WTF Podcast host Marc Maron interviewed William Shatner recently. Overall, it was a fun conversation with Mr. Shatner discussing his early acting career, his family, his flight into space on Blue Origin, his various ongoing projects, and more.
In terms of projects, Mr. Shatner mentioned a variety of interests, including horse shows, television series, and even designing his own watch (shown below). Yes, the man is still busy in his 90s.
I recommend you check it out (the interview starts at about the 11 minute mark).
Note: One of the television series discussed is Fox’s new series Stars on Mars, which premieres today.
Image (Credit): New watch design created by William Shatner and Ilan Muallem Srulovicz. (Egard Watch Co.)
U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limon was asked by NASA to write a poem for the upcoming Europa Clipper mission. Her new poem, “In Praise of Mystery: a Poem for Europa,” premiered late last week in Washington, DC.
Here is the poem from the Library of Congress (and you can also hear it in the poet’s voice):
Arching under the night sky inky with black expansiveness, we point to the planets we know, we
pin quick wishes on stars. From earth, we read the sky as if it is an unerring book of the universe, expert and evident.
Still, there are mysteries below our sky: the whale song, the songbird singing its call in the bough of a wind-shaken tree.
We are creatures of constant awe, curious at beauty, at leaf and blossom, at grief and pleasure, sun and shadow.
And it is not darkness that unites us, not the cold distance of space, but the offering of water, each drop of rain,
each rivulet, each pulse, each vein. O second moon, we, too, are made of water, of vast and beckoning seas.
We, too, are made of wonders, of great and ordinary loves, of small invisible worlds, of a need to call out through the dark.
Amazingly, this poem will be engraved on the exterior of the spacecraft.
NASA has done a great job stimulating scientists, but this is a great stimulus for budding poets as well.
Image (Credit): Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus supply ship delivering cargo to the ISS. (NASA)
If you were eager to see the first flight of Boeing’s Starliner with a human crew, you will just need to wait a little longer. The original plan was to send two astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) on July 15, after many earlier delays. But now Boeing said it still needs time to fix a few issues, including “adhesive tape that’s flammable and defects with the spacecraft’s parachute system,” according to NPR.
Boeing’s priority for Starliner’s Crew Flight Test is the safe launch, docking and return of Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. For that reason, we have recommended to NASA that we reevaluate our launch window to allow for closing out the remaining technical and certification items.
Starliner is already about six year behind schedule at this point. That does not mean safety takes a back seat, but it does make you wonder about Boeing’s ongoing role in the ISS transport business.
We need at least two strong companies to support the ISS and future missions, but maybe Boeing is not up to the task and NASA should be looking for another partner, such as Northrop Grumman, which has already been busy shipping cargo to the ISS, or even Blue Origin, which is now part of the Artemis Moon mission.
Elon Musk got his way. The US Department of Defense (DOD) will be paying an undisclosed amount for the Starlink services being used in Ukraine. This is good news for the Ukrainians had they feared interruption of this vital link with the rest of the world, yet I imagine this will also put SpaceX’s Starlink system at greater risk given that it now is a clearly a subcontractor to the US defense initiatives.
As the media has pointed out, Musk started to cut back on Starlink services to make a point about it being used as part of the war, with one Senator noting:
I was personally disappointed to see discontinuation of full services at such a critical time for Ukraine self-defense…Do you feel there’s a connection between the availability of this capability to our partners in Ukraine in this conflict, and relationships we have with companies like SpaceX?
It appears the relationship has improved now that DOD has opened its checkbook. I guess the next move will be taken by the Russians. And if the past is any guide, things may get ugly.
Image (Credit): Launch of China’s Shenzhou 16 spacecraft. (AP)
This week’s image shows China’s launch of the Shenzhou 16 spacecraft earlier this week atop a Long March 2-F rocket. The launch included a three-man crew, one being the first civilian astronaut in the Chinese crew rotation, who will relieve the current crew on the Tiangong Space Station.
Our Awesome Universe 