Monthly Archives: November 2023

As an avid reader and watcher of science fiction, its really no surprise that I also love listening to music with a little sci-fi flair, as wellcue Jeff Waynes Musical Version of The War of the Worlds! But in addition to songs that are directly based on sci-fi books, there are also some tunes that are not inspired by literature and yet feel eerily reminiscent of specific books anyway. In that vein (and in the spirit of this previous list!), here are five song-and-book pairings that unintentionally, but perfectly, complement each other.

Song: Run Away to Mars by Talk Book: The Strange by Nathan Ballingrud

The entirety of Nathan Ballingruds The Strange (2023) is set on Mars, while Talks Run Away to Mars (2022) is about being on Earth and hypothetically running away to the Red Planet. Along with their shared Martian imagery, theres a sense of loneliness and a desire for connection that ties the song and book together.

The Strange follows fourteen-year-old Anabelle Crisp, who lives in a small colony on Mars with her father. Her mother had to return to Earth and after communication between the planets was severed, all Anabelle has been left with is a recording of her voice. One night a group of bandits break into her fathers diner and inadvertently steal the recording. With the law refusing to help, Anabelle boldly sets off into the Martian wastelands to recover her mothers voice. It reads like a Western by way of Ray Bradburys The Martian Chronicles (1950), along with a dash of weirdness and horrorbasically the recipe for a perfect book, in my eyes.

The opening verse of Run Away to Mars nails a couple of The Stranges key elements: Its a wild, wild world / And youre a wild, wild girl. Anabelle is certainly a wild (and prickly and audacious) girl in what is essentially the Martian version of the Wild West. But beneath her sharp surface, she just misses her mom (Three, two, one, I miss you / Im sorry, I got issues) and longs for connection, something thats hard to come by, given the vast emptiness of Mars (Its an empty world up here).

Song: Rocket Man by Elton John Book: Im Waiting for You by Kim Bo-young (translated by Sophie Bowman and Sung Ryu)

Elton Johns 1972 hit Rocket Man was actually inspired by Ray Bradburys short story The Rocket Man, which can be found in The Illustrated Man (1951). But aside from its brief mention of Mars, its also a great match for Kim Bo-Youngs short story Im Waiting for You, which is told via letters written by a man to his galaxy-traveling fianc. The laws of relativity mean that she will only be waiting a few months until their wedding, while he must wait years back on Earth, and so he decides to hop on a spaceship to speed towards the big day. But a series of mishaps in space keep the couple apart for far longer than expected.

While in Rocket Man the singers wife remains on EarthI miss the Earth so much I miss my wifehis longing for her across space and time mirrors the same longing in Kims Im Waiting for You. For much of the story, the main character is a Rocket man, burning out his fuse up here alone and its definitely gonna be a long, long time / Til touchdown brings me round again to find / Im not the man they think I am at home. But not only does the experience change him, the passage of time also changes Earth in absolutely fascinating ways. The womans side of the storyalso told in epistolary formatis called On My Way and is included in Kims short story collection Im Waiting for You: And Other Stories (2021).

Song: Light Up the Night by The Protomen Book: Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill

Light Up the Night is from a 2009 rock opera-style concept album inspired by the Mega Man video games, but its also a great fit for C. Robert Cargills Sea of Rust (2017). The novel is set after humankind has been wiped out by robots, but the world hasnt become a machine utopia. One World Intelligences (OWI)massive AI mainframes that assimilate other robotsare now in control, but main character Brittle is desperate to hold onto her individuality.

The Protomens songwhich has a short film as a music videois about a couple of people trying to fight back against the evil man who is using robots to control humanity. Sub out man for OWI and humanity for robots and youve got Sea of Rust. The lyrics Its like they gathered up the city, they sold it to the devil, and now / Its gone to hell and they wonder how perfectly describe the state of things in the novel. Brittle isnt a traditionally heroic character, but she finds herself compelled to join the fight when she realizes that Cut me down or let me runeither way its all gonna burn / The only way that theyll ever learn / Weve got to turn it off.

Both the book and the song tell bleak stories set in robot-filled dystopian/post-apocalyptic worlds, but a spark of hope propels both narratives forward.

Song: We Will Become Silhouettes by The Postal Service Book: Wool by Hugh Howey

The Postal Services We Will Become Silhouettes (2003) is sung from the perspective of someone who cant leave their house because the air outside will make / Our cells divide at an alarming rate / Until our shells simply cannot hold / All our insides in and thats when well explode. Hugh Howeys Wool (2012) is about a whole society living in a massive underground silo because an unknown event many years earlier turned the air toxic.

In the top level of the silo is a video feed of the barren landscape outside, but as humans arent naturally subterranean creatures, every so often someone cracks and wants to venture out. Reminiscent of this is Ben Gibbard cheerily singing Im looking through the glass / Where the light bends at the cracks / And Im screaming at the top of my lungs. While in the song all the news reports recommended that I stay indoors, in the book this is enforced by the silos secret-keeping authorities, which do occasionally allow someone to go outsidesomebodys got to clean the cameras after all!

Song: The Astronaut by Jin (of BTS) Book: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

BTS are no strangers to using space imagery in their songs and a couple of eldest member Jins solo songs have followed suit, namely Moon and The Astronaut. The latter song was released as a gift to BTSs fans, known as ARMY, before Jins military service (mandatory in South Korea) started at the end of 2022; it also happens to pair perfectly with Andy Weirs Project Hail Mary (2021), which is about a lone astronaut tackling a critical mission in space.

[Spoiler alert for Project Hail Mary.]

In Project Hail Mary, Ryland Grace is aboard a spaceship light-years from Earth when he comes across another solo astronaut, a Labrador-sized spider with a rocky exoskeleton, who he appropriately names Rocky. While trying to solve the complex problem of how to save their solar systems respective sunsand by extension, their home planetsGrace and Rocky come to rely on each other both scientifically and emotionally. In the (translated) words of Jin, Just as the Milky Way shines upon the darkest roads / You were shining towards me / The only light found in the darkness. Grace and Rocky share one of my very favorite fictional friendships.

The music video for The Astronaut is also about interspecies friendship, with Jin playing an alien (one that admittedly just looks human) who has crash-landed on Earth and befriends a little girl. In Weirs novel, Grace was a school teacher before being sent on his planet-saving mission and while he loved his job, he didnt have much direction. Similarly, Jin sings, Like that asteroid drifting by without a destination / I, too, was just drifting along. But Graces mission and his connection to Rocky gives him purpose and at the end of the book he decides to live on Rockys planet, just like Jin deciding to stay on Earth at the end of the music video for The Astronaut.

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Have you get any suggestions for songs and books that share similar themes? Or any songs that you think match these books (or vice versa!) better than the ones Ive chosen? Let me know in the comments below!

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Five Surprisingly Perfect Song and Sci-Fi Book Pairings - tor.com

Retired NASA physicist F. Don Cooper will share his experiences creating the technology that helped launch Apollo 11 in 1969, and the efforts that his team went through to successfully bring the Apollo 13 crew home safely in 1970 in a program titled Apollo to the Moon & Back with F. Don Cooper, at Fort Bend County LibrariesFirst Colony Branch Libraryon Saturday,Nov. 18, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Meeting Room of the library, 2121 Austin Parkway, Sugar Land.

Cooper will also discuss the history of U.S. rockets, and his role in designing the Saturn V ascent guidance and trans-lunar targeting equations that would help make the lunar landing possible.

An Oklahoma native, Cooper became fascinated with math and science while still in high school. He attended Oklahoma Baptist University, where he majored in physics and mathematics with a minor in chemistry. His career after college took him to Huntsville, Ala., where he worked at the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center on NASAs Apollo program, developing the targeting equations to guide the manned spacecraft from earth orbit to the moon.

His career then led him to Houstons Johnson Spaceflight Center, which would later become known as the Johnson Space Center. During his years there, Cooper worked on eight Apollo missions, the Atlas Centaur, the Air Force Dyna-Soar, and the Mars rocket NOVA. For the Apollo 13 mission, he provided the trans-lunar coast abort options to Houston Mission Control.

Cooper retired in 2002, and soon found a new calling that of encouraging a new generation of students to pursue a future in the physical sciences. He enjoys speaking to youth groups, community organizations, schools and colleges, hoping to inspire the technology leaders of the future with his first-hand account of the events as they actually happened.

Of the seven primary people who did this, I am the last one alive, says Cooper. Students do not know much about Apollo since it all happened before they were born. My objective is to show them how it happened, emphasize that education is essential, and show how math and physics solve real-world problems.

The program is free and open to the public. For more information, see the Fort Bend County Libraries website (www.fortbend.lib.tx.us), or call the First Colony Branch Library (281-395-1311) or the library systems Communications Office (281-633-4734).

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Retired Apollo program physcist to speak at First Colony Branch ... - Fort Bend Star

Have Elon Musk Been To Mars?

In recent years, Elon Musk, the visionary entrepreneur and CEO of SpaceX, has captured the worlds attention with his ambitious plans to colonize Mars. His grand vision of making humanity a multi-planetary species has sparked both excitement and skepticism. One question that often arises is whether Musk himself has already set foot on the Red Planet. Lets delve into the facts and separate reality from speculation.

The Mars Mission: Musks ultimate goal is to establish a self-sustaining colony on Mars, ensuring the survival of humanity in the event of a catastrophic event on Earth. SpaceX, his aerospace company, has been actively working on developing the necessary technology to make this dream a reality. They have successfully launched and landed reusable rockets, significantly reducing the cost of space travel.

Elon Musks Personal Journey: While Musk has been instrumental in spearheading the Mars mission, there is no concrete evidence to suggest that he has physically traveled to Mars himself. Musk has openly stated that he hopes to visit Mars one day, but as of now, his focus remains on the technological advancements required to make interplanetary travel feasible.

FAQ: Q: What is SpaceX? A: SpaceX, short for Space Exploration Technologies Corp., is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation company founded Elon Musk. It is known for its development of the Falcon and Starship rockets, with the goal of enabling the colonization of Mars.

Q: Has anyone been to Mars? A: No human has ever traveled to Mars. All missions to Mars have been unmanned, with rovers and orbiters sent to gather data and explore the planets surface.

Q: Will Elon Musk go to Mars? A: Elon Musk has expressed his desire to visit Mars in the future. However, his current focus is on developing the necessary technology and infrastructure to make Mars colonization possible.

In conclusion, while Elon Musk has been a driving force behind the mission to colonize Mars, there is no evidence to suggest that he has personally traveled to the Red Planet. His dedication to advancing space technology and his vision for a multi-planetary future are what fuel his determination to make Mars colonization a reality.

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Have Elon Musk Been To Mars? - TickerTV News

While that collective experience is enough to have taught us how the body responds when gravitys pull is substantially reduced, the magnetosphere still shields the I.S.S., and only the 24 astronauts who flew in the Apollo program have gone beyond it. (The moon orbits an average of more than 238,000 miles away.) Though these two dozen astronauts spent little more than a week at a time without its protection, they have died of cardiovascular disease at a rate four to five times as high as that of their counterparts who stayed in low Earth orbit or never entered orbit at all, which suggests that exposure to cosmic radiation might have damaged their arteries, veins and capillaries.

We cant send people to Mars, or to live on the moon, until we can be reasonably confident that theyll survive getting and residing there. But the space-based medical science needed to make that possible has been hindered by small sample sizes that arent representative of the general population. (All of the Apollo astronauts were white men born between 1928 and 1936.) Space tourism, though, promises to offer opportunities to study the effects of radiation and low gravity on a much broader demographic than really well-selected superpeople, as Dorit Donoviel, the director of the Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) at the Baylor College of Medicine, describes those who have historically qualified to leave the planet. Old, young, pre-existing health conditions we are starting to gather a knowledge base that in the future will be essential even for NASA, Donoviel told me, because we have to learn about the edge cases to really understand what is going on in our bodies to adapt to a hostile environment. You dont learn as much from people who are healthy. Its when people get sick that you understand how people get sick and how to prevent it.

Epidemiologists face the same predicament on Earth: Before they can figure out how to protect the population, they must wait for harm to come to enough people to expose the causes. As less-rigorous medical screening allows more tourists to reach space, the chances increase significantly that someone will get hurt or have a health emergency there. Aerospace medicine is one of three specialties certified by the American Board of Preventive Medicine, because surgeons for a given flight tend to be stuck on the ground; they have to optimize the health of their patients and ward off potential disasters before departure. The problem is, they cant know what those disasters will be until they occur. Which means that, as with every expedition into the unknown, at some point some intrepid or desperate souls are just going to have to blast off and see what happens.

Scientists once predicted that we couldnt live in the absence of Earths gravity. Without this still-barely-understood force pulling us downward, how would we swallow? Wouldnt our tongues loll back into our throats? Wouldnt we choke on our own saliva? And if we survived those perils, wouldnt escalating pressure in our skulls kill us after a week or so? But when Yuri Gagarin returned from his single, 108-minute orbit around our world in 1961, humanitys first trip beyond the mesosphere, he proved that our internal musculature could maintain our vital functions in conditions of weightlessness. He ate and drank up there without difficulty. Technically, he hadnt escaped Earths influence; to orbit is to free-fall toward the ground without ever hitting it, and he was in a condition known as microgravity. This felt, he reported, like hanging horizontally on belts, as if in a suspended state, a circumstance passingly familiar to anyone who has been on a roller coaster or jumped off a diving board. Gagarin said he got used to it. There were no bad sensations, he added.

Either Gagarin was fibbing, or he had a strong stomach. Initially, many space travelers puke, or at least feel motion-sick space-adaptation syndrome, or S.A.S., is what such nausea, headache and vomiting are called outside our atmosphere. Its the same as sitting in the back of the car in childhood, reading something with your head down, says Jan Stepanek, director of the aerospace-medicine program at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz. Its a mismatch of what the eyes are seeing and what the inner ear is telling you. Only in this case, that mismatched perception is a result of the organs and hairs of the vestibular system floating free without their usual gravitational signals. You acclimate eventually. In fact, researchers only learned about the prevalence of S.A.S. symptoms in the 1970s, when they heard Skylab astronauts talking about it with one another over a hot mic. Astronauts, it turns out, are not ideal subjects for medical study, because they are notoriously stoic and unforthcoming about any symptom that might ground them.

More here:

The Bodily Indignities of the Space Life - The New York Times

Can Elon Musk Buy The Moon?

In recent years, Elon Musk has become a household name due to his ambitious ventures in the aerospace industry. With his company SpaceX, Musk has set his sights on colonizing Mars and revolutionizing space travel. But can he take his aspirations even further and buy the Moon? Lets delve into this intriguing question.

The Outer Space Treaty Before we explore the possibility of Musk purchasing the Moon, its important to understand the legal framework governing celestial bodies. The Outer Space Treaty, signed the United Nations in 1967, states that no nation can claim sovereignty over the Moon or any other celestial body. This means that the Moon cannot be bought or sold any individual or entity.

Private Ownership While the Outer Space Treaty prohibits countries from claiming ownership of celestial bodies, it does not explicitly address private ownership. However, most legal experts agree that the treatys principles extend to private entities as well. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that Musk or anyone else can legally buy the Moon.

FAQ

1. Can anyone own the Moon? No, according to the Outer Space Treaty, no individual or entity can claim ownership of the Moon or any other celestial body.

2. Has anyone tried to buy the Moon before? Yes, several individuals and organizations have claimed ownership of the Moon in the past, but their claims hold no legal validity.

3. What is Elon Musks interest in the Moon? While Musks primary focus is on Mars colonization, he has expressed interest in establishing a lunar base as a stepping stone for further space exploration.

4. What are the potential benefits of owning the Moon? Owning the Moon could potentially provide access to valuable resources such as helium-3, which could be used for nuclear fusion energy production. However, the feasibility of extracting these resources remains uncertain.

In conclusion, despite Elon Musks grand ambitions and entrepreneurial spirit, buying the Moon is simply not within the realm of possibility. The Outer Space Treaty prohibits any individual or entity from claiming ownership of celestial bodies, including the Moon. While Musks dreams of colonizing Mars and establishing a lunar base are commendable, they will have to be pursued within the legal boundaries set international agreements.

See the article here:

Can Elon Musk Buy The Moon? - TickerTV News

SpaceX has undoubtedly cemented its position as a leader in the emerging space industry, but that may have come at a painful price. A shocking new investigation by Reuters documents 600 workplace injuries and one death at Elon Musks rocket company, highlighting a dangerous disregard for safety practices for the sake of SpaceXs ambitious goals.

Astronomers Could Soon Get Warnings When SpaceX Satellites Threaten Their View

In its report, Reuters talked to more than a dozen current and former employees and reviewed medical and worker compensation records. The records included reports of more than 100 workers suffering cuts or lacerations, 29 with broken bones or dislocations, 17 whose hands or fingers were crushed, and nine with head injuries, including one skull fracture, four concussions and one traumatic brain injury, according to Reuters. The reports also indicated five burns, five electrocutions, eight accidents that led to amputations, and seven eye injuries.

The SpaceX employees described the workplace as chaotic, and that the staff is often undertrained and overworked to the point where they are forced to skip safety procedures to meet the companys aggressive deadlines. Elons concept that SpaceX is on this mission to go to Mars as fast as possible and save humanity permeates every part of the company, Tom Moline, a former SpaceX engineer, told Reuters. The company justifies casting aside anything that could stand in the way of accomplishing that goal, including worker safety.

SpaceX has also failed to report on workplace accidents to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and about two-thirds of the injuries Reuters uncovered took place during years when SpaceX did not submit its reports.

OSHA and California OSHA, a state-run workplace safety regulator, have fined SpaceX a total of $50,836 for violations regarding one workers death and seven serious safety incidents. In response, SpaceX has routinely denied allegations that it was disregarding workers safety and pushed back on the agencys findings.

SpaceX is currently focused on launching its Starship megarocket for a second time after its debut flight didnt go so well. Starships inaugural launch ended in a fiery explosion and the rocket has remained grounded ever since pending a safety review. Despite its botched first flight, Musk continued to push for a second test flight within two months of its April launch.

SpaceX is in a rush to launch Starship as it is under contract to use a modified version of its rocket to land humans on the Moon as part of NASAs upcoming Artemis missions. From there, Musks ultimate vision for his company is to land humans on Mars and build a colony on the Red Planet. The SpaceX CEO recently claimed that an uncrewed Starship could land on Mars within the next three to four years.

Musk speaks of his ambitious Mars plans as a way to save humanity and sustain our species beyond Earth, hence the sense of urgency. As a result, Musks execution of his space ambitions have leaned towards an aggressive schedule and unrealistic expectations.

SpaceX, therefore, doesnt waste its time on safety regulations and instead urges that its workers are responsible for protecting themselves, according to the Reuters report. The report cites an incident from 2014 in which a SpaceX employee by the name of Lonnie LeBlanc died at a SpaceX facility in McGregor, Texas, while transporting foam insulation. LeBlanc had reportedly offered to sit on top of the insulation because there were no straps to hold down the cargo on the truck while on its way to the hangar.

Another incident took place in January 2022 when a part flew off during pressure testing of a Raptor V2 rocket engine, fracturing the skull of SpaceX employee Francisco Cabada, which resulted in him being in a coma. Employees familiar with the incident told Reuters that the part was discovered to have a flaw but it was not fixed before the testing.

SpaceXs idea of safety is: Well let you decide whats safe for you, which really means there was no accountability, Travis Carson, a former Brownsville welder and production supervisor at SpaceX, told Reuters. Thats a terrible approach to take in industrial environments.

The Reuters report also highlighted Musks personal disregard to safety, with the CEO documented while waving around a flame thrower at the companys site in Hawthorne and his request to paint over the safety yellow color of machinery to change it to black or blue due to his aversion to bright colors.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to our request for comment.

Want to know more about Elon Musks space venture? Check out our full coverage of SpaceXs Starship megarocket and the SpaceX Starlink internet satellite megaconstellation. And for more spaceflight in your life, follow us on X and bookmark Gizmodos dedicated Spaceflight page.

Link:

Report: SpaceX Safety Lapses Leading to Severe Staff Injuries - Gizmodo