Television: Space Force, the TV Show

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Source/Credit: Netflix.

It did not take long for the newly-created U.S. Space Force to be the butt of jokes, but its mission is critical, as has already been noted in earlier postings on this site. Even so, a little bit of humor goes a long way, and the Netflix series Space Force has plenty of humor to go around. Season two starts Friday, February 18th. Here are trailers for season one and two.

Steve Carell is perfect as the leader of U.S. Space Force as it bungles along and eventually faces an international crisis on the moon. Mimicking reality, the U.S. and China have designs on the Moon and it may not be big enough for both nations. Given the accompanying cast, such as John Malkovich, Lisa Kudrow, and Ben Schwartz, you know this will be one strange space ride. Patton Oswalt will join the cast in season two as a bumbling astronaut, so things can only get more insane. Think of it as a combination of The Office and The Right Stuff giving birth to “The Wrong Stuff.”

We all need a laugh at the moment, so tune in and lighten up. After that, you can look into the work of the official U.S. Space Force and start worrying again.

Note: Here is the mission statement of the real U.S. Space Force (that word “Guardians” is really in there):

The USSF is responsible for organizing, training, and equipping Guardians to conduct global space operations that enhance the way our joint and coalition forces fight, while also offering decision makers military options to achieve national objectives.

Source/Credit: Official flag of the official U.S. Space Force.

Note: The real Space Force is protecting our satellites rather than running missions to the Moon, Mars, and Europa. TV shows have more latitude on such things.

James Webb Space Telescope Selfie

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Source/Credit: NASA.

NASA has shared the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which includes the selfie of the 18-part mirror shown above. The space telescope is still aligning these mirror segments before prime time, so we will probably see more selfies and related shots for the time being, such as the images below (one labeled) showing the 18 segment views of one star that will eventually become one view of one star.

Keep these raw images in mind once we start to see mind-blowing images from the JWST. This amazing device is just getting started. The first of these images should start to appear this summer.

Source/Credit: NASA.
Source/Credit: NASA.

Podcast: Joe Rogan and Brian Cox

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Source/Credit: The Joe Rogan Experience on YouTube.

While Joe Rogan has been in some hot water recently, I think we can agree that many of his broadcasts were less controversial and simply fun. He is a good host with plenty of though-provoking questions. I do not want to get into politics, but rather focus on science. And in that case, his two-and-a-half hour discussion on January 28, 2019 with Professor Brian Cox, English physicist and Professor of Particle Physics in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester in the UK, was a terrific way to go over both astronomy and physics.

Some of the topics covered during their talk included the size and complexity of the universe, black holes, wormholes, time travel, the Fermi Paradox, unknown objects at the edge of our solar system, space travel, lasers in space, and the role of artificial intelligence in society. The forum provided plenty of time to cover a large range of topics. It is well worth dropping in and listening.

Some other discussions worth watching include Joe Rogan’s August 22, 2018 discussion with Neil deGrasse Tyson and his May 7, 2020 discussion with Elon Musk.

Television: The Silent Sea

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Source/Credit: Netflix.

Netflix’s new series from South Korea, The Silent Sea, was released right before Christmas and did not get a lot of attention. It may not deserve a lot of attention, and would have probably been better as a short film (which is how it started) rather than an 8-part series, but it was passable as entertainment.

The year is 2075 and Earth has become a dust bowl where water is rationed and civilization is dying. We seem to have the ability to maintain manned stations on the Moon and Mars, but water conservation is beyond our abilities. It seems we did not have a Planet B ready to go. With this background, the series is about a special team sent back to the Moon to visit a failed station and retrieve critical scientific samples. I will not give you too many hints, but it relates back to the water shortage on Earth.

The trip to the Moon seemed more like a Southwest flight than a space mission, and the Moon base itself is a ridiculously gigantic facility at the edge of a chasm, yet the action mainly takes place within the Moon base at a good pace. Throughout the series there are mysterious deaths, unknown figures running around the station, and corporate espionage, so it does not lack a fair amount of drama. Sadly, the last episode unravels quickly with a somewhat dumb (and certainly unbelievable) ending.

I cannot recommend it after seeing much better series, such as The Expanse and National Geographic’s Mars. However, if you need to satisfy your science fiction fix before other space series are available, give it a try. You have been warned.

Source/Credit: Scene from The Silent Sea from Netflix.

Disarming Space Will Have to Wait

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Source/Credit: Satellite imagery showing the military buildup in Yelnya, Russia as of November 1, 2021 from Maxar Technologies/Getty Images.

Politico reported this week that Russia has asked that next week’s discussion at the United Nations (U.N.) about arms in space be delayed. It is possible the Russians are busy preparing for war in Ukraine and have little time to look up. But it should be possible to resolve matters here on the surface and in space.

The  U.N. Committee on Disarmament established a working group after seeking member input on the “…development and implementation of norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviours and on the reduction of the risks of misunderstanding and miscalculations with respect to outer space.” Sounds like a good idea to me. You can find the report with the members’ input here.

Here is part of what the United States submitted in its response to the U.N. query:

Some States are developing, operationalizing, and stockpiling a variety of [anti-satellite] weapons that could be used to, or have the potential to, deny, disrupt, degrade, or destroy civil, commercial, or national security space capabilities and services. Some of these anti-satellite weapons could be used to deny or disrupt space services temporarily, while others are designed to permanently degrade or destroy satellites.

These threats against satellites and their supporting systems can generally be divided into four categories: 1) ground-space; 2) space-space; 3) ground-ground; and 4) space-ground. Within these categories, the threats can be described as 1) reversible, which include temporary effects such as interference with radiofrequency signals or dazzling of remote sensing systems, or 2) irreversible, which include measures that degrade or destroy a satellite. The consequences of all categories of threats could include loss of mission data; decreased lifespan or capability of space systems or constellations; the loss of positive control of space vehicles, potentially resulting in collisions that could impair systems or generate harmful orbital debris; or damage to or destruction of the space system.

The working group should have plenty to discuss if it can get everyone together. Let’s hope the Ukrainian matter can be resolved peacefully to allow work to start on a stable peace in space as well.

Note: The dates on the article and U.N. schedule do not align, but the main point about the Russians being too busy to worry about a space war remains the same.