R.I.P. Carrie Fisher

Carrie Fisher, the actress best known as Princess Leia from the Star Wars films, has passed away at age 60. Her daughter, Billie Lourd, confirmed her mother's passing in a recent statement.

Fisher passed away at 8:55 Tuesday morning December 2016.

Fisher suffered a heart attack while flying from London to Los Angeles on December 23. After arriving at a hospital, her condition was later upgraded to "stable," but she passed away the morning of December 27.

Press HERE for complete article

David Scholes Newest Publication

David Scholes wants to let us know that he will be publishing another collection of sci-fi short stories probably in late January through Amazon Create Space.  

He describes his newest work as 36 stories in all called “A Collection of Science Fiction Gems.”  Some of these have been published individually over the past year or so on various sites: Antipodean SF, Farther Stars Than These, 365 Tomorrows, the WiFiles, and Beam Me Up Pod Cast. Though many of the stories have not yet seen the light of day. 

Wendelstein 7x Fusion Reactor Confirmed to Work

For decades scientists have pursued nuclear fusion that would generate energy in the same manner as the sun and other stars, but on Earth, essentially providing Earth with limitless clean energy, forever. 

Nature Communications, researchers confirmed that Germany's Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) fusion energy device is on track and working as planned. Known as a stellerator, generated its first batch of hydrogen plasma when it was first fired up earlier this year. The new tests basically give scientists the green light to proceed to the next stage of the process.

It works like this: Unlike a traditional fission reactor, which splits atoms of heavy elements to generate energy, a fusion reactor works by fusing the nuclei of lighter atoms into heavier atoms. The process releases massive amounts of energy and produces no radioactive waste. The "fuel" used in a fusion reactor is simple hydrogen, which can be extracted from water.

For more info click  HERE

Beam Me Up # 477 is now online

Episode 477 centers around a nice story, Stars in Her Eyes, by Vaughn Stanger which I run in the last half of the program. 

Articles this program included a heart felt good-by to John Glenn, books that may have changed the science fiction landscape and speaking of landscapes, in Cassini's final year, the probe will make many new close approaches to Saturn's major moon Titan which it will record as well as many of the inner rings which has been slated for the probe to dive through. This goes on until September of 2017, at which time it has been programmed to Saturn's cloud tops. 

Click   HERE  for podcast audio

Astronaut John Glen Dies

wow talk about a gut shot, John Glenn NASA's first astronaut to circle the Earth has passed away at the age of 95.  The world is worse for the loss

The wikipedia has a great workup on Glenn

God speed John Glenn

Cassini's Final Year Will Not Be Idle

Did you know that NASA's Cassini has been working diligently in the Saturn system for 13 years!

Cassini will also end it's mission Sept. 2017 when it will dive straight into Saturn. 

This last year will hardly be idle.  Cassini still needs to complete projects like a flyby of Titan, Saturn's largest moon of which it has made over 125 close passes.

For more information, please press HERE

Stories that Changed the Science Fiction Landscape

Listener Nelson sent me a fascinating web address that posits the 17 books that could have changed the science fiction landscape.

For me, I began reading SF in the early 70s, so the titles that really lit a fire under me were tomes like:

Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delaney - so few people read this powerful work by Delaney which deftly bent reality.... 

Foundation by Isaac Asimov - started me down the Asimov SF super highway which turned out to be a three book series.

c  

Dangerous Visions by Harlan Ellison - I still get flash backs from many of the stories from this and other stories in this volume and follow on volumes.

Dune by Frank Herbert - what else needs saying than just the powerful title. So many works today can pay homage to the ground breaking series of Frank Herbert's Dune.

Check out this article that references some of the most powerful stories in science fiction.                      HERE                                       

BMU #476 Now Online

Beam Me Up episode 476 is now online.  

I  start  with a short story from Dave called Urban Pacifiers which asks the question "What and who will future police be like in the distant future?"

For articles: Marvel has some plans for the end of 2017,  the most recent NASA/ISS crew is due to set some longevity records.

The last short story is a most unusual invasion tale by new contributor  Tristan Fernie called "The Future Happened While We Stared At Our Phones"

David Scholes just sent in a note about his newest story that is available on farther stars than these.

This text version is an excellent read.  Check the link out.

Here’s my latest story on Farther Stars Than These:  http://www.fartherstars.com/search/label/David%20K%20Scholes

Listener Joe mentioned something of note concerning the most recent NASA crew to the ISS.

Peggy Whitson will be spending her next birthday aboard the ISS.  She will be 57 years old.  The oldest to date had been Barbara Morgan, who was 55 during her tour aboard the station. 

This of course is NOT Whitson's first tour of duty aboard the station.  Whitson first served a duty on the space station in 2012 and has accumulated a total of 377 days in space, plus a history of performing successful spacewalks. 

Aside from being the oldest female astronaut to reach the ISS, Whitson will also break the world record this expedition for the longest time spent in space, a record currently held by NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams with 534 days under his belt.

For more - click HERE

New Marvel Show

Hey Marvel fans! Have you heard the latest? Well it seems that the Inhumans movie that Marvel had in the works will not happen.  Instead Marvel with the aid of ABC and IMAX will move the charactors to a TV show on ABC.

The show will premiere on ABC in the fall of 2017 and will be a weekly series with the first season running eight episodes. 

Fans of the Agents of Shield may recognize some of the charactors that will populate "cast". They consist of Black Bolt, Medusa  and over time Crystal, Gorgon,  and others if we are lucky.

complete article HERE

Beam Me Up 475 Now Online

Well, I Ttttttttttttttought I had posted the podcast.

Anyway, I wanted to get the Halloween episode 475 which

has more music and Colin Davies story Happy Halloween.

Select HERE for the Beam Me Up podcast.

New David Scholes Stories Coming Soon from Farther Stars Than These

Hey, if you are as much of a David Scholes as I am then you will get a kick out of Dave's list of new stories.  Each shows the date they will be showing up on Farther Stars Than These. 

“Urban Pacifiers” on Farther Stars Than These – 3 November

“Other Side” on Farther Stars Than These – 24 November

“Dumbed Down World” on Farther Stars Than These – 15 December

Beam Me Up Episode 474 now onlone

Episode 474 came together this week without much of a problem.

I start with a cut to give me a few moments to get organized.  Next I travel over to the Beam Me Up blog wrfrbeameup.blogspot.com.

First on the agenda is the loss of the ESA's Schiaparelli lander.   Next SyFy has picked up Van Helsing with an order for 13 new episodes. 

Hubble continues to do phenomenal science.   SyFy has pushed back Star Trek Discovery.

Rosetta considered successful.  

Musk still thinks Mars colonization viable. 

Osirus Rex mission still go. 

Dave Scholes The Real Dream World is our story of the afternoon. 

Podcast 474 HERE

Enjoy

Schiaparelli's Crash Site Seen By NASA MRO Probe

Schiaparelli, was due to touch down on Mars Wednesday morning (Oct. 19).   However the lander stopped communicating with ESA mission control about 1 minute before its planned touchdown.

The lander's crash site was photographed by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and seemed to confirm what ExoMars team members had suspected — that Schiaparelli died a violent death.

It would appear that Schiaparelli dropped from a height of between 1.2 to 2.5 miles. This then would indicate that the lander impacted at a considerable speed, somewhere in excess of 186 mph.

It is also possible that the lander exploded on impact, as its thruster propellant tanks were likely still full.  those tanks were still full because Schiaparelli's data indicate that the lander didn't fire its descent-slowing thrusters nearly as long as it was supposed to, ESA officials said.

For more information please click  HERE 

http://www.space.com/34472-exomars-mars-lander-crash-site-photos.html

Schiaparelli's Crash Site Seen By NASA MRO Probe

Schiaparelli, was due to touch down on Mars Wednesday morning (Oct. 19).   However the lander stopped communicating with ESA mission control about 1 minute before its planned touchdown.

The lander's crash site was photographed by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and seemed to confirm what ExoMars team members had suspected — that Schiaparelli died a violent death.

It would appear that Schiaparelli dropped from a height of between 1.2 to 2.5 miles. This then would indicate that the lander impacted at a considerable speed, somewhere in excess of 186 mph.

It is also possible that the lander exploded on impact, as its thruster propellant tanks were likely still full.  those tanks were still full because Schiaparelli's data indicate that the lander didn't fire its descent-slowing thrusters nearly as long as it was supposed to, ESA officials said.

For more information please click  HERE 

http://www.space.com/34472-exomars-mars-lander-crash-site-photos.html

ESA's Schiaparelli Lost

After traveling almost 700 million miles, plus being only one minute from gaining the

surface, ESA's Martian lander Schiaparelli signal was lost.

The Schiaparelli lander showed the first signs of abnormalities soon   after it released its parachute 1km from the surface and the signal went dead soon afterwards, ESA scientists said on Thursday, leaving them unsure of where the probe is and whether it crash-landed.

For more information you can click HERE

Syfy renews Van Helsing

Syfy has renewed it’s post-apocalyptic vampire survival drama, series Van Helsing.

SyFy has oked a 13 episode second season, set to begin production next January.

The plot of Van Helsing focuses on Vanessa Van Helsing, a descendant of vampire slayer
Abraham Van Helsing, who awakens from a coma several years later in a now post-
apocalyptic devastated world, where the vampires have control of most of the world. She
awakens among a group of humans holed up in a building trying to survive, where she
discovers her blood has the ability to turn the vampires human again, which makes her a
target for the vampire Ancients.

Van Helsing views Fridays at 10pm

For more information and links, click HERE

Hubble Discovers Red Giant Ejecting Mars Sized Gas Blobs

Hubble Space Telescope has detected superhot blobs of gas, each twice as massive as the planet Mars, being ejected NEAR a dying star called V Hydrae, a red giant. The plasma balls are moving fast enough to travel the distance from Earth to the moon in thirty minutes. Astronomers estimate that this has continued once every 8.5 years for at least the past 400 years.

These fireballs are puzzling to astronomers, because the ejected material could not have been shot out by the host star, called V Hydrae. 

From the article:

The current best explanation suggests the plasma balls were launched by an unseen companion star. According to this theory, the companion would have to be in an elliptical orbit that carries it close to the red giant's puffed-up atmosphere every 8.5 years. As the companion enters the bloated star's outer atmosphere, it gobbles up material. This material then settles into a disk around the companion, and serves as the launching pad for blobs of plasma, which travel at roughly a half-million miles per hour.

for complete article press HERE

Moon has the Largest Crater in Solar System

The far side of the moon may be the solid remains of a collision with a smaller companion moon, according to a study by planetary scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz. The striking differences between the near and far sides of the moon have been a longstanding puzzle. The near side is relatively low and flat, while the topography of the far side is high and mountainous, with a much thicker crust.

The biggest hole in the solar system -- the South Pole-Aitken basin,   is the largest known impact crater in the solar system, nearly 2,500 kilometers wide and 13 kilometers deep.

For more press HERE

Schiaparelli lander animation

The ExoMars 2016 mission, a colaboration between the ESA and Russian Roscosmos space agency, will enter Martian orbit on October 19 2016. The previously released Schiaparelli lander will begin its descent to the Martian surface. 

ExoMars comprises the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and the Schiaparelli entry, descent and landing demonstrator.

TGO will make a detailed inventory of Mars’ atmospheric gases, with particular interest in rare gases like methane, which may indicate that there once was or is now implies that there is an active, and or current source. TGO aims to measure methane’s geographical and seasonal dependence and help to determine whether it stems from a geological or biological source.

TGO will start its science mission at the end of 2017, following a year of complex aerobraking manoeuvres to circularise its orbit. It will also act as a relay for ESA’s ExoMars 2020 rover.

Schiaparelli will separate from TGO on 16 October, entering the atmosphere for a six-minute descent to a region in Meridiani Planum, on 19 October.

Star Trek Discovery Update

CBS issued press release:Star Trek Discovery launch has been pushed 

back.  DISCOVERY will now launch in May 2017.

To get more information please press HERE

Rosetta Mission a Success

Rosetta's last image

On Friday October 2016, the Rosetta spacecraft's historic mission concluded with Rosetta descending to the surface of Comet 67P.

Rosetta was commanded to make a final series of unique images  of its final resting place.

After Rosetta took the final images, the spacecraft mission was described a success.

Musk's Mars Plan

During a one hour speech at the International Astronautical Congress in Guadalajara Mexico, on September 27, Elon Musk, laid out his plan to colonize Mars. 

Musk described the giant rocket that will allow this project to happen. Said rocket would be about 3.5 times more powerful than the current biggest rocket ever. 

For more click HERE

NASA Has a Near Perfect Launch of the The OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft

      

The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft, started it's mission 7:05pm EDT Thursday September 22nd. The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft  is designed to rendezvous with, study, and return a sample of the asteroid Bennu to Earth. Asteroids like Bennu are remnants from the formation of our solar system more than 4.5 billion years ago. Scientists suspect that asteroids may have been a source of the water and organic molecules for the early Earth and other planetary bodies. 

NASA's first asteroid sampling mission could revolutionize our understanding of the early solar system.

OSIRIS-REx separated from its United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at 8:04 p.m. The solar arrays deployed and are now powering the spacecraft.

For more, please click HERE

Beam Me Up Episode 473 is online

Welcome to episode 473 of Beam Me Up.

This week is a David Scholes episode.

I open with David's Feeding Time, Then from the blog a review of the latest Captain America movie, troubles with China's space station, a possible SETI class radio signal plus others. 

The closing story is Not So Brave New World. Plus other odds and ends I hope you enjoy. 

To listen to the program, please click HERE

China's Tiangong 1 Comming Down Early

(China's go at a permanent space presence) may come down earlier than originally thought. 

As it stands now, Tiangong 1, China’s first space laboratory, will come to a fiery end in late 2017. however  during a Sept. 14 news conference Chinese officials came close to admitting that they had lost control of the station, and as such have no control as to when the lab will enter Earth's Atmosphere or even impact the surface. (though in truth have not formally admitted the failure and in the opinion of satellite tracker Thomas Dorman, China will wait until the last minute to let the world know it has a problem with their space station.

more here

Review: Captain America: Civil War

Captain America: Civil War

Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo

Budget 250 million Box office 1.153 billion 

Starring

Chris Evans - Steve Rogers / Captain America

Robert Downey Jr. - Tony Stark / Iron Man

Scarlett Johansson - Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow

Sebastian Stan  - as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier

Anthony Mackie - Sam Wilson / Falcon:

Don Cheadle - James "Rhodey" Rhodes / War Machine

Jeremy Renner -  Clint Barton / Hawkeye

Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa / Black Panther

When I first had this film (dvd) I wondered if it would hold well in comparison with the previous Captain America movies.  But then there it was and I as pleasantly surprised.  It foremost added some debth to the characters.  This took the shape of out and out anamosity between members.  Stark continues to be abrasive as always which goes quite far towards alienating other members.  

The conflicts and the motivation are not to believe. Downey reprises his role as Tony Stark / Iron Man as does Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America, Scarlett Johansson - Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, Stan  - as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier, Mackie - Sam Wilson / Falcon, Cheadle - James "Rhodey" Rhodes / War Machine, Renner -  Clint Barton / Hawkeye

Boseman as T'Challa / Black Panther as well as others.

This lends itself to a much more three dimentional character.  Overall I give the film an 8.  The returning heroes add a confort level that I had not been aware of in earlier.  Fans of Cap will not be disapointed. 

Possible Extra-terrestrial Signal Discovered

SETI Astronomers have pointed their instruments on a star  94 light (A light-year is apx 6 trillion miles) years from Earth after a very strong signal was detected by a Russian telescope.

An international team of researchers is now examining the radio signal described in a paper by Italian astronomer Claudio Maccone as a "strong candidate for SETI" -- in the hopes of determining its origin.

Astronomer Douglas Vakoch notes that The signal is intriguing, because it comes from the vicinity of a sun-like star, and if it's artificial, its strength is great enough that it was clearly made by a civilization with capabilities beyond those of humankind. 

Thanks to listener Barry for the heads up URL HERE   and check the url for type 2  civilizations and Dyson spheres.

Beam Me Up Episode 472 - Expanded Horizons by Gustavo Bondoni

Beam Me Up 472 is up and ready.  

After my opening comments I play all along the watch tower performed by Jimmi Hendrix (again one of my all time favs) 

From the blog I have a sound byte from Elon Musk thanking  Nevada allowing his giga factory to build affordable electric cars.

NASA TV will be showing the latest spacewalk on the ISS.

Nelson sends over links for audio of Asimov's Foundation series.

Expanded Horizons by Gustavo Bondoni is my final offering of #472 

Enjoy

Beam Me Up Episode 472 link

Asimov's Foundation Series Audio

Listner Nelson has been perusing the archive.org public domain site and came across my favorite series of books.  The "Empire" series by Issac Asimov.  These books were a departure for Doctor Asimov in that there were no robots in the Empire universe but to be honest the story line was every bit as intriguing as a robot novel.

Check out the listing by clicking HERE

NASA TV to Air U.S. Spacewalk

On Sept. 1, two NASA astronauts will spacewalk outside the International Space Station for the second time in less than two weeks.

NASA Television will provide complete coverage beginning at 6:30 a.m. EDT, with the six-and-a-half hour spacewalk scheduled to begin about 8 a.m.

Working on the port side  truss, Expedition 48 Commander Jeff Williams and Flight Engineer Kate Rubins will retract a thermal radiator that is part of the station’s cooling system. The radiator is a backup that had been deployed previously as part of an effort to fix an ammonia coolant leak. They’ll also tighten struts on a solar array joint, and install the first of several enhanced high-definition television cameras that will be used to monitor activities outside the station, including the comings and goings of visiting cargo and crew vehicles.

This will be the 195th spacewalk in support of space station assembly and maintenance, the fifth of Williams’ career and the second for Rubins. As was the case for their first spacewalk together Aug. 19, Williams will be designated as extravehicular crew member 1 (EV1), wearing a spacesuit with a red stripe, while Rubins will be EV2, wearing a suit with no stripes.

Beam Me Up Episode 471 Now Online

Beam Me Up episode 471 is now on line

after my opening comments I play one of my fav rock pieces, Dream On by Areosmith.  The piece seems to fit the overall theme.

From the Beam Me Up blog at wrfrbeameup.blogspot.com I read about Hubble which has discovered a new red dwarf system.  Also NASA is putting a good deal of faith in SpaceX by ordering a second crew mission to the international space station.  That and a couple of articles on Rovers, China's yuto and the upcomming Mars_2020 due for launch 2020

This week I start with part one of the story Expanded Horizons by Gustavo Bondoni


Direct podcast link HERE

Mars_2020 Rover

from NASA-JPL_This image is from computer-assisted-design work on the Mars 2020 rover. The design borrows heavily NASA's Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars in 2012.  Though similar in appearance the newest rover adds new science instruments and a sampling system to carry out new goals for the 2020 mission.

China's Yuto Rover Dead for Real This Time

China’s lunar rover Yutu has been pronounced dead—for the second and (probably) final time, this time after a bit over two-and-a-half years on the moon.

It’s unlikely that the rover is going to pop back from the dead this time, though. Jade Rabbit (which is Yuto in Chinese) was only meant to last for three months and ended up lasting 31 months. In that time, the rover was slowly losing functionality. Towards the end of the rover's life, it slowly lost the ability to even move away from its current spot. Even so, Jade Rabbit continued to beam back data to researchers

For complete Gizmoto article - click  HERE

NASA Orders Second SpaceX Crew Mission to International Space Station

Friday, NASA took an important step in returning U.S. astronaut launches to U.S. soil.

This came in the form of a second post-certification mission from commercial provider SpaceX in Hawthorne, California. 

This will increase  America’s human spaceflight launch capability and increase the time U.S. crews can dedicate to scientific research, which is helping prepare astronauts for deep space missions, including the Journey to Mars.

Please click HERE for the complete NASA article.

Hubble Discovers two Exo-Planets Circling Red Dwarf

(CNN) — For a craft that was launched in 1990, Hubble  continues to provide us with awe-inspiring firsts. This time, In May, researchers discovered three Earth-like worlds orbiting an ultracool red dwarf star 40 light-years away.

Red dwarf stars are at the end of the range of what is classified as a star. These stars are half the temperature and a 10th the mass of the sun, so it was a first to find planets orbiting this star which also appeared to be in the "habitable zone" of the star, meaning liquid water could pool on their surfaces. 

 click HERE for complete article

Beam Me Up #470 Now Online

Beam Me Up podcast, # 470,  is now online and ready to be downloaded or listened to directly.

This week I read from the blog concerning Mars rovers. Plus a rather unusual mission patch that NASA has designed  for certain future missions.

The bulk of the hour however is Galleon by Matthew Harrison a tale of a far future colony whos  roots are planted firmly in our past.

Click HERE for the podcast. 

Beam Me Up #470 Now Online

Beam Me Up podcast, # 470,  is now online and ready to be downloaded or listened to directly.

This week I read from the blog concerning Mars rovers. Plus a rather unusual mission patch that NASA has designed  for certain future missions.

The bulk of the hour however is Galleon by Matthew Harrison a tale of a far future colony whos  roots are planted firmly in our past.

Click HERE for the podcast. 

Beam Me Up #470 Now Online

Beam Me Up podcast, # 470,  is now online and ready to be downloaded or listened to directly.

This week I read from the blog concerning Mars rovers. Plus a rather unusual mission patch that NASA has designed  for certain future missions.

The bulk of the hour however is Galleon by Matthew Harrison a tale of a far future colony whos  roots are planted firmly in our past.

Click HERE for the podcast. 

 

NASA Rolls out new Mission Patch

wow, if there was any lingering suspicion that the folks at nasa and The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space  were not full on nerds. One only has to check the next mission patches

CASIS announced  that Groot and Rocket the Raccoon will be featured on a mission patch that will represent all payloads that will head to the national laboratory on the International Space Station.

NASA Selects Five Mars Orbiter Concept Studies

NASA has selected five U.S. aerospace companies to conduct concept studies for a potential future Mars orbiter mission. 

The companies contracted are: The Boeing Company in Huntington Beach, California; Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver; Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems in Redondo Beach, California; Orbital ATK in Dulles, Virginia; and Space Systems/Loral in Palo Alto, California.

For complete NASA article, click HERE

NASA is ready to proceed with final design and construction of its next Mars rover, currently targeted to launch in the summer of 2020 and arrive on the Red Planet in February 2021.

The Mars 2020 rover will investigate a region of Mars where the ancient environment may have been favorable for microbial life, probing the Martian rocks for evidence of past life. Throughout its investigation, it will collect samples of soil and rock and cache them on the surface for potential return to Earth by a future mission.

Episode 469 of Beam me Up is now online.

Episode 469 of Beam me Up is now online.

I start a  with a live cut from the Beatles "Nowhere Man"

From there I jump over to the blog.

I talk about O2's first appearance in the universe, Juno's arrival at Jupiter, NROL-37 launched by NASA, Star Trek actor dead, restriction placed on fan films and misgivings about gay character in new Star Trek Movie.

I close with a flash from the past.

Click HERE for program

George Takei Upset That Sulu in Star Trek Beyond is Depicted Gay

George Takei, who originally  portrayed Sulu  in the televised Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry - has misgivings about  Sulu in Star Trek Beyond being written as gay. Takei feels that this deviates from  Roddenberry's original intent.

Click HERE for complete IO9 article

NASA's Juno Makes it into Jupiter's Orbit

NASA's Juno Probe Just Made It Safely Into Jupiter's Orbit

At 11:54 pm Eastern July 4th, NASA’s space probe, Juno, successfully made its way into Jupiter’s orbit.

Juno turned on its engines 2,609 miles away from Jupiter which allowed Juno to match Jupiter's orbital speed.

Click HERE for the complete Wired article.

Star Trek Fan Film Rules Guidelines

Barry sent me an article recently released by CBS and Paramount which contains very strict guidelines

1. The film can't exceed 30 minutes

2. The title can't contain the words "Star Trek," but must contain a subtitle using the phrase "A Star Trek Fan Production"

3. The film must use all original footage

4. The film can't use bootleg merchandise. It all has to be official. 

5. No one can be compensated for the work.

6. No one can make money off the film. 

7. The film must be family friendly. That means no profanity, nudity, alcohol, drugs, etc.

8. The film must have a disclaimer in the opening credits

9. The creators of the fan film cannot try to copyright or trademark their work

10. The film cannot be affiliated with CBS or Paramount 

These restrictions mean you can no longer boldly go where no man has gone before when creating fan films devoted to  Star Trek

 For the complete article you can go HERE  or enter the URL directly  http://www.startrek.com/fan-films 

Scholes Newest

Dave Scholes just sent over the newest of his stories called "Feeding Time " on Farther Stars These.

Here is the link below.

  http://www.fartherstars.com/search/label/David%20K%20Scholes

Star Trek Actor Dead

I received a rather upsetting news. 

Actor Anton Yelchin died Sunday morning in what his representative confirmed as a “fatal traffic collision,”. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office said that his body “was found pinned between a car and a gate at a home in Studio City, California” and that an exact cause of death will not be announced until the autopsy is complete. He was 27.

Fans of the Star Trek movie franchise should recognize Anton Yelchin who begin his acting career appearing in shows like ER, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. In 2006, he received critical acclaim for his performance in crime drama Alpha Dog and starred as the title character in the next year’s Charlie Bartlett.

More info can be had by selecting HERE

Wikipedia info HERE 


scbuzz has left a new comment on your post "Star Trek Actor Dead":

Basically, his (recalled) Jeep Grand Cherokee came out of park and rolled back pinning him between the vehicle and gate. Said death was due to asphyxia (i.e. crushed) :( 

I don't usually quote my blog replies, but as you can see it lent new info to the article - Thanks scbuzz

NASA Launches Huge RECON SAT for NRO

The worlds currently largest rocket active has successfully launched with the top secret NROL-37 payload for the United States. The Delta IV Heavy was launched from Space Launch Complex 37B on June 11th 2016. This was the 32nd Delta IV launch, and the 9th Delta IV Heavy launch.

Juno to view Jupiter's Cloud-tops Close Up

On July 4, NASA will fire, for 35 minutes, the main engine of its spacecraft Juno, a basketball court sized, solar powered spacecraft moving its orbit to within 2,900 miles of the cloud tops of our solar system’s largest planet - Jupiter.

The purposed burn will place it into a polar orbit around the gas giant. During the flybys of a series of 37 planned close approaches Juno will probe beneath the obscuring cloud cover of Jupiter and study its auroras to learn more about the planet's origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere.

To get more information, click HERE for the complete NASA article.

Scientists Discover Possible Origin of oxygen

A team of researchers just confirmed the presence of oxygen in a galaxy 13.1 billion light years away.

This is the furthest oxygen has ever been detected. Suggesting that this may  be the first oxygen to form in the early universe.

The scientists based their conclusions on data collected by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observatory.

The galaxy SXDF-NB1006-2, was discovered just four years ago, and they have been trying to identify the elements that are present ever since. The scientists describe their findings in a new paper published in the magazine "Science".

For Complete article, press HERE

episode 468 can now be downloaded

episode 468 of Beam Me Up is available online for download. It can be had at http://www.beammeuppodcast.com/shows/bmu_468.mp3 or pressing HERE

I   will put a text file up asap.

Darwin Award Possibilities

Carole sent these along this morning.  She didn't intend anything but  a giggle,  however I see future 

Darwin Award possibilities.  Take a look;

My daughter and I went through the McDonald's driveway window and I gave the cashier a $5 bill.  Our total was $4.25, so I also handed her 25c.  She said, 'you gave me too much money.' I said, 'Yes I know, but this way you can just give me a dollar coin back.'  She sighed and went to get the manager who asked me to repeat my request.  I did so, and he handed me back the 25c, and said 'We're sorry but we don’t do that kind of thing.'  The cashier then proceeded to give me back 75 cents in change.  Do not confuse the people at MacD's.

We had to have the garage door repaired.  The repairman told us that one of our problems was that we did not have a 'large' enough motor on the opener.  I thought for a minute, and said that we had the largest one made at that time, a 1/2 horsepower.  He shook his head and said, 'You need a 1/4 horsepower.'   I responded that 1/2 was larger than 1/4 and he said, 'NOOO, it's not. Four is larger than two.'  We haven't used that repairman since...

I live in a semi rural area.  We recently had a new neighbor call the local city council office to request the removal of the DEAR CROSSING sign on our road.  The reason: 'Too many dears are being hit by cars out here! I don't think this is a good place for them to be crossing anymore.' 

IDIOT SIGHTING IN FOOD SERVICE.

My daughter went to a Mexican fast food and ordered a taco.
She asked the person behind the counter for 'minimal lettuce.'
He said he was sorry, but they only had iceberg lettuce.

I was at the airport, checking in at the gate when an airport employee asked,  'Has anyone put anything in your baggage without your knowledge?'  To which I replied, 'If it was without my knowledge, how would I know?'  He smiled knowingly and nodded, 'That's why we ask.'

The pedestrian light on the corner beeps when it's safe to cross the street.  I was crossing with an 'intellectually challenged' co-worker of mine.  She asked if I knew what the beeper was for.
I explained that it signals blind people when the light is red.  Appalled, she responded, 'what on earth are blind people doing driving?!'  She is a government employee.....

When my husband and I arrived at a car dealership to pick up our car after a service, we were told the keys had been locked in it.  We went to the service department and found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the driver’s side door.  As I watched from the passenger side, I instinctively tried the door handle and discovered that it was unlocked.  ‘Hey,' I announced to the technician, 'its open!'  His reply, 'I know. I already did that side.'

STAY ALERT!
 

They walk among us, they breed, and they vote…....

Review: Chappie

starring         Sigourney Weaver  

    Hugh Jackman
    Sharlto Copley
    Dev Patel
    Ninja
    Yolandi Visser
    Jose Pablo Cantillo

Budget  $49 million
Box office  $102.1 million

This movie has the feel of Section Nine, but instead of aliens we
have robots.  Also consider Terminator.  But instead of an all seeing malevolent AI, we are treated to a child-like Chappie who wants nothing more than to simply fit in.

Check out wikipedia's impression of Chappie here  Wikipedia-chappie

Chappie was a devilishly difficult film to get into, but once you have a handle on the motivation you start building affinity for the main characters, though Weaver and Jackman seem to be on remote control, little more than caricatures.  You are left contemplating the movie's namesake and it's small cadre of people whom he calls family.  By this time the film has picked back up, but you are emotionally vested.

I would give this film an 8 or maybe 7.5 because it takes so long to get into the movie.



  

India Tests Shuttle Concept

 

India’s space agency ISRO says Monday's (May 23rd) test flight of their reusable space shuttle was a success, validating the technologies on board.

ISRO also released video of the launch, showing the ignition and lift-off of the HS9 booster rocket with the shuttle resting on its nose.

The $14m (yep, 14 million)  Reusable Launch Vehicle, which is around the size of a minibus, was lofted to an altitude of apx. 40 miles, before re-entering the Earth's atmosphere.

The craft was allowed to skip back into the atmosphere at Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound)and exposing the Reusable Launch Vehicle to max temperatures of around 3632 degrees.


India's shuttle is not expected to come into service for at least 15 years, but ISRO hopes the reusable technology will reduce costs and make access to space more affordable.
 
More info HERE