A Day in Astronomy: First Liquid-Propellant Rocket

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Robert Goddard with his rocket on March 8, 1926 before a failed launch. He was able to successfully launch it on March 16th. (Smithsonian Air & Space Museum)

On this day in 1926, Robert Goddard launched the world’s first liquid-propellant rocket in Worcester, Massachusetts. The rocket climbed to about 41 feet and traveled a distance of only 184 feet, but it was a success. After that, he kept the results under his hat for almost a decade.

Although in fragile health as a young man, Goddard pursued ideas in science, watched the heavens with his telescope, and became a fan of the writings of H.G. Wells, particularly The War of the Worlds. He also survived a bad case of tuberculosis at age 31, but he fought his way back to his scientific work.

Robert Goddard had a productive, yet at times frustrating, academic career involving rocketry, at times dabbling with potential military projects as well. For example, during the World War I period he came up with the idea of a hand-held tube-based rocket launcher that would later become the bazooka. However, the U.S. military was slow to show interest in larger rockets until the Germans leaped ahead in the 1940s, which the Germans did by building on Goddard’s work. It did not help that Goddard was very protective of his ideas and did not always work well with others, in part due to some early criticism.

In a 1932 letter to writer H.G. Wells, Robert Goddard stated:

How many more years I shall be able to work on the problem I do not know; I hope, as long as I live. There can be no thought of finishing, for ‘aiming at the stars’ both literally and figuratively, is a problem to occupy generations, so that no matter how much progress one makes, there is always the thrill of just beginning.

He was right. One hundred years later we are continuing his work as we aim for the Moon, Mars, and eventually the stars.

You can read more about this early rocket flight at this Smithsonian site.

Sci-Fi Quote: Less Dystopia This Time

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Ryan Gosling in Project Hail Mary. (Amazon MGM Studios)

“I think that’s what’s so special about this film, and why people are having such an emotional connection to it … it’s like we’ve been so saturated with dystopia in future narratives for the last decade to the point where it feels almost inevitable at this point. Then you have Andy sort of reminding us through his work that human beings are always making the impossible possible.”

-Statement by Ryan Gosling, star of the upcoming film Project Hail Mary, in an interview with Scary Mommy. He was interviewed along with author Andy Weir.

Movie: Project Hail Mary

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Amazon MGM Studios

The long-awaited second feature film of a book by author Andy Weir is almost here. After enjoying both the book and later movie-version of The Martian back in 2015 (yes, more than a decade ago), we are ready for his next film based on his 2021 book Project Hail Mary. Now you only have to wait until March 20th

Here is the movie trailer as well as the summary from the book cover:

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.

Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.

All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.

And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.

Or does he?

Basically, this story is about a lone astronaut that survives his peers on a long journey to save Earth only to encounter a sole-survivor, spider-like creature that can help him save Earth. This story might remind you of a 2024 film called Spaceman with Adam Sandler about a lone cosmonaut who travels far from Earth to meet with a spider-like creature. This creature is the sole survivor of a sickness but still able to find a way for Adam Sandler’s character to save Earth.

I’m not saying you have seen this movie before, but..

If you are interested in the story and science behind it, you might want to listen to an interview with the author on the Planetary Radio podcast.Andy Weir probably goes too far into the science, but it’s a good chance to dig a little deeper into the background of his book.

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 story arc 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.

Movie: In the Blink of an Eye

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Hulu

On February 27th, a new movie called In the Blink of an Eye premieres on Hulu. It sounds like an interesting story told in three parts over thousands of years from primitive human life all the way to travel to a new planet. You can see the outline for yourself in this trailer.

While I did not see many movies showing up for 2026 in this realm, they tend to pop up like mushrooms when they are ready. That is fine with me. It also has the same director as WALL-E, which gives me hope.

So far the reviews are so-so.

RogerEbert.com states:

At just around 90 minutes, it often feels like the Cliffs Notes version of a 500-page novel. 

And Rotten Tomatoes has the TomatoReader at 16 percent based on 19 reviews. Richard Lawson with The Hollywood Reporter states:

There is so little texture to these character arcs that the actors are mostly just working in service of a blandly uplifting message. It’s as if they’ve all been commissioned by a well-funded science museum.

I still want to judge the film for myself. Plus, I like the cast that includes Kate McKinnon, Rashida Jones, and Daveed Diggs.

You can wait for the perfect film, or simply take what is offered at the moment.

Image (Credit): A scene from the film In the Blink of an Eye. (Hulu)