A WEEK FROM TODAY, I will hopefully be leaving for Florida to go to Spaceport USA. Woohoo— Can’t wait...



NASA / Jack Pfaller

REVENGE IS COMING...to your computer screen if you want. Just thought I’d share this wallpaper that I made on Photoshop using the new teaser poster and official logo. Different sizes are offered. They’re free to download. (Well duh.)

800 x 600
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1280 x 1024
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NASA / Jack Pfaller

AS PROMISED in this previous journal entry, here are more photos of Ares I-X as it continues to be prepared at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida.


NASA / Jack Pfaller

Yesterday, a boilerplate mockup of the Orion spacecraft arrived at KSC via U.S. Air Force cargo plane (above). The mockup was manufactured at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia (below). This is a huge milestone as Ares I-X gets ready for a test flight that will hopefully take place this July. The next milestone will be the delivery of the vehicle’s first-stage solid rocket booster from its manufacturer (Alliant Techsystems, or ATK) in Utah. It is scheduled to arrive at KSC late next month.


NASA / Sean Smith

Another significant event to take place at KSC this week was Monday's re-opening of a vital processing facility at the spaceport, which will be the site where the Orion spacecraft undergoes final assembly by Lockheed Martin (the aerospace contractor responsible for building Orion) prior to launch. The building (known as the Operations & Checkout Facility), which took about two years to renovate, was the site where the Apollo spacecraft was prepared for launch almost 40 years ago. Orion assembly activity is set to begin at the O&C Facility in 2012...despite the fact the first manned flight of the spacecraft won’t take place till 2015. This is all assuming, of course, that President Obama continues to press ahead with the Constellation program. He has yet to select a new Administrator for NASA after the former chief, Mike Griffin, departed from the space agency earlier this month.


NASA / Dimitri Gerondidakis

Today is NASA’s official Day of Remembrance for those who lost their lives over the course of America's space program, including the 17 astronauts who perished in the Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia disasters. Here’s hoping that their legacy will continue to live on as a new era of human spaceflight is about to begin in the next few years. Hopefully.

G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA... 6 new posters depicting characters from the film, which comes out in theaters on August 7, were released yesterday. They reveal (in order of the posters shown below) Storm Shadow, Scarlett, Duke, Snake Eyes, The Baroness and Ripcord. In all honesty, I’ve been hearing nothing but negative things about G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra recently...both on and off the Web. But if my thoughts about The Da Vinci Code and X-Men 3 were any indication almost 3 years ago (I actually enjoyed those movies), I’ll probably be pleasantly surprised by The Rise of Cobra since I have absolutely no expectations of it, whatsoever. Haha. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen on the other hand...

TAKING SHAPE... Just thought I’d share these two cool photos of work being completed on the second of three towers that will provide lightning protection for NASA’s Ares I launch vehicle, which will hopefully become operational by 2015. The third and final tower, which along with the other two will be 600 feet in height once finished, should be completed by March or April...well before the scheduled test flight of the Ares I-X rocket in July. In terms of Ares I-X itself, expect a blog in the near future with photos of the vehicle as it continues to be assembled at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida.



A boilerplate mock-up of the Orion spacecraft that will be attached to the top of Ares I-X is scheduled to arrive at KSC via cargo plane this Wednesday or Thursday. Nice.



All images courtesy of NASA

HEATH LEDGER WINS SAG AWARD for Best Supporting Actor... I’m gonna give the Screen Actors Guild a partially-raised middle finger for the lingering threat of a labor strike (yes, this will affect my current job if it took place), but I’ll give them props for giving kudos to Ledger for his work playing the Clown Prince of Crime. The Dark Knight itself won a SAG award for Best Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture...which means absolutely nothing when discussing the Academy Awards. But it’s still cool. Speaking of the Oscars, you would think that Ledger winning yet another award for portraying Batman’s longtime arch-nemesis would essentially guarantee a lock for him to win the Academy Award. But think again. As with the case of The Dark Knight getting robbed of that fifth Best Picture slot to a film (The Reader) that got mediocre reviews [but hey(!), it focused on the Holocaust...so it must be meaningful!], you know the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is gonna throw a curveball and hand the Best Supporting Actor to someone else. I guarantee it.



The Academy thinks it’s being unique and prestigious by trying to throw an upset by handing an Oscar to the least-likeliest nominee (you can obviously argue that they're simply handing a trophy to the better film or actor, but in many cases, that's a bunch of BS), but this only makes the organization look ridiculous and elitist (sorry for stating something that was mentioned by others countless of times already) in the eyes of the mainstream public. Shakespeare in Love over Saving Private Ryan, anyone? No wait— I said mainstream. That says it all, right there. Expect me to type a couple more diatribes like this in the weeks leading up to February 22.

NASA / Kim Shiflett

TWO WEEKS FROM TODAY, I’ll hopefully be heading back to Florida to see in person space shuttle Discovery (above), and changes that are being made to a nearby launch pad (below) to prepare it for NASA’s next generation launch vehicle, the Ares rocket. Can’t wait...


NASA / Kim Shiflett

81st ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS... F**k The Reader, and f**k the Academy. Anyways, despite coming up short on Best Picture and Best Director, The Dark Knight did land a posthumous Best Supporting Actor nomination for Heath Ledger, as expected, as well as nods in 7 technical categories: Art Direction, Cinematography, Film Editing, Makeup, Sound Editing (with Iron Man), Sound Mixing and Visual Effects (also with Iron Man).



The Curious Case of Benjamin Button garnered 13 nominations to lead all films, though I definitely won’t be surprised if Slumdog Millionaire pulls an upset on winning most of the top categories next month. HOWEVER...the only reason why I’d watch the Academy Awards this year (enjoy your ‘high’ TV ratings on February 22, chumps), is to see who goes up to the podium to accept Ledger’s Oscar (unless the Academy drops the ball on this one too). Christian Bale? Aaron Eckhart? Christopher Nolan (again)? We’ll see.

NASA / Bill Ingalls

2009 INAUGURAL PARADE... Thanks to Ronsmytheiii of NASASpaceflight.com, here are a couple of screenshots from yesterday’s parade showing NASA’s contingent in the ceremony. Along with the Moon buggy above (officially called the Lunar Electric Rover), the space shuttle Endeavour crew who flew on last Fall's STS-126 mission also got to march down Pennsylvania Avenue.


NASA / Bill Ingalls


NASA / Paul Alers

Unfortunately, all the major U.S. TV networks cut away from their parade coverage well before NASA had its turn in the spotlight at the presidential reviewing stand (where Obama and his wife were viewing the parade from)...but it’s clearly obvious that the organizers were wise in saving the rover’s appearance for last. It probably would've stole the show (you see one marching band, you’ve seen them all).




CollectSPACE posted up this video on the NASASpaceflight webpage, courtesy of CNN.com.

THE NEW YORK TIMES / Damon Winter

MOST OBVIOUS STATEMENT OF THE DAY... Here's hoping that today is a start of a new era for this nation. The next 4 years can't be as bad as the last 8 years, that's for sure. That is all.


REUTERS / Saul Loeb / Pool

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE... I saw the film this weekend, and all I can say is, wow. It definitely deserves to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar this Thursday (that’s when the Academy announces its nominations). Dev Patel did a great job as impoverished game show contestant Jamal Malik, Freida Pinto was sweet and lovely as Latika, and Anil Kapoor did an amusing take on Regis Philbin by playing game show host Prem Kumar. I’ll never look at Who Wants to be A Millionaire? (the American version, that is) the same way again. As for Salim, Jamal’s brother, I’d say the kid who played the young version of Salim, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, did a more memorable take on the character than the actor who played grown-up Salim (Madhur Mittal). No offense to Mittal, who still did a terrific job.



The movie’s premise is intriguing (though the biggest haters of this film would say that it’s really contrived...despite the fact the movie already states at the beginning and end that Jamal’s luck on Millionaire was ‘written’): A contestant being able to answer all the questions presented on a TV game show because he was unwittingly given all (but one) of the answers earlier in his life is funny. The romantic subplot in Slumdog Millionaire is obviously what gives the film its heart...especially at the end. Not to give away anything, but a 'lifeline' not only spells the difference between becoming ultra-rich or leaving empty-handed, money-wise of course, but it also spells the difference between being lonely for the rest of one’s life or finally uniting with your one true love. ‘Kay, now I'm just sounding reeaaally lame. I’ll end it here.



Needless to say, I’m now rooting for Slumdog Millionaire to come away with most of the gold on February 22. Of course, I still want The Dark Knight to get that fifth slot in the Best Picture category. *Crosses fingers.*

I HAVEN’T LISTENED to Power 106 (an FM radio station here in Los Angeles) for a while now, but that didn’t stop me from meeting "Luscious Liz" Hernandez in Orange County today. Luscious Liz is one of the DJ’s on Power 106 (you can hear her during Big Boy’s Neighborhood that airs weekday mornings). Liz, who’s just as gorgeous in person as she is in photos (if the pics above and below are any indication. Duh) and has a very friendly personality, was promoting her new 2009 calendar (which you can view by scrolling through this page). She signed the front cover as well as the page that had the month I was born on (October). You rock, Liz! By the way, I found out about her autograph signing late last night...which is why I didn’t have time to shave my noggin (below) before leaving my house. Oh well.

TERMINATOR SALVATION... Just thought I’d share some cool (leaked) artwork from this May’s fourth installment in the cyborgs-from-the-future movie franchise. These images were actually revealed two months ago, but oh well. These different types of Skynet weaponry look awesome...despite the fact some of them do look like they belong in a Transformers sequel. It’s all good. Giant F*ckin’ Robots... The primary reason why I’m looking forward to both films (the secondary reason for seeing Transformers 2 being Megan— You can finish this sentence).

NASA / Troy Cryder

A MILESTONE AT THE PAD... At 9:16 AM, Pacific Time today, space shuttle Discovery arrived at its seaside launch pad in Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The shuttle will now undergo final preparations as it gears up for liftoff on February 12. On a personal note, this is a significant event for me...since, as stated in this previous entry, I will hopefully be there in person to view Discovery on the pad before it rockets its way to the International Space Station a few weeks from now. NASA did its job in providing me the opportunity to view a shuttle live before its heads off into space; now it’s up to me to take advantage of the moment. Can’t wait till February 7!

FAREWELL, PRISON BREAK... After four seasons filled with tons of gripping suspense and intriguing (but farfetched, I know) storylines, the FOX TV serial drama is finally coming to an end. On April 17, Prison Break will return for four more episodes (and possibly a few more), and then given the curtain. It will take over the Friday 8 PM slot after Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles wraps up its second (and final?) season a week before.

Well, at least Prison Break is ending on a high note. As stated in a previous entry, this season is probably the most interesting and creative one since the first season. It was good knowing ya, Mike and Linc. Do you think Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell will finally get his comeuppance in the series finale? We'll see.

LAST NIGHT WAS A GOOD NIGHT... Jack Bauer returned with a vengeance (even though Tony Almeida technically was the one who was seeking revenge), the Lakers won again [and currently have the best record (30-6) in the NBA. Let's hope they are 32-6 by this Wednesday, after playing against the Houston Rockets on Tuesday and the San Antonio Spurs the day after], and Heath Ledger won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor. It's not an Oscar (yet), but it'll do.

DAY 7 STARTS TODAY... Don’t forget to tune in at 8 PM tonight for the long-awaited return of the hit FOX TV show. No, I’m not being paid for this endorsement by the studio. I wish. Hopefully, this season—err, Day will kick ass as much as seasons—err, Days’ 4 and 5 did. Though what will be missing from Day 7 is Day 6's CTU agent Nadia Yassir, played by Marisol Nichols (I know... She’s married and knocked up now. I’m willing to ignore that. Well, that and the Scientology part).



Nice.

REVENGE IS COMING...to the Super Bowl on February 1st, that is. Or so they say. In the meantime, check out the new official teaser poster for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, courtesy of Yahoo!. Ominous.

GEARING UP FOR FEBRUARY... Yesterday afternoon, the space shuttle Discovery was rolled over to the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Over the next week or so, Discovery will be mated to its external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters in preparation for its launch (on mission STS-119) to the International Space Station on February 12.


NASA / Jim Grossmann

This time around, what makes preparations for NASA’s first space shuttle flight of 2009 significant to me is that I’ll hopefully be in Florida from February 7-10. Ya’ll are probably asking, why not just stay an extra two days to see Discovery actually lift off in person? I’ll elaborate on that in future journal entries (but the main reason why I’m not gonna stay in Florida longer is because of money. Staying at a place for 4 days and not 6 or even 7 days obviously makes a huge difference, spending-wise. And I don’t exactly have a high-paying job right now, haha).


NASA / Kim Shiflett

Once mated with its fuel tank and boosters, Discovery will roll over to its launch pad, 39-A, on January 14. Speaking of the other pad, 39-B, construction continues to take place on the three huge lightning towers that will protect the Ares I rocket (shown below... Ares I will launch from 39-B) once it (hopefully) becomes operational around 2015. As you can see from the pic above, one of the towers have already been completed. Yet another thing to look forward to seeing in person exactly a month from now.



NASA

AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite

FOOD FOR THOUGHT... I wasn’t old enough to vote for three of the U.S. Presidents shown above, and with the other two, I voted for their rivals instead. I'm 29. Guess which ones are who.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!! It’s time for that annual journal entry where I post a series of events that are happening this year...and half of them interest me and only some of them interest you. Just kidding. Seriously though, you’ll notice a consistency of events from January to July that I’ve listed in the previous years...such as the USC Trojans playing football in the Rose Bowl every New Year’s Day to the Tour de France taking place in July (July 4 thru 26). And of course, just like the past recent years, there aren’t that many significant events (um, American-wise) taking place from August through December...which is why I list international stuff like elections taking place in Uruguay, Honduras and Chile (October 25, November 29 and December 11, respectively).



Personally, I’m looking forward to the re-release of The Dark Knight in theaters later this month, Christian Bale kicking cyborg ass as John Connor (May 22), the return of the Autobots and Decepticons to the big screen (June 26), the test flight of a prototype of America’s next generation launch vehicle (July 11) and a federal election in Germany (September 27). Just kidding about that last one. But I am looking forward to the return of the hit TV show 24 (January 11) as well as the launches of Kepler, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Glory spacecraft within the next 6 months (March 5, April 24 and June 15, respectively). Why am I looking forward to their launches? I’ll tell you later. That is all.



January 2009
-Rose Bowl: USC vs. Penn State (Jan 1)
-BCS National Championship Game in Miami, Florida: Oklahoma vs. Florida (Jan 8)
-66th Annual Golden Globe Awards (Jan 11)
-Season 7 premiere of 24 (Jan 11, 12)
-Season 8 premiere of American Idol (Jan 13, 14)
-Popular TV show Supernatural returns from hiatus on Season 4 (Jan 15)
-U.S. presidential inauguration ceremony for Barack Obama (Jan 20)
-Season 5 premiere of Lost (Jan 21)
-The Dark Knight re-release (Jan 23)
-2009 National Hockey League All-Star Game in Montreal, Quebec (Jan 25)



February 2009
-Super Bowl XLIII in Florida (Feb 1)
-51st Annual Grammy Awards (Feb 8)
-Mission STS-119... Space shuttle Discovery (Feb 12)
-51st annual Daytona 500 in Florida (Feb 15)
-2009 NBA All-Star Game in Phoenix, Arizona (Feb 15)
-NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, en route to asteroid Vesta, flies by Mars for a gravitational assist (Feb 17)
-81st Academy Awards (Feb 22)
-Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (Feb 27)



March 2009
-Launch of NASA’s Kepler spacecraft into solar orbit (Mar 5)
-World Baseball Classic (Mar 5)
-Start of the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens, hosted by Dubai (Mar 5)
-Watchmen (Mar 6)
-Conclusion of the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens (Mar 5)
-2009 NCAA March Madness basketball tournament begins with Opening Round Game (Mar 17)
-Conclusion of the March Madness tournament prior to the 2009 Final Four games in Michigan (Mar 29)



April 2009
-2009 NCAA Final Four basketball tournament in Detroit, Michigan (Apr 5)
-NCAA Final Four Championship Game in Detroit, Michigan (Apr 6)
-Dragonball: Evolution (Apr 8)
-The New York Mets open their new Citi Field stadium against the San Diego Padres (Apr 13)
-The New York Yankees open their new Yankee Stadium against the Cleveland Indians (Apr 16)
-Launch of NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to the Moon (Apr 24)
-NFL Draft (Apr 25, 26)



May 2009
-X-Men Origins: Wolverine (May 1)
-Star Trek (May 8)
-Mission STS-125... Space shuttle Atlantis (May 12 – tentative)
-Angels & Demons (May 15)
-Mission STS-127... Space shuttle Endeavour (May 15 – tentative)
-Terminator Salvation (May 22)
-Start of the 2009 French Open tennis tournament (May 24)
-93rd Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (May 24)



June 2009
-Conclusion of the 2009 French Open (Jun 7)
-Start of the FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa (Jun 14)
-Launch of NASA’s Glory spacecraft into Earth orbit (Jun 15)
-Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Jun 26)
-Conclusion of the FIFA Confederations Cup (Jun 28)



July 2009
-Start of the 2009 Tour de France (Jul 4)
-2012 (Jul 10)
-Test flight of NASA’s Ares I-X rocket (Jul 11)
-2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in St. Louis, Missouri (Jul 14)
-Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Jul 17)
-2009 World Aquatics Championships in Rome, Italy (Jul 19)
-Total solar eclipse (Jul 22)
-Conclusion of the Tour de France (Jul 26)



August 2009
-Conclusion of the 2009 World Aquatics Championships (Aug 2)
-Mission STS-128... Space shuttle Atlantis (Aug 6)
-G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Aug 7)
-Start of the 2009 World Rowing Championships in Poland (Aug 23)
-Conclusion of the World Rowing Championships (Aug 30)



September 2009
-Parliamentary election in Norway (Sep 14)
-Jennifer’s Body (Sep 18)
-Federal election in Germany (Sep 27)
-NASA’s Messenger spacecraft makes a third flyby of Mercury (Sep 29)



October 2009
-Toy Story 3-D (Oct 2)
-Announcement of the host city for the 2016 Summer Olympics (Oct 2)
-Presidential elections in Uruguay (Oct 25)



November 2009
-Mission STS-129... Space shuttle Discovery (Nov 12)
-Sherlock Holmes (Nov 20)
-Presidential elections in Honduras (Nov 29)



December 2009
-Mission STS-130... Space shuttle Endeavour (Dec 10)
-Presidential election in Chile (Dec 11)
-Maiden voyage of the Oasis of the Seas cruise ship (Dec 12)
-Avatar (Dec 18)
-Deadline for implementing the United States’ REAL ID Act (Dec 31)