MAN STEPS ON MARS

What if that happens the same day that some uber-celebrity dies? What will the lead/searched story on the internet be? Will it be the top twitter tweet?

Well who knows - maybe twitter will be gone by then. I didn't write 'front page headline' because it appears newspapers maybe gone by then. I hope not.

It will be big news. I would like to be around when it does happen. I hope that people appreciate the wonder of it all. How many people today know about the rovers that roamed around Mars landscape?

Today there's a big difference between 'walking on the moon' vs. 'moonwalk'.

But 40 years ago - no internet - no twitter - plenty of newspapers - big time TV news and Michael Jackson had not yet thrilled us with his moonwalk.


Sunday afternoon/evening July 20, 1969 (Chicago time) -

As Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin descended onto the moon they were confronted with an overloaded computer. Looking out those small windows, Neil thought he was headed for a boulder field. Armstrong takes over manual control and steers the craft to a smoother spot.

I recall watching those first TV images at home. But to be honest I don't remember many details of what my parents said or who was sitting where.

I do recall looking at the moon during those July nights and saying "Just think, there are people up there!"

My interest of space and science has lasted and most of the Apollo details I've learned has come from documentaries and books. Of course now with the internet it much easier to find information about the Apollo program.

One important aspect of the program was the 'Cold War'. The race against the Russians was what really kept the long expensive program going. I watched a CSPAN discussion with the Apollo 8 (first to orbit the moon) crew. When asked what he thought after their accomplishment, Frank Borman replied,

"We beat the Russians!

Immediately after landing on the Moon, Armstrong and Aldrin prepared the Lunar Module (LM) for liftoff as a contingency measure. Following the meal, the astronauts requested their scheduled sleep period be postponed. The astronauts wanted to get out onto the lunar surface. I can't imagine being able to sleep having just landed on the moon.


As he was climbing back into the LM Buzz bumped the switches with his backpack. This created another problem with grave potential. (From Buzz's book, "Men from Earth":)

"We discovered during a long checklist recitation that the ascent engine's arming circuit breaker was broken off on the panel. The little plastic pin (or knob) simply wasn't there. This circuit would send electrical power to the engine that would lift us off the moon...We looked around for something to punch in this circuit breaker. Luckily, a felt-tipped pen fit into the slot."

So a pen was needed to get them off the lunar surface!

They had problems sleeping up there. Not much room and chilly - plus how do you relax camping out on the moon?

They stayed on the surface less than a day (21hr:36min:17sec).

Missing tapes - the Land of OZ




Hours after landing when Armstrong opened the hatch on the lunar module, and stepped out onto the moon the tracking stations with a direct line on the Apollo's signal were the ones in Australia.

One important tracking site was Honeysuckle.

The TV pictures from the moon were transmitted via Slow Scan TV format, a special technique to save precious radio bandwidth. This format needed to be converted for regular commercial TV. This conversion degraded the picture quality. The people who saw the best pictures from the moon were the Aussie operators.


The original Slow Scan signal was recorded onto tape. NASA went looking for the tape because with today technology the conversion could be redone with much better results. NASA appears to have misplaced the tapes.

Luckily those operators took some photos of their monitor screens. This web page shows the quality difference in the picture.

Honeysuckle tribute web site
NASA site for the 40 anniversary.

Here's an article suggesting the first nation to the moon might not be the next nation to go there.

Please share in the comments any memories you have of the Apollo program - thanks.

Johnny's blazing guns

Just got back from seeing Pulic Enemies. Great movie.

As you might suspect this gangster movie has some spectacular shootouts as it describes the last couple of years of John Dillinger. Since I read about the filming last year I've been interested in the movie.

Toward the beginning of the movie there's a cameo that surprised me. Diana Krall sings a jazz song in a nightclub scene. She's a great jazz singer who knows what she's doing.

Before seeing it, I had read about this Wisconsin lodge location used in the movie that is still open to the public. The Little Bohemia web site has a good story about the FBI-Dillinger shoot-out which is reenacted in the movie.

The movie changed the story slightly from what is described on their web site. The owners called the FBI (probably for the reward) but the movie doesn't show it that way.

The Wisconsin lodge Little Bohemia.

The scene of Dillinger back in Indiana custody is recreated accurately. The charm of Dillinger comes out in this picture below from a FBI web page on Dillinger and in the related movie scene.

After watching this scene and then seeing the real picture, I think the real Dillinger looks like an actor.



FBI web page explaining the above picture

My earlier post on the filming of Public Enemies.
---update---
For a movie of this type which is based on real events, I prefer to know as much as possible before seeing the movie. I know some don't want to know anything about a movie beforehand. What's your opinion of this?
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more than an over-night

Are you wondering (I did) how he was able to pull off this fun experiment? Oh if you didn't watch the clip yet go back and watch I'll wait.

I found this clip on a blog by a flight attendant called the Flying Pinto.

The story behind the clip is even more interesting than the clip. He was able to film this because he has been sleeping on planes over night. Actually he is living on the planes for 30 days. A really crazy stunt.

Those readers that know me (why don't you ever comment?) know that I've been involved with airlines and aircraft during my engineering career. Overall the airline projects were exciting. Of course some of the travel was not always fun.

I had the opportunity to be involved in some interesting wi-fi testing with aircraft. One time our team tested overnight at O'hare. Even O'hare gets quiet in the wee hours of the night. Most ground tests and installation of new equipment is performed overnight because the airline want the aircraft flying and generating revenue in the day.

Here's a shot of the cockpit during a wi-fi test on a 747. That time the testing was during the day because the aircraft was in for maintenance.



I and probably most others, don't want to sleep on a plane. I have lucked-out on a few occasions been upgraded to biz class and I still can't sleep well on a plane.

So this guy's stunt is amazing to me. Basically for 30 days he's been flying and transferring between planes while never leaving the airport. I would rather sleep in the terminal than on the plane. Well maybe a nice first class bed type of seat on a big jumbo would be better. That's not an option for this gig because AirTran only has Boeing 717's and 737's.

I gathered from the web site for this 30 day stunt that GOGO, the inflight wi-fi service, is sponsoring part of the stunt.

You can find out more at the site.
My other airline related posts.


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you can't take it with you but

YOU CAN STILL BE MAKING IT after you're gone.

Yesterday (and still big coverage continues) the world lost two big celebrities - Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett.

They are gone but they will still be making money.



The world lost two legends which is sad. Both of them impacted my past and its memories. However, neither of them were much of an influence on me.

During this extensive coverage I picked-up on an unusual Forbes list. The Top-Earning Dead Celebrities list.

NOT a list I want to be on. (also if you're on it do you know?? --- that's a discussion for another time)

I was very surprised by who came in number five on the list. Want to guess?
I will put the answer in the comment section.

Did you know (probably not since I don't know of any celebrities reading my blog) there is a 1984 law dubbed The Dead Celebrities Act, that grants posthumous rights for 70 years? So even after you're DEAD you still need a LAWYER!

That Forbes list (2007)

OH - somewhat related thought to yesterdays events -
I heard the MJ news in the late afternoon. Later that night I was checking a favorite blog over in Australia and read a post that started:

"It's kind of sad to wake up today and hear about the deaths of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett ...."

That got me thinking about the international date line and events. For example, the tragedy 9/11 was a Tuesday. However, it was Wednesday the 12th in say Sydney.

So if a celebrity from North America dies in the Far East (not much past the date line) which day does history record his death? I would assume the local time but I bet his close friends and family near his home would remember the previous day as the event.

The big conference that established this date line was held in October 1884 so I think we would be used to it by now.

interesting walk

Next year I'm not missing this special "World" day that I just missed. Last week, actually June 19, was World Sauntering Day. W.T. Rabe, created the "holiday" in the 70's at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan. (side note - Mackinac Island is the perfect place to saunter because motorized vehicles are banned there. I've sauntered around their fudge shops years ago.)

Sauntering - I should tell people that's what I doing when my bum left heel acts up and I hobble along sorta strange.

I'm not a runner. Never was never will be.

I dreaded track time in high school. It made no sense to run around the same oval again and again. My last serious running was in Air Force training. Hiking is good. The view changes.

But the more I think about it --

I could be a saunterer. Are there saunter clubs?

Interested in sauntering around? Don't want to get lost?

Google is working on some help right now. You probably know of Google Maps and their Street View option. Now Google's Street View is expanding onto the footpath. They are starting with college campuses and footpaths in the UK.


(AP Photo/Mark Stehle)

So many uses/apps for google maps - one's imagination couldn't come close to thinking them up. Over in New York they are using google maps to track maple syrup smells. It's a big mystery I guess.

Next thing will be google suggested sauntering routes!

More links on Sauntering Day -- link 1 link 2

big screen chicago

I've written about my interest in Chicago movie making before. The summer 2008 Batman movie was full of Chicago street scenes. Remember the truck flipping end over end. That was on LaSalle St.




Now the hype is building for the July 1 release of Public Enemies.

My post on it from last year has some good background links (and I just checked - they're still good).

There has been numerous other big movies made in Chicago. Home Alone, Backdraft, Blues Brothers, and the Fugitive to name a few. Here's a long list.

Do you agree it makes a movie more interesting when you recognize some of the locations?

In addition to the promotional value given to a location, the filming brings in local revenue.

The Chicago Tribune reports that Public Enemies beat The Dark Knight on the local revenue generated. "Public Enemies," generated $46.7 million in revenue for Illinois, compared with $40 million for "The Dark Knight." That's a good chunk of change!

Deals are negotiated on a case-by-case basis for the use of restaurants or bars. The money can be thousands of dollars a day of shooting.

BTW it does seem that Chicago filmed movies tend to be crime related. It's a big sometimes nasty city but it's not as crime ridden as the movies would make you believe.

I've been lucky to visit some sights that have been movie locations. Two of the most interesting ones (other than Chicago) I visited were Savannah GA. and Squam Lakes NH. Do you know the movies for those two places?



Being an extra in movie would be a thrill. I have a brother-in-law that was in American Pie (filmed in CA).

tech fake fraud or fun

Over at Lilly's Life is a post about picture technology and how it can be misused.

Well I consider this a technology story because about 15 years ago the technology for it to happened didn't exist. Actually the story involves a number of technologies that are converging to create both new options and new problems.

So here's the brief summary of the story. Lady from St. Louis posts a nice photo of her family (herself, husband, two kids) on some social community sites (believe it was facebook). Somebody thought it was a great picture and the picture ends up in a big store ad in the CZECH REPUBLIC. A college friend noticed it and alerted her.

If you check the story further, you'll learn that the family got interviewed on a morning TV show because of it. (not such a bad outcome)

The photo wasn't even modified much. Now modifying photos is a fun thing that I've played around with. I've made some special birthday cards with photos. I don't use the expensive photoshop just shareware and tools that came with the digital camera. I'm no expert in this.

This slideshow shows two things I did NOT do.
There a picture of me NOT hosting a TV show and another picture of me NOT at a red carpet event.



That last picture - the one of me, Cyndi Lauper and Freddie Mercury hanging out. They are wax. But is that much different than if I doctored a photo? What about those cardboard cut-outs stick their heads in? It's just easier to do it digitally.

On his blog, CJ also shows some altered photos that may have had a political impact.

One interesting aspect of this is how society starts using new technology without thinking about possible downsides. Don't misunderstand - I love digital photography, social sites (I'm blogger duh) internet communications and most technology. I'm suggesting people think a little more before acting.

Technology users benefit from giving some thought to how the technology might have negative impacts before they jump in. Sharing is great but often your control of who you share with is very limited. I posted about some great Chicago pictures. In this case the photographer wanted good control so he paid to join a photo site. Remember that saying - get what you pay for.

Technology keeps advancing (good) but the bad guys always find an unintended harmful use for it.