as an adventure story: real heroes, real stakes, and relal jeopardy," said Mr. Howard. We gave it a theatrical score and built it as we would build an adventure movie and I think that's our effort any way to make it relevant to people now by putting it in a medium they understand: high definition television with a full theatrical score."
When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions certainly accomplishes that objective. It is our greatest adventure.
When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions will air on the Discovery Channel at 9PM EDT/PDT on June 8, 15 and 22.
This article was originally published at Blogcritics.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Missing: Bold Leadership
This week I've had the privilege to preview a new series that will debut on the Discovery Channel on Sunday, June 8th entitled When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions (click here to read my review). The six part series traces the first fifty years of NASA's missions to explore outer space.
While watching the series I was struck by how we no longer consider the exploration of space as something that is important for our country to invest in. It does not seem to hold the same interest for us as a nation as it did when I was a kid growing up in the late 60's and early 70's. Perhaps that is because we don't have bold leadership any longer in Washington.
On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American in space by piloting his Mercury spacecraft on a twenty minute sub-orbital flight. A little less than three weeks later, President John F. Kennedy declares before a joint session of Congress that the United States will land a man on the moon before the end of the decade. At the time, many in the space program thought Kennedy was crazy to make such a suggestion. But as audacious as his boast may have been, he inspired thousands of individuals associated with the program to work harder to ensure that his goal was met.
President Kennedy said it best in another famous speech that he made about why we must explore space:
We need a leader who is willing to challenge us to do hard things.
While watching the series I was struck by how we no longer consider the exploration of space as something that is important for our country to invest in. It does not seem to hold the same interest for us as a nation as it did when I was a kid growing up in the late 60's and early 70's. Perhaps that is because we don't have bold leadership any longer in Washington.
On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American in space by piloting his Mercury spacecraft on a twenty minute sub-orbital flight. A little less than three weeks later, President John F. Kennedy declares before a joint session of Congress that the United States will land a man on the moon before the end of the decade. At the time, many in the space program thought Kennedy was crazy to make such a suggestion. But as audacious as his boast may have been, he inspired thousands of individuals associated with the program to work harder to ensure that his goal was met.
President Kennedy said it best in another famous speech that he made about why we must explore space:
We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.
We need a leader who is willing to challenge us to do hard things.
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