Podcast: Jerod Isaacman Speaks with Ross Douthat

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and New York Times columnist Ross Douthat speaking on the Interesting Times program. (New York Times)

New York Times columnist Ross Douthat sat down with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman recently to discuss the future of NASA and more. You can listen to the interview, titled ‘The New Space Race,” via the New York Times‘ Interesting Times podcast or watch it on YouTube.

I was a little skeptical about what I would learn from NASA’s new administrator, a billionaire space tourist until recently, but Jared Isaacman was well spoken during the interview. He seemed both candid with his answers as well as well comfortable with everything Ross tossed his way. His only stumble in my opinion was when he was trying to cover for the proposed draconian cuts to NASA by the White House in 2025. Fortunately, Congress saved the agency and his butt, though you would not know that from his answer.

I particularly liked his openness about his own space travels as well as the return mission to the Moon. In terms of himself, he compared his own gravity-free experience in space as the equivalent of being an upside down chipmunk. He also did not appear overwhelmed by his privileged view of the Earth from low Earth orbit. He said the high-definition images from the International Space Station (ISS) over the years has given everyone a great view of the Earth.

As far as establishing an early settlement on the Moon, he did not try to oversell it. He stated:

For the first maybe, I don’t know, 10 years, it’s going to look like a pretty cool futuristic junkyard with lots of landers and rovers around.

Mr. Isaacman also restated his critique of NASA’s handing of the Boeing Starliner mission to the ISS, did not exaggerate the profits to be made in space at the moment, expressed his opinions on intelligent life elsewhere as well as the public’s interest in UFOs, and stated he expected a manned mission to land on Mars within about 10 years.

Check it out for yourself if you want to learn a little more about the man running NASA. The interview runs for about an hour.

Space Stories: Rubin Observatory Data Alerts, Upcoming Total Lunar Eclipse, and Exoplanet Astronomer Murdered

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The Rubin Observatory. (Rubin Obs./NSF/AURA)

Here are some recent space-related stories of interest.

—GeekWire: “Rubin Observatory Sends Out Thousands of Data Alerts with an Assist from Seattle Astronomers“

An astronomical alert system developed at the University of Washington started off with a bang this week, sending out 800,000 notifications about moving asteroids, exploding stars and other celestial changes detected by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile. Tuesday night’s surge was just the first wave of alerts. Eventually, the Alert Production Pipeline is expected to produce up to 7 million alerts per night. Astronomers around the globe will use the system to sift through the torrent of data, zeroing in on events ranging from newly detected asteroids to supernovas, variable stars and active galactic nuclei.

—Sky&Telescope: “Get Ready for the March 3, 2026, Predawn Total Lunar Eclipse“

On Tuesday, March 3rd, the full Moon glides through the darkest portion of Earth’s shadow, called the umbra, to create a dramatic total lunar eclipse. In the Western Hemisphere, the event occurs in the hours before dawn, while across Asia it happens during the evening. During the eclipse, Earth’s shadow is seen gradually edging across the face of the full Moon until the entire lunar disk glows deep orange or red. Then the sequence of events unfolds in reverse order, until the shadow leaves the lunar disk completely and the Moon returns to full brilliance.

—Futurism: “Astronomer Who Discovered Water on Distant Planet Murdered Outside Home“

A renowned Caltech astronomer who studied distant exoplanets was shot and killed outside his home in a rural area near Los Angeles, the LA Times reported…Among his most notable contributions to the field was leading research published in 2007 that, for the first time, captured enough light from distant exoplanets to identify the molecules in their atmospheres…and soon made the “monumental” discovery of detecting signs of water on another planet

Television: Star Trek’s Starfleet Academy is a Solid Addition to the Franchise

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Paramount+

I am happy to say that the creators of Star Trek have done it again with the latest series Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. It is a worthy addition to that ongoing saga.

The first six episodes of the first season form a good arch that starts with Nahla Ake (Holly Hunter) and Nus Braka (Paul Giamatti) coming together in the initial episode, then leaves aside their drama for four episodes, and finally brings them back together for a memorable sixth episode. In the meantime, we watch the new cadets grow together at the academy under the tutelage of Nahla Ake, chancellor of Starfleet Academy.

In terms of what works versus what needs more work, let’s start with the positives:

  • Nahla Ake is a very likable and long-living character (half-Lanthanite) who becomes the mother-like figure overseeing cadet Caleb Mir. She has a cat-like way of sitting and a dog-like loyalty to the academy mission that make her the glue of the show.
  • The mix of instructors and cadets keep the show interesting, be it our well known Doctor from Star Trek: Voyager or the transformative Khionian cadet Darem Reymi. We have time to learn many of the character’s origin stories, including why a holographic doctor ages. This gives the show greater depth as we uncover the diversity of the academy.
  • The show has a light touch with plenty of humor. My favorite character is probably Lura Thok, who is a Klingon/Jem’Hadar serving as first officer of the starship Athena. She is married to Tig Notaro’s Jett Reno. Lura Thok is that ever-present drill sergeant who seems to terrorize the cadets while amusing the chancellor. She adds the perfect amount of levity to the show.

In terms of the negatives, there are quite a few, but none of them permanently hurt my overall impression of the show:

  • In the first episode, Paul Giamatti’s Nus Braka, part-Klingon and part-Tellarite, was a little over the top. I know the first episode has to capture the viewer’s attention, but Giamatti was chewing the scenery with his performance. He may have been having fun, but he was channeling Jack Nicholson from The Shining. It was good that he disappeared for a while to let the other characters shine.
  • Starfleet Academy looks more like a Miami mall than a Federation facility. And when you add in the annoying robots scurrying around the corridors as well as the floating traffic jams that reminded me of the Star Wars planet of Coruscant, it was all a little overwhelming as well as silly.
  • The fact that language has not changed in 1,000 years is odd. The cadets still say “bite me” while Nus Braka is stating “payback is a bitch.” Maybe this is how you attract new viewers, but does Star Trek really need to sound like every other teenage show?

Overall, it is a well done and expensive-appearing television series that breathes life back into Star Trek, thereby hopefully creating new Trekkies. This is something that the Star Wars franchise has tried as well, but almost all of the spin-offs leaned too heavily on key characters from the past or did a horrible job representing teens of the future (think of that Boba Fett series). That may be why Star Trek has two strong television series on the air this year and Star Wars apparently has only the second season of Ahsoka, which is a weak imitation of the original movies, and that’s saying a lot given that the last three Star Wars movies were a weak imitation of the first three movies.

I am glad we have at least one more season of Starfleet Academy ahead of us, and I expect many more it the creators can maintain the quality (and resolve some of the bumps) that we see in the first six episodes.

Space Quote: New Artemis Mission Added Before Moon Landing

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“You don’t go from one uncrewed launch of SLS [Artemis I], wait three years, go around the Moon [Artemis II], wait three years and land on it…I would certainly much rather have the astronauts testing out the integrated systems of the lander and Orion in low-Earth orbit than on the Moon.”

-Statement by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman regarding the addition of one more Artemis mission – let’s call it Artemis III-A – to test out the lunar lander before the crew actually heads to the Moon – or Artemis III-B. The Moon landing itself is still planned for 2028, but we know how these dates continue to slip. SpaceX with its Starship issues is not making it any easier. Just like SpaceX saved the Starliner crew from a problem Boeing capsule, Blue Origin may eventually save the Artemis astronauts from a problem SpaceX rocket.

Note: Actually, I think it will just be an uncrewed Artemis III mission followed by the first Moon landing as Artemis IV, but for some reason I think we will be adding even more Roman numerals before we hit the Moon. Maybe we will get to X, Musk’s favorite letter, before we approach the Moon.

Astronomy Question: Operation Morning Light

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Image by Luca Finardi from Pixabay

Multiple Choice: In terms of space history, what was Operation Morning Light?

A. An incident involving a failed rocket motor on the Soviet Union’s Mir space station.
B. The first commercial aircraft to communicate with a NASA satellite.
C. A commercial effort to build a suborbital reusable manned spacecraft.
D. A falling Soviet satellite that almost created a nuclear crisis.

Take a guess and then check your answer by going to the “Astronomy Question Answer Sheet” page.