NASA’s LCROSS Probe: Low Impact

Friday, October 9th, 2009

Early this morning at 4:31AM Pacific Time, NASA sent the 2.5 ton LCROSS Centaur rocket screaming on a collision course with what we’ve hoped to be an ice-filled crater at the Moon’s south pole (called Cabeus Crater).

And the resulting impact was totally AMAZING sucky. I’ve seen more spectacular car wrecks. And I’m glad I didn’t sit outside with a telescope at 4:30 in the morning looking for this.

HERE’S THE VIDEO:



NOT SUCKY BONUS ROUND:
NASA/JPL’s 2005 Deep Impact probe collision with Comet Tempel 1 (nice, big explosion).

The JAXA (Japan’s Space Agency) 2007 SELENE/Kaguya probe passing ~50km over the surface of the Moon; watch the Earth rise at 1:20.

Two Haiku Movie Review: District 9

Friday, August 14th, 2009

District 9 was great–
Alien meets Iron Man.
Audience applause,

Compelling throughout.
District 10 will be epic;
Blomkamp delivers.

Esplojuns

Sunday, July 5th, 2009

espoljuns

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ‘MERICA!!

You look good for 233 years old (not a day over 229 years old).

Watching a suburban neighborhood in Santa Cruz, CA attempt to re-enact scenes from “Apocalypse Now” with fireworks – drunk on gunpowder and patriotism – inspired me to look up a few things:

AD 1044 - The Chinese Wujing Zongyao military compendium contains the oldest surviving recipe for gunpowder and also a description of how to use explosives-laden birds as weapons. [link]

• AD 1325 - The Chinese Huolong Jing military manual describes a weapon called Huolong Chu ShuiFire Dragon Issuing from Water.” It had booster rockets that carried the dragon-shaped missile into enemy territory, then other charges ignited rocket-powered arrows which shot from the mouth of the dragon. [link]

AD 1325 - The Chinese Huolongjing military manual describes a weapon called “Flying Crow with Magic Fire.” A crow-shaped wickerwork kite with rocket boosters beneath its wings – it delivered a tremendous explosion upon impact.

Fireworks Colors - Modern fireworks are colored by mineral salts added to the explosive mixtures. REDS: strontium or lithium salts; ORANGES: calcium salts; YELLOWS: sodium salts; GREENS: barium or chromium salts; BLUES: copper salts; PURPLES: potassium salts or mixing strontium and copper salts; WHITES: barium oxide or powdered magnesium, titanium, or aluminum; GOLDS: powdered iron.


Thousand Fire Dragon Thunderclap Bonus Round:
The fury of 16,000 firecrackers

(images from Wikimedia Commons, photo by Semnoz)

Two Haiku Movie Review: Wanted

Friday, July 11th, 2008

Wanted

Like “The Matrix” but
without the Matrix. And the
good guys are all d!cks.

Jolie was like “Aaaagh!
and her car went “Errrrrrrrtt!” and her
gun went “Psshhhiiiiw!” . . . Kick Ass!

Happy 4th of July

Friday, July 4th, 2008

This is the 4th of July celebration in Santa Cruz, California.
Imagine Apocalypse Now with more explosions and more severed heads.

The song is “Star Spangled Mojo” by Mojo Nixon – perhaps the best rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” ever.

Thursday, June 26th, 2008

Appliance Golfing – Reuters Link

War, Inc.

Thursday, June 19th, 2008

The movie War, Inc. finally came to a theater in my neighborhood.

Two words: “kick” and “ass.”

I loved it.

Brand Hauser (John Cusak) is an assassin on a mission in the war-torn mythle-eastern nation of Turaqistan. Hauser is posing as the producer of an arms convention, promoting Tamerlane military industries – the very corporation currently occupying the nation of Turaqistan. At the convention, Hauser meets journalist Natalie Hegalhuzen (Marisa Tomei) and obnoxious middle eastern pop star Yonica Babyyeah (Hilary Duff) . . . and all hell breaks loose in this Douglas Coupland-esque world.

War, Inc. has several of the best qualities of Cusak’s previous assassin dark comedy Grosse Pointe Blankclever dialogue, a great soundtrack (that does not yet exist on iTunes, dammit), and several stellar fight/action scenes worthy of Martin Blank. This film also smelled heavily of Douglas Coupland and Naomi Klein’s “Baghdad Year Zero” (both of which are good smells).

Locate a showing at a theater near you.