The flight test took a lot of waiting on the weather to get going. It was confusing. NASA posted this explanation on their Test Flight Blog yesterday:

The skies look clear except for some high clouds, there’s no rain in the immediate forecast, so why might a rocket not launch? The answer is something called triboelectrification. While this isn’t a word you encounter every day, you might experience it if you walk across a dry carpet or brush up against a cat and then touch a metal surface: it’s static.

In the case of Ares I-X, flying through high-level clouds can generate “P-static” (P for precipitation), which can create a corona of static around the rocket that interferes with radio signals sent by or to the rocket. This would create problems when the rocket tries to transmit data down to the ground or if the Range Safety Officer at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station needed to send a signal to the flight termination system. Until the 45th Space Wing and observer aircraft indicate that the skies are clear, Ares I-X will wait them out.

And they did wait, and wait, and it felt so nervewracking to hear the frustration in people’s voices as they discussed yet another delay, or windows of opportunity for launch.  But the end of the video, you can hear that it all worked out. “Let’s think about what we just did.  Our first flight flight test, and the only thing we were waiting on, was weather.”  It cuts off the next sentence, but I heard it, “That’s frikkin’ fantastic!”

Over the past week I heard a lot of talk about how NASA is failing to capture the imaginations of adults and youth alike.  Most of the people at these conferences had a vested interest in NASA, so they were looking to rekindle the pioneering spirit of Americans.  My daily interactions confirm the lacklustre image that human spaceflight has taken on lately.  More and more often I’m hearing people rant about how we need to get rid of that “waste of a space program.”  This, from Alabama natives — who have cell phones in their pockets, who use the Internet daily, and probably ate a microwaved meal or two in the last 24 hours!  It’s becoming a more mainstream, accepted viewpoint that NASA is utter frivolity.

Now, I do understand there are valid concerns with how money is being spent, and what goals the government and private industry should play.  When we’re talking about health care, no one (well, almost no one) starts shouting about how we don’t need doctors anyway, do they?   When we argue about education, even those people who would abolish the Department of Education still believe in the value of education.  They just don’t want it dictated by the government.  But with human spaceflight, people will skip arguing those issues and start arguing that humans have no business leaving our atmosphere, and everything we need to do can be done with robots, end of story.  The status quo is just fine, thankyouverymuch, why do we have to push forward any further?  Unfortunately, when people start talking in such terms, I tend to shut them down before they can get very far.  While I’m glad that my passion is evident, I really would like to understand why people feel that way.

It exasperates me that 40 years ago NASA’s work was our shining achievement, but now they’ve fallen largely out of favor.  It’s not a matter of squandering money, either.  Unlike most government spending, NASA’s work has paid for that investment hundreds of times over in returns to the quality of life of the people.  Working on a shoestring budget, NASA has continued to do wonderful work that outstrips their own projections by years and years.  Look at the shuttle!  We’ve made do with equipment that is far past it’s prime, and people are suggesting that we still try and extend the life of the shuttle a few more years.  That kind of thrift is extraordinary, but we take it for granted now.  NASA’s exceptional track record is the reason, yet it’s vilified consistently and incorrectly as a boring, wasteful program that does nothing for anyone but a few academics in ivory towers.

Is it a breakdown of the PR machine? Are people frightened?  Or just plain unimaginative? 35 years of not leaving Earth’s orbit?  Bored now?  Unable to see past the next decade?   I imagine all of those factors are in play, as well as a disenchantment in general brought on by economic downturns.  Whatever it is, my children don’t need to be coaxed into understanding how important space exploration is.  They see it naturally, without any (intentional) proselytizing on my part at all.  We look into the beautiful black openness of the skies and see possibilities and hope.  Listening to that kind of negativism and lack of vision always just strengthens my resolve to want to be a part of those who get us out there into the stars.

I’ve heard of other numbers having followers. I’ve heard there are many people who believe that seeing 11:11 means that the universe is trying to reveal something.  I found that idea very fascinating for a while, but I think the universe must not have anything very special to tell me just yet, since I never randomly look up and see elevens anywhere.  I know several people whose favorite number is 7.  Others pick 13, just to buck the system. But 47?!  47 is my number, I’d always felt it was unique.  Not so much.

Cruising the internet last week, I came across a link to Awkward Family Photos.  As I was giggling my way through the pages of the album, I saw that 47 apparently is an awkward number.  I had to read the comments on that one. They pointed me to the 47 Society’s webpage.  Disappointingly, it appears to be inactive, but I was intrigued, and kept researching.

According to the Ponoma College website, “In 1964, Professor of Mathematics Donald Bentley proved that all numbers are equal to 47.” I feel so vindicated, because that’s exactly how I use it!  Now I’ll know I’m not really exaggerating, as 47 is accurate at all times.

Furthermore, the fascination with the number 47 infected the Star Trek universe.  The number 47 has featured prominently in episodes from The Next Generation’s fourth season forward, because of writer Joe Menosky.  He is a Ponoma graduate, and wrote for TNG, Deep Space Nine and Voyager.  The inclusion of 47 in these series has been tracked obsessively.  Rick Berman was a fellow writer during some of these episodes, and joked about the inclusion, “47 is 42, corrected for inflation.”  Squee!  A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy reference wrapped up in a shiny Star Trek coating!

I really wonder now if my subconscious got some programming from watching so much Star Trek, or if it’s truly just coincidental.  Will I turn into this guy?

This is a precursor to some big changes.  Life in my household is in a transition period. This youngling will be off to kindergarten in the fall, and that means an empty nest for me. I’ve been very focused on the kids for the last few years, because we’ve always planned for one parent to be at home until school years.  Now I’m ready for the next phase and turning a little more attention back to my own growth.  I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching and thinking about what that will mean over the years.  As I’m facing the actual situation, my thoughts have taken a surprising turn.

Should I just go into the workforce?  Some extra money would be lovely, and a relief for the whole family.  There’s so much financial stress on a one-income household right now, and we’ve certainly felt it.   I double majored in college in English and History.  I really phoned it in while I was in college, too.  I could have done so much better, and learned so much more.  The practical side of me wants me to put that education to good use immediately, making money and making our home more comfortable.  But something inside of me is screaming to go back and get the education I really wanted all along.

I’m 33 years old and haven’t taken a math or science course in roughly 13 years.  But now, I’ve decided to go back to school with the eventual goal of becoming an aerospace engineer.  Is that crazy?  If it does, maybe that just means it’s a good fit.  I haven’t hammered out the specifics just yet, and the other day I had a mini-freakout when I saw all the registration deadlines I’d missed and the tests I’d have to take.  My awesome Spousal Unit said the most incredibly supportive sentence to calm me down, “Relax.  You didn’t make this decision on a time line.  We’ll work all those details out.”

I know I’m going to be talking about how I came to this decision, and what it will mean and how it all is coming together in the time to come.  For now, I thought I’d just put the bare facts out there.  Part of the point of this blog is to have conversations with people about the insane stuff I’m thinking about and doing, right?  I’m trying hard to be a chicken about this, see how I’m using words that belittle my emotional stability?  But I refuse to give myself an out like that.  Letting people know truly I intend to go back to school for something so dramatically different actually makes it real.  I need the chance to talk directly, instead of alluding to nebulous upcoming changes.  So writing is both a relief and a terror to me.

The process of making this decision was a tough one.  I’ve still got a lot of doubts and practical concerns to wiggle out.  For example, money has been tight for a while now.  This isn’t directly addressing that issue.  Even though I do have a certain amount of tuition covered, money issues may become even more pressing.  Time management issues are going to certainly be tricky.  I don’t want my family to make huge sacrifices for this, and I’m certain I’m going to make some mistakes.  I’ve got to figure out how to balance my existing life with life as a student, and eventually, a career.

I’ll allow myself to be open-minded and change my mind about this, but I sincerely mean to give this an honest shot.  As long as I’m truly not allowing other people to make my decisions, I should not feel any shame in trying something that was the wrong fit.  I’m sure I’ll agonize and talk about every little step of the way, and second guess myself all over the place on here.   But I’ve wanted to try this for as long as I remember, and the only way I can see to deal with this desire is to work towards it.

Felicia has been here and there, most recognizably playing Vi on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But I became really familiar with her through her online work, particularly Penny in Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. Dr. Horrible is Joss Whedon’s hilarious and wonderful online musical, created during the writer’s strike last year.  Did you ever see the Buffy musical episode?  Dr. Horrible is definitely a close relative.  It chronicles a young hopeful’s rise to stardom in the world of super villains.  It’s only 43 minutes all told. I was a  big evangelist when the episodes originally debuted.  I’ve memorized it by now, because I have watched it at least a dozen times.

As I began researching the actress who played the lovely Penny, I discovered that Felicia Day actually was brought to Dr. Horrible largely because of her experience with her own online project, The Guild. The first season of The Guild was very easy to find Youtube.  I immediately watched them all, enjoying the instant gratification. Before you click “play,” I should warn you there is some strong language.

There, the first one’s free. Actually all of them are. Just travel over to the Guild’s website.  There are only two seasons so far, so catching up won’t be hard.  It’s very different than Dr. Horrible, which created for mass appeal.  Obviously, it’s very much a niche oriented video, with jokes geared toward online gamers.  World of Warcraft players will especially enjoy it.

Felicia had tried to sell The Guild as a more traditional show, but it was too much of a niche market.  Too many people didn’t understand the jokes.  So she turned to where the audience that would appreciate her work hangs out all day every day, and began making Youtube shorts.  By the end of the first season, the donations that were pouring in actually made it possible to pay the actors.  For the second season, after much wooing from many angles, the perfect solution to return to her pet project and actually make money while retaining her creative autonomy.  From the Paste interview:

Then, Xbox and Microsoft came in and were like, “We love the show, we want you to do what you do with it, we just want to help you produce it and make it and roll it out really fast.” They created a revolutionary business model, because not only did they get a sponsor on board, but they distributed it over all the Microsoft platforms so you can download it for free off of Xbox live and HD which is basically like downloading a TV show. So our little independent, shot-in-my-shed show is essentially one click away from 30 Rock.

How cool is that?  She had the idea for a nifty show about gaming, got rejected everywhere, and decided to go ahead and do it.  And now she’s enjoying incredible success by turning a small independent venture into something that is reaching the whole world because niche marketing actually works so well on the internet.  Joss Whedon was right to seek her simply for her skills as an internet guru for Dr. Horrible.  The fact that she can actually sing and act was simply a bonus.

Since the 1980s, the worldwide amphibian population has been disappearing.  This isn’t an isolated issue in certain regions of the world, or only previously known threatened or endangered species. This is a mass extinction, where the biodiversity of the world is being destroyed. Yes, local issues play a part, but around a third of all amphibian populations are threatened. In particular, the frog population is diminishing at an astonishing rate. The problem has many roots, and isn’t completely understood by scientists.  A few known factors are habitat destruction, climate change, pollution, and disease.

Since amphibians are affected by changes in both land and water habitats, they are doubly at risk when their world is polluted.  Amphibians take in needed oxygen through their skin. Deforestation deprives many of these animals of a home. Humans hold most of the blame for habitat destruction and pollution that is devastating their lands, of course. Several diseases are rampaging the populations as well. The introduction of non-native species, such as trout, also contributes to the decline.

The chytridiomycosis, or chytrid, fungus is particularly virulent. (Actually, can I really use the word “virulent” to describe a fungus? Oh well, I just did. Onward.) One theory is that the disease originated from African clawed frogs. These frogs were initially exported for pregnancy tests and make up the majority of frogs used in research at many universities today. Human scrambling of ecosystems strikes again. Chytrid has spread to every continent amphibians are found. It does not kill carrier infant populations, but adults are dying everywhere.

Amphibians play a vital role in the food chain, controlling rid of insect populations and providing food for other animals. That web is a delicate balance, and tampering with it can have unforeseen effects on humans down the road. Frogs, especially, are used widely in medicines. They are filled with substances that are of use to humans. Amphibians are used in all sorts of research, teaching us about the world. They are considered bioindicators. That very fragility that makes them susceptible to changes in the environment is also used as an indicator of general health. If all the frogs are dead, well, we’ve pretty much fouled things right up, haven’t we?

Humans may be to blame for many of the causes, but we’re also working on solving the issue. For the common person, the most responsible step is to reduce your “ecological footprint.” We should all be mindful of the way we’re walking through the world in general anyway. Research into other issues, and integrated solutions are escalating. Now that chytrid has been identified as a major culprit, there are some promising advances in treating by capture and rerelease into the home environment. Since tadpoles can be carriers, this is very hopeful. The Amphibian Ark project focuses on protecting a captive population of 500 species to be released whenever the crisis seems to have stabilized. Scientists are working on regenerating homes for these froggies. The video I linked to yesterday is an example of the types of work that will be necessary to make ecosystems for ready amphibians to reinhabit.

In the following video, Willie Smits talks about his quest to help the orangutan after finding one dying in the market in Borneo.  Early on in the talk, he tells how there are almost 1000 babies at his centers, and then scolds the crowd for their applause.  He reminds us how awful it is that there’s even a need for these centers.  He discusses the devastated habitats of the orangs and the process of reforesting the area.  Instead of having a singleminded approach, the cultures and economics of the people of the region had to be integrated into the whole plan.  By focusing on the people, instead of disregarding them, real change was possible. The efforts have regenerated a rainforest, renewed an economy, changed the temperature and entire climate of the region.

In the comments on the video, Willie Smits answers questions about how this was all possible:

An other issue that was brought up was how was this project financed and how much did it cost. It was financed from donations and adoption of square meters through the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation. Total costs over the last 7 years for the almost 5000 acres have amounted to some 2.5 Million Euro. This included buying the land. This land was actually still expensive due to its proximity to an economically important oil city. So the model is quite feasible, but does take well educated people to execute.

How’s that for a reminder that we’ve all got a part to play?   The video is 20 minutes, so save a time when you can really relax and watch it.  It’s amazing to watch the satellite imagery of the area he’s discussing, and how it changes from a stripped yellow nothing to thick verdant forest so quickly.  It’s a great message of hope, and I was so excited to hear something so positive to start out the week!

I am still planning to limit my screen time this upcoming week, even though I’m really enjoying the TED videos. I listed the wrong dates.  TV Turnoff Week starts tomorrow and runs through the 26th.

Renny Gleeson articulates beautifully my feelings about the current culture surrounding cellphone usage.  I freaked out the other day when  my kids were pretending to text each other in the middle of an otherwise normal make believe situation. It’s very common for someone to bless me out because I tend to take my time returning phone calls.  People have actually been confused when I’ve told them to hold on a minute so I can pull over and safely talk to them.  We’re about to start gaming, and throughout the night there will be several phones will be buzzing and chirping, and the rest of us will just pretend like it isn’t happening.

And about the posed kiss thing — seriously, what exactly is the quality of a kiss that is performed solely for the purpose of posting on your MySpace page?  Real kissing involves both hands going every which way.  And if you really mean it, you’re not giving a crap what you will look like to all your friends.  It’s messy and not at all photogenic, and gorgeous all the same.

Oh yeah, and get off my lawn, you hooligans!

• Allan F. Gilbreath started out the group.   He’s a novelist, poet, and short story writer.  He covers a wide range of topics, especially dark fantasy and science fiction. He had an open manner and a sense of humor that made the whole session a lot less stuffy.

• Stephanie Osborn was the most interesting author represented, personally.   She has over twenty years experience in civilian and military space programs. With degrees in Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics, she had the strongest background in science of the whole panel. She has written a mystery, Burnout, based on her experiences at NASA, about a space shuttle catastrophe.  In the ensuing investigations, it turns out the disaster was no accident.  Her work was at her editor’s when Columbia exploded, and she had a friend on board.  It took her a while to face her work again, but when she finally did, she double checked her accuracy on the science and investigatory procedures at NASA.  She didn’t have to change a word.  I wish I had more time to listen to her talk.  I did briefly get to sit in on the “Space Race” panel, where she told stories of Soviet launches.  She also talked about our current space program, and how we simply do not have the technology necessary to go to the moon right now.

• William H. Drinkard was promoting his new book, Elom. He describes it as “Clan of The Cave Bear meets Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”  He was frustrated at his publisher for trying to peg his book as fantasy because there was travel that was faster than light speed, which everyone knows is “not science.”  (At this, Stephanie snorted and asked, “How do they explain tachyons then?”)

• Van Allen Plexico is a comic book writer, currently publishing with a small press.  In fact, he was more interesting in that arena, and I plan to talk about small presses and self publishing later.  As you can imagine, his comic books aren’t real hard scifi.  He joked that his stance on true science in Science Fiction was, “I’m agin it!”

A main theme of the night was that  science and science fiction have a symbiotic relationship.   Obviously, there are different levels of science fiction.  A hard science fiction book that botches basic principles is a disaster, but space opera is given a lot more leeway.  And comic books are expected to be pure fluff.   All of the panelists agreed that there was a time and place for all of these elements.  No matter how in depth the science really is can still serve to capture the imagination and drive the readers or viewers to want to learn more.  The original Star Trek of the 60s, paired with the Apollo fire, inspired young Stephanie to enter the space program.  She looked at what was happening in real life, and realized people had died for this cause, and at the same time, she saw that Star Trek, or some version thereof, was where it could be going.   Many people were lit afire with the tales of what one day might be reflected in 2001.  While science obviously inspires fiction, it can work in reverse, as well.  Inventions were “invented” in fiction decades before scientists figured out how to make them work.  Psychologically, science fiction can prepare us for new things ahead of time.  We all know that a Kindle is really a proto Hitchhiker’s Guide.  War of the Worlds, written in 1898, featured robotic workers.  These ideas enter our mind and make us able to grasp new concepts quickly when technology catches up with the art.

We also discussed the decline of hard science fiction, and how it coincides with fewer Americans entering science and math fields.   During the panel, I was by far the youngest in the crowd.  At one point, a young girl had stopped in, listened for a few minutes with a bored look on her face, and then turned around and left.  Science is failing to capture the imagination of our young.  Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke are considered too hard, or too boring, for young people to read.  Also, most of the science fiction that is truly popular right now is truly fantastic or just botched. Think about Armageddon.  Most people didn’t even realize how crazy the science was.  I remember being told to shut up and watch the movie when I was protesting about a whole asteroid the size of Texas hurtling at the Earth that fast, but all of NASA just missed it.  And then they just swung good old Hubble over to take a gander at it!!

The same issues come up in historical movies and novels, by the way.  People don’t understand the basics, and are satisfied with entertainment.  Someone recommended that disgusting film, King Arthur, because I was a history and English major and it was historically accurate!  I scoffed at the mere thought of a historically accurate King Arthur movie, but I love the Arthuriad and all the myriad takes on it, so I watched it.  I hated it, and the history was awful.  And please, someone, tell Keira Knightly to eat a biscuit.  The reason she’s tolerable in the Pirates movies is because you can’t see her pointy spine.  Ugh!

Instead of blaming science fiction of today,  we talked about the trends in science fiction reflect the trends in science, and vice versa.  As a society, we’re slipping in our education.  We’re teaching to tests, and not getting fundamentals. As science and math are being dumbed down, so are stories about them.  My (first grade!) son is learning to use a calculator in school before he has truly gotten down basic addition and subtraction!  Teenagers in Pre Cal and Trig are doing functions on their calculators without having mastered long division.  There is an extent to which science builds on itself, and every computer programmer doesn’t have to learn to program in binary. At the same time, science is UP in China and India.  Someone joked about how we will be able to provide fine entertainments for our new masters, with our emphasis on sports and Hollywood.   (It’s funny because it’s true!)

The true joy of science fiction is the joy of knowledge, learning, and imagination. I left with an appetite for more, and am very glad that I went.  I left with many concepts to ponder, and a few recommendations of good authors to read.

Despite having only 5 months to plan, the staff at Imagicon pulled off an event that I highly enjoyed.  The first thing Friday, I saw one of my old gaming buddies heading in the front door.  We hugged and headed in and were greeted by an impressive Captain Jack Sparrow, who invited us to give blood.  Our first order of business was to find out when Chris would be DMing.  The gaming room was empty, so we wandered around, getting a feel for the layout.  I was thrilled to see an old friend, J.F. Lewis, in the main hall.  He was eating Subway and preparing to sell his newly published vampire novels, Staked and Revamped.  Soon thereafter, Shadowhelm also found me.  I was thrilled, and immediately comfortable, being amongst my people.

There were movies being shown on two screens all day and night.  There were showings of Serenity, Dr. Horrible’s Sing A Long Blog, some MST3K, individual favorite episodes of shows, some horror movies, and some anime.   It was nice to go and just relax in the quiet rooms after running around in circles.  There was 24 hour gaming, too, in theory at least.  The poor turnout meant that the real gaming actually didn’t get going until around noon on Saturday. The dealer’s room was also a bit of a disappointment to me.  I had expectations of anything I could possibly want for a gamer, a SciFi geek, or an anime addict, but mostly there were tee shirts and Star Wars toys. I had been planning on supporting my dice habit, but no dice vendors were to be found. Alas, no cool new dice bag for the hubby, or nifty glittery new GameScience dice for me.

On Saturday, Chris finally did get his game up and running  and settled into some hours of gaming, even introducing a newby to GURPS.  Most of the tables in the gaming room that were filled had people playing 4.0 D&D.  Meanwhile, there were panels on multiple geeky issues, including writing, publishing, paranormal activity, costuming, and hard science.  This is where I personally had the most fun, and I intend to write later on about some of what I learned in various panels.  I won’t overdo my thoughts on those mini-seminars, but they made the whole convention in my opinion.  I definitely remembered how much I enjoy soaking up new information.  Armed with my pretty green journal, I flew from class to class, stopping only to make sure the kids (large and small) were having fun.

Actually, the children’s track was the most sorely lacking area.  My children had a lot of fun, but mostly because they made their own, and I had thought to pack them goody bags to entertain them.  The gaming room being half-populated was a blessing for us, as my two boys were set up in a table by themselves beside Daddy’s GURPS game.  The kids’ track wasn’t entirely neglected, but there were some glaring omissions.  In Atlanta, DragonCon offers daycare for the price of an extra ticket.  That would have been ideal. The McWane Center, just down the street, always makes a presence at any event there might be children in Birmingham, but had no representation at this convention. They would have fit in perfectly, too.  There was a magician who put on a few acts and strolled around the grounds handing out balloon hats and animals, but that was about it, except for a room filled with coloring books and a few tired looking teenagers trying to think of ways to entertain children by themselves.  Sunday was actually the best day for the kid’s track, with a Jedi Academy and jiu jitzu demonstrations, which were incorrectly labeled ninjitzu in the program.  Unfortunately, by Sunday, all the adult attractions had dried up, and only the vendors remained, trying to squeeze the dwindling crowds for every shiny penny they were worth.

All in all, this convention virgin had a wonderful time.  There were definite areas that needed improvements, but I’m willing to cut the staff of ImagiCon some slack.  They only had 5 months to prepare, and apparently a shoe-string budget.  Next year, they have so much to build on and learn from, that I would wholeheartedly recommend people look into attending next year’s ImagiCon.  I already have been brainstorming for ways they could improve, which shows that they sparked some passion in me. I saw so much potential that a little creativity, discipline and organization could have helped, that I’m seriously already looking into ways to participate myself next year.