Image (Credit): Launch of the Progress 92 cargo craft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. (NASA)
Russia launched another cargo mission to the International Space Station ((SS) yesterday. A Soyuz rocket launched the Progress 92 spacecraft towards the space station at 3:32 pm ET from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The spacecraft will dock with the ISS tomorrow afternoon, ensuring critical supplies are available to the crew member.
In the meantime, you can watch a Fourth of July message from NASA’s Expedition 73 Flight Engineers Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, and Jonny Kim.
Image (Credit): ValentinaTereshkova just before boarding her Vostok 6 capsule. (NASA)
On this day in 1963, Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova from the USSR became the first woman in space. She flew solo on the Vostok 6 for three days. It was her first and last time in space. Her importance as a symbol for women and the USSR meant she would never fly again lest something happen to her.
They forbade me from flying, despite all my protests and arguments. After being once in space, I was desperately keen to go back there. But it didn’t happen.
On this same day in 1977, German-American Wernher von Braun passed away. As the chief designer of the Saturn rockets that took men to the Moon, he was to see all of the Apollo missions before his death.
He is also quoted as saying:
I’m convinced that before the year 2000 is over, the first child will have been born on the moon.
It is unlikely he would have believed that it would be another 50 years before we found our way back to the Moon.
Image (Credit): Braun standing next to the first stage of the Saturn V booster he helped design. (NASA)
Image(Credit): Senator Amidala from Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. (Starwars.com)
While the libertarians at Reason magazine have their view of the imperial story-line in the Star Wars television series Andor, the liberal folks at Mother Jones magazine have a whole different take on the Star Wars universe.
In an article last month titled “How Star Wars Reveals Conservatives’ Authoritarian Fantasies,” we read about how some Republicans are showing support for the brutality of the Dark Side as illustrated in Andor. For instance, it quotes former Mitch McConnell adviser and GOP operative Scott Jennings defending the Empire’s elimination of Alderaan in the original Star Wars movie, stating:
I think some could argue that it was warranted, given their rebellious activities. I mean, he defended the Empire against unelected hippies and violent protesters.
You can see the entire Mother Jone’s YouTube clip here.
This is not an encouraging thought at this point in history. In an interview, George Lucas himself said the rebel alliance came from his reading of history and his understanding of the Viet Cong battle against the American empire. He saw the rebels as anti-authoritarian. He also thought of the American rebels as they fought Great Britain, the largest empire in the world.
Supporting the Evil Empire is more or less the same as voicing support for the wannabee Russian empire as it attacks democratic Ukraine. I think we all can do much better than to stoop that low.
One of the stories he tells is about the US “planting nukes on the moon.” Is this true?
Yes, it was a top secret effort called Project A119, with the goal of exploding a hydrogen bomb on the Moon. And believe it or not, Carl Sagan was involved in the calculations related to this zany idea.
This was in the late 1950s during the Cold War when the US and Soviet Union were doing everything they could to trump one another. It also was right after Sputnik, when the US felt it was losing the space race. In this case, the US would make a clear demonstration of its power through this distant explosion.
Fortunately, the US decided to take a better route by going into orbit and eventually to the Moon. If we had blown up the Moon, Carl Sagan would have been remembered in a very different way today – less as the educator, and more as Dr. Strangelove.
Just never underestimate the ability of the government to go down some dark roads. We needed guardrails then like we need them now.
Image (Credit): Signatories of the Artemis Accords. (NASA)
With the recent addition of Norway, 55 nations have now signed the Artemis Accords.
And what do the Artemis Accords ask of nations? Here is the purpose of the agreement, which started back in 2020:
The purpose of these Accords is to establish a common vision via a practical set of principles, guidelines, and best practices to enhance the governance of the civil exploration and use of outer space with the intention of advancing the Artemis Program. Adherence to a practical set of principles, guidelines, and best practices in carrying out activities in outer space is intended to increase the safety of operations, reduce uncertainty, and promote the sustainable and beneficial use of space for all humankind. The Accords represent a political commitment to the principles described herein, many of which provide for operational implementation of important obligationscontained in the Outer Space Treaty and other instruments.
This includes the sharing of scientific findings and related material, such as China’s recent sharing of lunar samples. Specifically, Section 8, Item 2 of the Accords states:
The Signatories are committed to the open sharing of scientific data. The Signatories plan to make the scientific results obtained from cooperative activities under these Accords available to the public and the international scientific community, as appropriate, in a timely manner.
While the validity of international trade treaties have come into question under this US president, let’s hope the scientific promises are honored. Heck, even Russia knows how to behave with the scientific community on the International Space Station and elsewhere.
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