The Kindle version of Scratching the Surface is out! To celebrate, I am offering it free all day Sunday, August 18! Grab your copy and, if so inclined, leave a review after reading it.
Paperback coming soon!
Kindle version promo
Where on Mars?
For some time now, I’ve been puzzling over where to place Dawn Colony on the surface of Mars. Here is the description of the landscape around the colony from Scratching the Surface: Continue reading “Where on Mars?”
Apollo pooping
This might be the most dedicated space journalism I’ve ever encountered. I want to say “Bravo!”, but that seems weird.
Jalopnik Apollo 11 landing
In the final minutes of the Apollo 11 LM’s descent to the surface, Armstrong noticed that the intended landing site was too rocky and took manual control of the descent in order to find a better spot. The LM had never been flown in this manner, and Armstrong didn’t have time to discuss it with mission control.
We’ve all heard recordings of those final minutes of the LM descent. But we’ve never seen exactly what Armstrong saw until now. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter team has reconstructed Armstrong’s view of the surface in those final minutes.
Pairing the audio recording with this footage is edge-of-the-seat exciting, as you imagine Armstrong coolly working the LM down while the voices at mission control have no idea of this extra drama under way at the time.
Apollo 11 launch
Watching this original coverage of the Apollo 11 launch today, I was struck by the professionalism. There is no attempt to entertain or sensationalize here. Just calm and composed communication of the most momentous event in human history.
Book review
Check out the latest pre-release review of Scratching the Surface! Thank you for the kind words, Mrs. Fig.
“GENERATION MARS fills the “hard science fiction” hole in early middle grade bookshelves…I hope this book will hook some of our young readers (and parents) who aren’t as easily entertained by the silly stuff.”
Tumblr 100 tons to Mars
Some details on SpaceX’s Mars plan and the issues they are working on.
Ars Technica Outgrowing the planet is not a bad thing
Dr. Phil Metzger posted an epic 48 tweet thread on Twitter explaining why megaconstellations (e.g. SpaceX’s Starlink) are inevitable, as is their eventual demise as better tech comes online.
Looking at the evolution of life, from single celled organisms to bipedal apes rapidly outgrowing the planet, as the exponential growth of information is a novel (to me at least) approach and provides an interesting perspective.
“I would bet that if we find alien civilizations somewhere else in the galaxy, or in a galaxy far, far away, we will discover that they ALL developed megaconstellations right before they got industry off their planets & divorced their information systems from their biosphere.”
This is wild stuff and well worth a full read.
Rocket engines 101
Ostensibly about the SpaceX Raptor engine, it’s really so much more. If you’ve ever had a hankerin’ to learn more about rocket engine design, Everyday Astronaut‘s latest video is a great place to start.
YouTube Generation Mars is going to Mars in 2020!
You can send your name too by registering with NASA at https://mars.nasa.gov/participate/send-your-name/mars2020/