oldkitty

[oldkitty]

“I am not in the habit of looking back. When I do I am somewhat amazed that the only child of a dentist and a school teacher from a small town in Oklahoma was able to attend the Naval Academy, serve in the Air Force and fly in space four times.

Through it all… I kept my eyes on the sky. I still do and I hope I always will.” Tom Stafford.

We Have Capture: Tom Stafford and the Space Race (2002) p. 269 by Thomas P. Stafford with Michael Cassutt.

RIP to an Apollo great (1930-2024)

Credit: Ralph Morse for Life Magazine

Credit: NASA S69-30252 (1969)

#tom stafford #nasa #apollo 10 #gemini 6 #apollo-soyuz #apollo #astronauts #gemini 9a

[oldkitty]

My favourite Spartans are BACK!

Pic from @halotheseries insta of the Silver team: John-117, Kai-12, Vannak-134 and Riz-028.

Halo episodes 1 and 2 were tense, action-packed, and thoroughly enjoyable! I cannot wait to see how the story unfolds - well worth the long wait from S1!

#halo tv series #halo tv show #paramount plus #master chief #spartans

[oldkitty]

RIP you beautiful man. Be Peace.

Credit: The Mandalorian insta

#carl weathers #high magistrate greef karga #the mandalorian

[oldkitty]

Its mission may have ended with a broken rotor blade, but its legacy continues to fly on wards and upwards. RIP to the little helicopter that could.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

#nasa #ingenuity helicopter #mars #jpl

[oldkitty]

"The greatest moment was what had never been done before in all of history, and that is to get in a spacecraft and take that spacecraft and actually rest it on another object in space. So clearly the touchdown was the moment of greatest anticipation and the moment of greatest satisfaction and relief, and for two non-too-talkative guys, I looked over and patted Neil on the shoulder, we looked at each other, smiled, and then went about what we were doing." Buzz Aldrin on what he thought was the greatest achievement of Apollo 11. (Aldrin, Buzz. Interview. Conducted by Dana Marcotte Kilanowski, September 27, 2003.)

(via Apollo 11 astronaut Aldrin during the May 14, 1969, preflight press conference at MSC - Google Arts & Culture)

Happy birthday to an Apollo great.

#apollo #buzz aldrin #apollo 11 #nasa

[oldkitty]

Is the Mandalorian season 4 cancelled and we are getting a film instead or will there be a season 4 AND a film?

Please someone clarify?!

#the mandalorian

[oldkitty]

Pablo Schreiber and Spartan friend at CCXP23, ramping up Halo season 2 (rumoured release early 2024)

Image is from @officialpabloschreiber insta.

Rumour from: https://premieredate.news/tv-series/8085-halo.html

#halo tv show #pablo schreiber

[oldkitty]

"Looking back at the Earth on Christmas Eve had a great effect, I think, on all three of us. I can only speak for myself. But it had for me. Because of the wonderment of it and the fact that the Earth looked so lonely in the universe. It’s the only thing with color. All of our emotions were focused back there with our families as well. So that was the most emotional part of the flight for me." CDR Frank Borman (Apollo 8) reflecting on his thoughts of seeing Earth from the lunar horizon.

Oral history interview conducted by Catherine Harwood for NASA Johnson Space Oral History Project, 13 April, 1999.

Image credit: Astronaut Frank Borman, September 1963. Photographer Ralph Morse.

RIP to the no-nonsense CDR of Apollo 8, who along with the audacious team of that historic and iconic lunar mission, not only saved 1968 but brought us Earthrise.

"Let's do the mission".

#apollo #nasa #apollo 8 #frank borman #jim lovell #bill anders

[oldkitty]

"What a treat. And so many things, I can't get. I'm like a little kid with ice cream; I don't know where to start." CMP Ken Mattingly, expressing his joy while getting pictures of the moon on day 4 of Apollo 16's lunar mission. RIP.

Source and credit to: Andy Saunders @AndySaunders_1

S69-62237 (1969) --- Astronaut Thomas K. Mattingly II.

Source: NASA Johnson

CC BY-NC - Non-Commercial

#ken mattingly #nasa #apollo #STS #space shuttle program

[oldkitty]

Ring of fire!

Screenshot of the livestream from NASA TV of the annular solar eclipse seen in New Mexico, USA (14/09/2023). Sadly, it won't be visible from the UK, but this is a stunning phenomenon and it's great watching it live from NASA tv.

Credit: NASA

#NASA #ring of fire #annular solar eclipse

[oldkitty]

Bennu - I think the most fascinating aspect for me is the finding of water-rich minerals within the sample. As Dr. Dante Lauretta succinctly puts it, "The reason that Earth is a habitable world - that we have oceans and lakes and rivers and rain - is because clay minerals, like the ones we're seeing from Bennu, landed on Earth 4.5 billion years ago."

#nasa #bennu #asteroid sample return

[oldkitty]

I wouldn't be so harsh as to use the words "clown franchise" but Ahsoka absolutely pandered to the niche franchise. Again, I wouldn't mind if Ahsoka introduced Rebels characters organically rather than shoving them in episodes without proper introduction. I would argue that S2 of the Mandalorian did a better job of easing in other established characters like Bo-Katan, Boba, Ahsoka and even Luke, weaving Din and Grogu's journeys with them in a logical and natural way, keeping both casual and obsessive SW fans entertained and excited. Ahsoka, for me, felt emotionally flat and the overall story (find Ezra, find Thrawn) stagnant by not introducing these characters properly - they were all tell, don't show. I would take an idiot's guide 101 to these characters if it will flesh them out and make me see the whys hows and whats. Why is Ezra so important to Sabine, why is Thrawn such a threat? How do these red witches and their magic work with the Force around them? I could go on, but I am tired now. Give us casual fans the basics please.

Now I think I get where The Mandalorian is going in S4 or at least the film(s) that Filoni is/are planning. Thrawn is the big threat and Ahsoka, Din and company will be there to fight him off. Which is all fine and dandy, but I fear the overall arch will drown out what brought me back to SW in the first place. You didn't need to know any SW lore, you didn't need to have consumed all the SW media over the decades and you didn't need to be a walking SW encyclopedia. All you needed was an open heart and a childlike wonder as you watched a small, yet beautiful story of a stoic bounty hunter, finding inner peace not only with his faith and culture, but in being a father to a magical child in a crazy galaxy far far away.

Clown franchise

#just my personal take #ahsoka #the mandalorian

[oldkitty]

OSIRIS-REx Sample Return (NHQ202309240001) by NASA HQ PHOTO Via Flickr: The sample return capsule from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission is seen shortly after touching down in the desert, Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023, at the Department of Defense's Utah Test and Training Range. The sample was collected from the asteroid Bennu in October 2020 by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

#Asteroid Sample Return #Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) #Utah #Utah Test and Training Range #Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security #Dugway #UT #NASA #Keegan Barber #flickr

[oldkitty]

Ahsoka episodes 5 & 6 - thoughts. *Spoilers, spoilers, spoilers*

There is plenty to love about Ahsoka so far, but there is plenty I find frustrating. First the positives; it continues to look and feel expansive and it is beautifully shot. Rosario Dawson is sublime as our hero and the rest of the Rebels gang are fun to watch. Baylon, Shin and Elspeth never looked more villainous. The fight scenes are thrilling and the whole look of the show is immersive. This show is done with profound love and plenty of wonderful homages to other genres by its creators.

Now for my own personal frustrations. The show has for some reason not attempted to build any of the characters from scratch for the uninitiated, so I feel they - our heroes and villains - are bereft of urgency, passion and narrative, e.g. Hera will do everything - including risk her career and son to help Ahsoka. Why? Yes, yes, I know, watch Rebels and "once a rebel, always a rebel", but for someone not versed with her background, her sense of loyalty at all costs is not explained at all, i.e. there is no foundation to build on, you are just expected to accept this situation in good faith. It really feels like coming late into a theatre to watch a play mid way. You just about get who is who. You don't get a sense of why.

Episode 4 came the closest to scratching the surfaces of our heroes and villains, only for most of Episodes 5 & 6 to plaster over these scratches instead of digging deeper. Yes, there was the long drawn out live action Anakin and Clone wars dream/flashback sequences to give our hero the impetus to keep fighting, but for me it felt indulgent and slightly negligible solely because you do not see any conflict with Ahsoka prior. She is so self assured, so determined with her quest to find Thrawn I felt that even without Anakin giving her the support to choose to live, she would have resurrected and continued on regardless.

The show's greatest strength for me continues to be Sabine's prickly yet fond relationship with Ahsoka, because at least you get a sense of a friendship that is a little broken but not irredeemable , and with Sabine, I get a sense of personality, of conflict, of what drives her actions. She desperately wants to tap into the Force, she misses Ezra and she clearly has love and respect for Ahsoka, but there is resentment there. Instead of leaning into these potential kindle to a potentially explosive blast of self-realisation and character growth - we get a very linear quest to find Thrawn and Ezra - two motivations that elicit very little emotional investment. I only care because Sabine clearly loves and misses him.

Which brings me to the big bad of the show. Does Thrawn make THE convincing villain so far? I mean he looks great, acts with disdain with his most loyal followers and shows little regard for Baylon, Shin and the space whales. Plus he has a big bad ship with legions of troops and he relies on the scary red Witches. But are those enough to make him compelling? Does he make me fear for Sabine and Ahsoka's lives? Does he make me quake in my boots at what he could do to the rest of the galaxy?

There are two more episodes of this show. It will no doubt dazzle visually, and I hope they capture some passion and emotion, some impetus and inner conflict with our heroes and villains. Because the story progression is painfully superficial for me. It really needs to build a sense of urgency, a sense of dread, or just something - other than nostalgia for animated shows - that would make me genuinely root for our heroes while genuinely fear the villains in the here and now.

#ahsoka

[oldkitty]

Ahsoka episodes 3 & 4 review - spoilers - spoilers - spoilers

Episode 3 was a fabulous set up to episode 4 - which was a BANGER!

For me the strongest narrative drive of this show so far has been Sabine and Ahsoka's incredibly fluid relationship, the way it ebbs and flows when they are as friends, or as master and padawan, and as team mates, with Ezra's ghost hovering painfully over them.

I thought it was a shame that Sabine's training with Ahsoka at the beginning of episode 3 had such short screen time as opposed to the protracted battle that ensued. Yes, it was cool watching Ahsoka defy the laws of space physics and deflect enemy fire with her lightsabers while out on the wings of her ship, and it was great seeing the space whales, but I honestly could have just watched Sabine try and force move the cup and see how she deals with what it all means.

Episode 4 was however worth the payoff. Narrative strands came together and got elevated into more intriguing and potent ones that I cannot wait to see play out in the remaining episodes. We know Thrawn will appear soon - and I am glad all that convoluted set up with the map is done with - so I am hoping the pace will now accelerate.

I know the most memorable moment that has lit up social media is Ahsoka's meeting with Anakin towards the end, and I am not going to lie that the impact was very emotional, but personally, watching Sabine in full Mandalorian armour and embodying her Mandalorian roots fighting alongside Ahsoka's Jedi master status, was sublime.

As a bonus - it was great seeing another link to The Mandalorian in the form of Carson Teva.

Another bonus - Baylan and Shin along with Morgan Elspeth continue to make a tremendous team of villains.

10/10.

#ahsoka #star wars ahsoka

[oldkitty]

Ahsoka *SPOILERS* for episodes 1 & 2.

Contains spoilers!!!

I loved Ahsoka and Sabine's fractured but not irredeemable friendship here. I thought the episodes looked stunning. The villains were menacing and the lothcat was a bonus.

What I could not vibe with was the pacing, how it felt pedestrian and how it required the viewer to be familiar with Rebels to catch the nuances involving Ezra and Thrawn. Also, how the killer droids seems to have replaced the stormtroopers for easy pickings. But I guess the biggest puzzle for someone who hasn't watched Rebels or is not familiar with the show was how Sabine becomes a padawan when she seems to have attachment issues. Ahsoka refuses to train a powerful force sensitive Grogu, but seems ok with Sabine and her obvious grief and resentment at what happened to Ezra.

Overall, a 7/10 for me.

#ahsoka series #ahsoka #star wars ahsoka

[oldkitty]

#indiaonthemoon #isro #chandrayaan3