NEWS NEWSLETTER: OCTOBER 2010Digital Papyrus newsletter
"Science Fiction Brewed Fresh Daily"
Date: October 2010
Issue No. 78
Precursor
We're coming up on a couple of big months for SF/Fantasy conventions. The fans are getting restless...
The Hugo Awards took place at AussieCon early in September. Following the authors and attendees on Twitter was a fun way to keep up with events for those of us who couldn't travel to Australia for the event. There are Flickr accounts with plenty of photos, and the bloggers had a lively time recapping it all when they returned. Costumes, panels, ephemera, art galleries and books!
The 2010 Hugo Awards Ceremony held on September 5, 2010 at Aussiecon 4, the World Science Fiction Convention in Melbourne, Australia. The Hugo Award is the highest honor in the field of science fiction and fantasy literature, and is awarded annually by the members of the World Science Fiction Convention. For more information about the Hugo Awards, see the official web site at www.TheHugoAwards.org.
The shuttle Discovery, mounted atop a mobile launch platform carried by an Apollo-era crawler transporter, was hauled to the launch pad overnight Monday for work to ready the ship for blastoff Nov. 1 on its 39th and final flight.
The 3.2-mile trip from the Vehicle Assembly Building to launch complex 39A began at 7:23 p.m. EDT and was completed at 1:49 a.m. Tuesday when the mobile launch platform was reported "hard down" on its support pedestals at the oceanside pad. With good weather expected, a protective gantry will be left parked away from the vehicle to give Kennedy Space Center workers a chance to visit the pad and enjoy an unobstructed view of NASA's most experienced orbiter. FULL STORY
Space surveillance project successfully blasts off
JUSTIN RAY, SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Leaving behind the earthly limitations imposed on reconnoitering space, a telescope-laden sleuth was launched Saturday night to survey the dangers of orbital debris and monitor nefarious threats against vital national security satellites.
The Space Based Space Surveillance mission streaked into a sun-synchronous orbit 336 miles above the planet following a successful boost provided by the Minotaur 4 rocket. FULL STORY
NASA moon orbiter begins two-year science mission
STEPHEN CLARK, SPACEFLIGHT NOW
As NASA shifts its focus away from moon as the next destination for human space travelers, the agency's lunar orbiter has completed a long-planned transition from an exploration to a scientific mission.
Command of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter was handed over Thursday from NASA's exploration division to the science directorate, completing a yearlong mission devoted to scouting potential landing sites for future manned and robotic visits. FULL STORY
Air Force Launches Satellite to Track Space Junk Around Earth
Denise Chow, SPACE.com Staff Writer
The U.S. Air Force lit up the night sky above California Saturday (Sept. 25) with the launch a new satellite sentinel to keep tabs on other spacecraft and the growing problem of space junk around Earth.
The Space-Based Space Surveillance satellite, called SBSS, will monitor the orbital environment as part of the U.S. military's evolving Space Surveillance Network. FULL STORY
Microbes With the Right Stuff? Synthetic Life Could Make Mars Trips Easier
Clara Moskowitz, Astrobiology Magazine
When packing for a manned mission to Mars or the moon, the best thing to bring may not be food or fuel, but specially designed organisms that can create those things for you.
Scientists are researching the possibility of engineering synthetic organisms that would use the resources available in the solar system to create the supplies astronauts would need to survive on another planet. FULL STORY
The facebook images referred to an exhibit opening in November: - Nemo's Steampunk Art & Invention Gallery at the 20,000 Leagues Exhibit at Patriot Place in Foxboro Massachusetts.
Hook in the Book
PART PNE
It is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think and to put them down upon a paper no others are to see. It is base and evil. It is as if we were speaking alone to no ears but out own. And we know well that there is no transgression blacker than to do or think alone. We have broken the laws. The laws say that men may not write unless the Council of Vocations bid them so. May we be forgiven.
Anthem, by Ayn Rand
Last Word
Always the books! it's time to catch up on the reading I've been setting aside for other pursuits. As the season turns (it's 100° this afternoon) and the sun sets earlier, curling up with a good book is always so inviting.
It's time to explore new worlds and meet new friends.
