Television: Another Star Wars Series Comes to Disney+

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Ahsoka, the main character in Disney’s new series Ahsoka. (Disney+)

If you thought that Disney had run out of Star Wars series ideas, you are far from the mark. The past few series have pulled a variety of stories from the movies, be it The Mandalorian or The Book of Boba Fett. However, the new series Ahsoka comes from the animated The Clone Wars series rather than the films. Is this going too far for the original fans?

The trailer for Ahsoka, which premieres on August 23rd, is fast-paced and intriguing, as expected. Yet Disney’s description is pretty sparse:

Set after the fall of the Empire, Ahsoka” follows the former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano as she investigates an emerging threat to a vulnerable galaxy.

So what do we know about this Ahsoka? The Star Wars page share this:

…prior to The Clone Wars, no one had known that Anakin Skywalker taught an apprentice — no one, that is, except George Lucas. In creating the character of Ahsoka Tano, George Lucas offered a vital point of view for the audience, one that kids could directly relate to as they watched the galactic confrontation between the Jedi Knights and Darth Sidious unfold. Ahsoka’s experiences could be their experiences, and as she grew up, so did they. Arriving first in the Clone Wars film, her journey unfolded in the series and beyond.

The eight-part series will also include Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker, giving it a little more heft as was the case with Luke Skywalker appearing on The Mandalorian.

I plan to watch a few episodes to see what Disney has created, though at the outset I have some doubts. Are we looking another The Book of Boba Fett (which was pretty bad) or Andor (which surpasses expectations)? I am eager to know.

Space Quote: What’s the Launch Date for Artemis III?

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: NASA

“We really are trying to get in the details of that schedule because when we come up with a date, December of 2025, or whatever that date might be, we want to have confidence for our teams, that we all have a realistic path to get there.” 

-Statement by Jim Free, NASA associate administrator of Exploration Systems Development, regarding the launch date of the Artemis III mission, as reported in Florida Today. The story highlights the potential delays related to SpaceX’s Starship and Axiom’s space suits.

Virgin Galactic: Tourism has Started

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Virgin Galactic

We knew the day was coming, and it took place this week. Virgin Galactic is now open for business for interested space tourists.

Virgin Galactic’s “Galactic 02” mission brought six individuals into space on Thursday, which included three private passengers. Each of these passengers is believed to have paid between $250,000 to $450,000 per seat for the 90-minute experience. That’s about $2,800 per minute at the lower cost range.

Would I call then astronauts? Not really, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) would agree. The criteria for a commercial astronaut are as follows:

To be eligible for FAA Commercial Space Astronaut Wings, commercial launch crew members must meet the following criteria:
a. Meet the requirements for flight crew qualifications and training under Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) part 460.
b. Demonstrated flight beyond 50 statute miles above the surface of the Earth as flight crew on an FAA/AST licensed or permitted launch or reentry vehicle.
c. Demonstrated activities during flight that were essential to public safety, or contributed to human space flight safety.

I doubt the three passengers met the criteria under c, nor would one expect them to on a fun 90-minute flight. That is fine, but if that’s the case then let’s retire the term astronaut for such tourists.

I am just glad Virgin Galactic is not interfering with actual space work and trying to put people aboard the International Space Station. That would be weird, right?

In the end, these space flights are glorified hot-air balloon rides for the wealthy. As long as they stay in their own lane (so to say), the skies should be open and friendly to all.

Russia Returns to the Moon

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The Soyuz rocket carrying the Luna-25 lander launched from Russia’s Vostochny Cosmodrome. (Agence France-Presse)

Russia’s Luna-25 mission has begun with the successful lift-off of the Soyuz 2.1 rocket yesterday (2:11 a.m. on Friday Moscow time or Thursday at 7:10 pm EDT). After its planned arrival on August 21, Luna-25 will be searching for water at the lunar south pole.

The mission was off and then on again over the years as Russia became super cautious with its return to the Moon. The country’s invasion of Ukraine led to the loss of European partners as well as sanction-related shortages, so Russia has no one to blame but itself. Science was pushed aside as it bullied its neighbors.

One can only wonder whether Russia knows how to start anew. Even the name of the mission, Luna, is a Cold War leftover. It would be the same as NASA restarting the Apollo program rather than the more comprehensive and Mars-focused Artemis mission.

There is plenty of room on the Moon for multiple national missions. Moreover, similar to the International Space Station, it would be beneficial for US and Russian scientists to share data and ideas. It would just be easier if Russian rockets were only focused on the Moon rather than Ukrainian cities.

Pic of the Week: Glowing Galaxy NGC 6684

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Galaxy NGC 6684 captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. (ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Tully)

This week’s image is from NASA/European Space Agency’s (ESA) Hubble Space Telescope. It shows the glowing galaxy NGC 6684, which is around 44 million light-years from Earth.

This oddly shaped galaxy is explained on the ESA’s website:

Lenticular galaxies like NGC 6684 (lenticular means lens-shaped) possess a large disc but lack the prominent spiral arms of galaxies like the Andromeda Galaxy. This leaves them somewhere between elliptical galaxies and spiral galaxies, and lends these galaxies a diffuse, ghostly experience. NGC 6684 also lacks the dark dust lanes that thread through other galaxies, adding to its spectral, insubstantial appearance.