Month: October 2020

Space Sunday: asteroid sampling & starship building

Posted on by Inara Pey
Kissing an asteroid: the sample head of TAGSAM, the sample gathering mechanism on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx makes contact with asteroid Bennu on October 20th, 2020. Credit: NASA

In my previous Space Sunday update, I covered the (then) upcoming attempt by NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) to snag samples of material from the surface of asteroid 101955 Bennu, a carbonaceous near-Earth asteroid.

The attempt was successfully made on Tuesday, October 20th – although just how successful it was did not become apparent until a few days later, when mission engineers realised they now had a slight problem.

The mission required OSIRIS-REx slowly descended from its close-in altitude of 770m, a sample gathering called TAGSAM (Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism) extended beneath it. This was intended to make very brief contact with the surface of Bennu, absorbing the spacecraft’s momentum in springs, and allowing it to fire a nitrogen jet to blast material up from the asteroid some of which would hopefully be caught in the arm’s sampler head, prior to the arm “pushing off” from Bennu once more, allowing OSIRIS-REx to gently back away to a point where it could examine what it has gathered.

OSIRIS-REx: the sample-gathering operation. Credit: NASA

The entire operation was scheduled to take some 4.5 hours from start to back-away and parking. The event was live-streamed, but due to the current distance between Earth and Bennu, those on Earth were witnessing events 18.5 minutes after they had actually occurred. This also meant the entire operation was carried out autonomously, the software controlling it having been previously uploaded to the satellite.

OSIRIS-REx, following Bennu’s rotation about its axis, struck the asteroid a metre one metre away from its intended contact point, which lay within a shallow crater on Bennu that has been christened “Nightingale”. It remained in contact with the surface for 6 seconds – very slightly longer than had been anticipated.

The moment of contact for TAGSAM – and of actually smashing through the surface material on Bennu (film speeded up). Credit: NASA

Whilst there was a camera on the robot arm recording the operation, the footage could not immediately be sent back to Earth. Instead, mission controllers relied on the telemetry OSIRIS-REx did immediately transmit back to Earth. This revealed that everything had apparently gone as planned: TAGSAM made contact, the gas was fired and regolith (surface material blasted upwards. The telemetry then confirmed OSIRSIS-REx was backing away from the asteroid towards the point where analysis of the amount of captured material could be carried out.

This was transcendental. I can’t believe we actually pulled this off. The spacecraft did everything it was supposed to do. Even though we have some work ahead of us to determine the outcome of the event, this was a major accomplishment for the team. I look forward to analysing the data to determine the mass of sample collected.

– OSIRIS-REx Principal Investigator Dante Lauretta

Then came the first of the surprises.  When the video footage captured by the TAGSAM arm camera was received and processed (above right) on October 21st, it revealed that the sample head hadn’t so much touched the surface of Bennu as smashed straight through it to an estimated depth of almost 50 centimetres – and in doing so, had pulverized a rock roughly 20 cm across which, when first viewed in the footage, caused the mission team to worry it might prevent sample gathering and damage the sample head.

The next step in the operation was to analyse the state of the sample head once TAGSAM had been returned to its stowed position against the spacecraft. To do this, one of the star tracker cameras used for navigation was tasked to capture an image of the sample head. When this was returned to Earth, mission staff had a second surprise: the sample head was “leaking” material.

Following the sample gathering operation, a Mylar diaphragm should have rotated over the opening of the sample head to seal any material gathered inside it – but the star tracker camera revealed this had failed to sit correctly, and a small cloud of material was forming around the sample head as it persistently “leaked” out. Given the force of the contact with Bennu, the mission team realised that, rather than just collecting 60 grams of material, the sample head had likely been filled to capacity, preventing the Mylar cover from correctly sealing it.

A small but growing cloud of material gathers around the TAGSAM sample head on OSIRIS-REx following a sample gathering operation that likely overfilled the sample containment area, preventing a Mylar diaphragm (the white semi-circle, visible in the middle of the circular sample head) from sealing the cavity. Credit: NASA

With material slowly but steadily escaping, the decision was been taken to cancel the attempt to estimate the amount of material gathered, and instead move to transferring the sample head to the Sample-Return Capsule (SAC). This is the unit that will return the sample to Earth when OSIRIS-REx return here in 2023. As the SAC is sealable, moving the sample head there as soon as possible – in this case, October 27th – will ensure the remaining material from Bennu is preserved.

In the meantime, and while OSIRIS-REx cannot start on its return to Earth until March 2021, the decision has been made not to return the vehicle to a low-level “hover” orbiting Bennu, but to instead allowing it to continue away from the asteroid at around 44 metres per hour until it reaches a more extended orbital position.

Continue reading “Space Sunday: asteroid sampling & starship building” →

Tales of ghosts, other worlds, families, and entities

Posted on by Inara Pey
Seanchai Library

It’s time to highlight another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home in Nowhereville, unless otherwise indicated. Note that the schedule below may be subject to change during the week, please refer to the Seanchai Library website for the latest information through the week.

Sunday, October 25th: Haunted Hollow: Tales by Washington Irving

Two stories from the author’s canon: The Spectre Bridegroom, and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

When Irving published The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent, a collection of strange tales allegedly gathered by one “Geoffrey Crayon” (the nom de plume Irving used for the collection) whilst travelling through England, two of the tales quickly became favourites among readers – Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Given this, and the fact that the Headless Horseman is already abroad within the Haunted Hollow, the second of these two stories is a fitting choice for this session.

However, possibly the third most popular tale in the tome is The Spectre of the Bridegroom, given that – and like Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow – it has been published as a story in its own right numerous times down the years. The source for Irving’s story lies in a 1774 German ballad called Lenore, by Gottfried Bürger (which actually gets a mention in Irving’s own tale. However, whilst Bürger’s ballad depicts a young woman whisked away from her home on horseback by an apparition that resembles her fiancé, believed lost in battle, Irving turns the story on its head to present something a little different…

Seachai library present Washington Irving at Haunted Hollow

Both tales presented live at Haunted Hollow, and broadcast on Radio Riel Main.  An hour of music and dancing will follow. There will be a teleport from the main landing point

Monday, October 26th: Running from the Deity

Gyro Muggins reads the 10th (chronologically speaking) story of Alan Dean Foster’s Pip and Flinx series.

Continuing his pursuit of an alien weapons platform, the Krang, Flinx finds himself heading into the Blight. However, his ship, Teacher, announces it is in need of repairs and that while its autonomic systems can handle them, it will nevertheless need raw materials from a planet. Flinx therefore opts to land on the nearest world – the planet the “Arrawd”, place roughly equivalent in technology to Earth in 19th century – and therefore normally forbidden as a destination within the Humanx Commonwealth.

The planet has a lower gravity than more Humanx worlds, something that benefits Flinx physically – but things go awry when he injures himself and is forced into the care of a local couple, who find his abilities and technology  – if the expression might be used – out of their world.

Despite his protestations, Flinx finds himself increasingly the centre of attention and the idea that he is some kind of deity – and while he finds himself drawn to the less complicated life on Arrawd and the fact it separates him from all the cares and worries he faces in the Commonwealth, he realises he must leave.

Unfortunately, by the time he arrives it this conclusion, three of the governments on the planet have decided to wage war in order to “earn” his blessings and claim him as their deity. And so, reluctantly, he has no other option but to both get involved in matters whilst simultaneously trying to escape the world view that he is some kind of god.

Tuesday, October 27th:

12:00 Noon: Russell Eponym, Live in the Glen

Music, poetry, and stories in a popular weekly session at Ceiluradh Glen.

19:00: The Princess Bride: Storming the Castle

With Caledonia Skytower at Ceiluradh Glen.

Wednesday, October 28th, 19:00: From The Dust Returned at the Haunted Hollow

They have lived for centuries in a house of legend and mystery in upper Illinois — and they are not like other midwesterners. Rarely encountered in daylight hours, their children are curious and wild; their old ones have survived since before the Sphinx first sank its paws deep in Egyptian sands -and some of them sleep in beds with lids.

Now the house is being readied in anticipation of the gala homecoming that will bring the entire family, spread across the globe, back to their place of origin. But in the midst of eager anticipation, a sense of doom pervades. For the world is changing. And death, no stranger, will always shadow this most singular family: Father, arisen from the Earth; Mother, who never sleeps but dreams; A Thousand Times Great Grandmére; Grandfather, who keeps the wildness of youth between his ears.

And the boy who, more than anyone, carries the burden of time on his shoulders: Timothy, the sad and different foundling son who must share it all, remember, and tell – and who, alone out of all of them, must one day age and wither and die.

Thursday, October 29th, 19:00 The Walker in the Cemetery

Shandon Loring reader British author Ian Watson’s short story The Walker in the Cemetery, a H.P. Lovecraft inspired tale in which Cthulhu self-divides out into human-size fractals and traps survivors in an Italian cemetery. Also in Kitely – take the teleport from the main Seanchai World grid.kitely.com:8002:SEANCHAI.

Unveiled: a new art experience in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Sinful Retreat

Unveiled is the title that has been given to the opening of a new art experience in Second Life that has been developed by Chuck Clip with the support of several notable artists and curators of art.

Located on Chuck’s Full region of Sinful Retreat, the experience is intended to be a rolling series of exhibitions and installations that represent Chuck’s desire to turn the region into a centre for art.

This is it! This is the day I’ve been planning since I decided a few months ago to turn Sinful Retreat into an art region. Back at the end of July/the beginning of August, I started contacting artists offering up sections of my region to do with as they would, to create a cohesive environment out of incongruent styles of art. What we celebrate now is the first iteration of that vision. Currently represented are 10 different artists including myself. More are waiting in the wings to take sections over in the coming months to begin the process of evolution. From here on out, the region will continue to slowly change and develop in new directions.

– Chuck Clip

Unveiled: Cica Ghost

For the opening, the region features pieces and installations by Aequitas Nirvana, Chica Ghost, Ciottolina Xue, Eupalinos Ugajin, Livio Korobase, London Junkers, Pixels Sideways, Thoth Jantzen, Toysoldier Thor and Chuck himself. Presented as individual pieces or grouped installations throughout the region. This is an eclectic and electric group of artists who between them present a fascinating series of installations and pieces that offer reflections on human emotions, life and death, ecology, politics, the environment, and more.

In addition to these, Mariposa Upshaw and Tayzia Abattoir, two veteran curators  of art in Second Life will be managing a rotating exhibition of the art they’ve been collecting since 2004 in a dedicated part of the region.

Unveiled: Livio Korobase

For the opening, the title of Unveiled serves a dual purpose. Not only does it reflect the opening of the region’s full artistic breadth, but it also refers to the physical unveiling of the centrepiece for the region. Entitled The Exquisite Corpse, it is a new work of art by Bryn Oh, Cica Ghost and Walton F. Wainwright, and it will be revealed over the course of the 6-hour opening event.

The latter kicks-off at 12:00 noon SLT on Saturday, October 24th, and runs through until 18:00 SLT. It will feature music by Semina, Jovan Buchsbaum, Oblee, and Skye Galaxy from 12:00 noon through until 16:00, with DJ IllSkillz taking over from 16:00 for a two-hour set.

Unveiled: London Junkers

The opening will take place on the region’s elevated main street, where Bryn Oh’s Lady Carmagnolle Theatre has been set-up to host the performers.  bookended by the Janus I and Janus II galleries, the main street location also presents visitors with the opportunity to visit both galleries and view Judilynn India’s Mindscapes exhibition (which I reviewed in JudiLynn’s Mindscapes in Second Life) and Jennifer Steele’s Something for Everyone, which officially opens on Sunday, October 25th.

The rest of the installation / exhibit spaces are one the ground level of the region, which can be reached via a path winding down to it from the south side of the Janus Gallery, for those who fancy the walk. Also on the ground level is the Janus III Gallery, currently hosting an exhibition of art by John Huntsman – I’ll be covering both this and Jennifer’s exhibit in an upcoming review.

Unveiled: Ciottolina Xue

With the focus on changing and evolving exhibits (both outdoors and within the gallery spaces), Sinful Retreat promises to be an outstanding art experience that will offer something to everyone in SL whenever they visit. I admit to being stunned by the way Chuck and his team have already brought together a group who represent some of the artists in Second Life I most admire – including a couple (London and Pixel), whose work I haven’t seen in a while.

This is very much a labour of love for Chuck, and as such, I’ll leave the final comments for this piece to him:

I’d just like to thank my wife and our polypartner, all of the artists, patrons, bloggers, musicians, etc. for their support in this mad idea of mine. The response from the outset has been far better than I ever expected. People keep thanking me for doing this, but I should be the one thanking all of them. I just had an idea. None of it would have happened with out all of them.

– Chuck Clip

Unveiled: Pixels Sideways

Catch the opening of Unveiled from 12:00 noon onwards on Saturday, October 24th, and be sure to give yourself time to explore the region – several visits over the course of several days are recommended to fully appreciate everything.

SLurl Details

  • Unveiled (Sinful Retreat, rated Adult)

Autumn at Whimberly in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Whimberly, October 2020 – click and image for full size

It’s been 18 months since I last wrote about Whimberly, the homestead region held by Staubi Reilig (Engelsstaub) (see: Whimberly’s summer fields in Second Life), which is an interesting break, given it was some fifteen months between that visit and the one before; so maybe I’m getting into a cycle for visits – although given the picturesque nature of Staubi’s designs, more frequent visits should be the order of things.

Anyway, the last time we were there, the region was in the middle of summer. Now autumn has arrived, and with it a delightful new design with plenty of places for people to enjoy the setting.

Whimberly, October 2020

A visit begins on the south side of the region at a Zen garden that looks north over a broad bay. This may have once been an enclosed lake, but which is now open to the waters beyond the region, which are themselves enclosed by mountains.

From the landing point, which overlooks an over-the water terrace complete with comfortable seats and the opportunity to try raw pumpkin, two arms of land stretch northwards to the west and east, reaching out to encircle the bay, linked at their northern extent by a low wooden bridge.

Whimberly, October 2020

The westward arm rises along the gentle slope of low cliffs, a meandering path wandering up it, the route marked by a low fence. A  forest cabin sits at the highest walkable point of the hills, backed by a narrow ridge of rock that might help keep it in the lee of any westerly winds sweeping down from the high peaks beyond the land and its ring of water.

This cabin, cosily furnished, offers a grand view out over the central bay to the eastern side of the island. Tall Douglas firs mark the path up to the cabin and sit around it as if protecting it, before marching onwards with the path as it winds its way back down to the lowlands and the bridge connecting the west and east sides of the island. A spur to the path points west to where a little fishing hut sits at the water’s edge.

Whimberly, October 2020

Eastwards from the landing point, a second path curls its way through a copse of great oak trees to a couple more destinations.

The first of these, sitting behind gabled gates and a large terrace and pond (complete with fountain and swan!) is a small but comfortably furnished hall where a Full English breakfast awaits the hungry  – or for those who prefer, afternoon tea can be had on the front terrace, warmed by one of the two outdoor fireplaces, the other being to the rear of the hall, overlooking the open waters of the region from a brick paved terrace.

Whimberly, October 2020

Outside of the hall’s gates, the path meanders onwards through the trees to become a paved route that passes by another seating are and climbs a low hill to where a farmhouse overlooks a broad field of nanohana awaiting harvesting. With geese outside and more comfortable furnishing within, the farmhouse is of a traditional American design, its red wooden walls a perfect match for the region, a deck again sitting over the waters to the rear for those seeking a place to to relax within the setting.

Hooking its way past the the farmhouse, the path rolls down through the the field to pass an old pier where visitors can rez a rowing boat and head out into the bay, before it comes to the northern bridge to offer a complete loop around the island.

Whimberly, October 2020

Presented in a mix of summer and autumnal colours and rounded out by a rich sound scape, Whimberly remains an attractive, highly photogenic and inviting region that welcomes visitors to come an spend their time.

SLurl Details

Gem Preiz: an architectural whimsy in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Gem Preiz: Arcadia

Gem Preiz is a master of fractal art, as I’ve oft commented on in these pages. His work is always fascinating, encompassing as it does many interlinked themes and ideas – time, space, the future, the past, the rise and fall of civilisations and more, much of which is framed in terms of fractal images with a distinct architectural heritage. And while fractals are not part of his newest installation, architecture is very much its beating heart, fleshed with the use of physical space and a rich layering of time.

Arcadia presents a marvellous architectural fantasy – to use Gem’s words, what he refers to as a capriccio, a whimsy – although this actually does the installation no justice.

To encapsulate Arcadia as simply as possible might be to describe it as a neo-classical city, rich in Greco-Roman influence through the use of Renaissance Palladian architectural styles, whilst obelisks and some of the more tiered rectangular structures offer a hint of ancient Egypt within their forms.

Gem Preiz: Arcadia

This is a place of perfectly conceived design, where buildings, their shapes, placement and immediate surrounds have clearly been given special consideration such that while there is no deliberate mirroring of structural symmetry (e.g a Coliseum-like amphitheatre in one corner mirrored by a round building in an opposite corner) there is nevertheless a sense of symmetry in the way a line can be drawn through the city from the southern gates to the doors of the northern temple. passing through the arches of triumphal gates to cut this city neatly in two, or the east-west line that splits the city between low-lying precincts and raised palaces and temples (although this admittedly cuts through one of the raised elements).

This planned layout speaks to the ideal of cities being of a more harmonious design than we see today; places where architecture is considered to be both an art form and a reflection of a civilisation’s relationship with the natural world (as well as the familiar projection of power). Within his notes, Gem refers to Arcadia as a utopia in the form of a haven of peace and grandeur, protected from the rest of the world, to which I would add that were the concept of Elysium to ever be embodied in architectural form, that somewhere like Arcadia is very much how I would imagine it.

Gem Preiz: Arcadia

Somewhat extending from his Skycrapers installation, Acadia allows Gem to present an ideal, one that brings together past a future in a design of the present. By this I mean that while the overall look to the individual structures lie within classical architectural forms, the presentation of the installation – the lighting (I strongly recommend using the suggested TOR NIGHT Under a Yellow Moon windlight (or EEP setting) if you have it available / have imported it as an EEP setting) and use of orange glow give the installation a futuristic / otherworldly look.

Most of all, however, Arcadia is a marvellous celebration of architecture and geometry,  both in terms of the entirely layout of the city, the individual styles of structure and building, the layout of courtyards, quads and terraces – even the very grassy elevations to the north side of the city – and the placement of trees and fountains, all form a part of the whole.

Two painting by Thomas Cole, one of the artists celebrated within Arcadia

This celebration of architecture and reflection on great civilisations that spawned it can also be found within a number of the central buildings. Signified by glowing orange doors, these contain reproductions of works by some of the great masters who so often celebrated the beauty of architecture. They are: Giovanni Canal (Canaletto), Hubert Robert, Giovanni Panini (himself also an architect), and two  of my personal favourites, the first being French neo-classical architect and visionary Étienne-Louis Boullée (whose proposed cenotaph for Sir Issac Newton was sadly never built, but does form one of a number of visualisation within Sansar created by John Fillwalk from the Institute for Digital Intermedia Arts at Ball State university), and Thomas Cole’s quintet of paintings known under the common title of The Course of Empire, charting the rise and fall of an imaginary city.

This latter collection could also be said to be the spiritual forebear of Arcadia (although the influence of the other artists can also be witnessed throughout the installation), with the exception that while Cole’s city eventually collapsed in destruction, Arcadia is perhaps eternal.

Gem Preiz: Arcadia

When visiting the instillation, due ensure you following the local instructions for the greatest visual benefit (although I would suggest a draw distance of 300 metres should more than suffice for most visitors), and keep an eye out for the balloon ride close to the landing point and the horse and carriage ride within the city (where the balloon ride will drop passengers).

Arcadia officially opens at 13:00 SLT on Friday, October 23rd with a particle show in a special arena above the installation, followed by an opening party within the installation itself.

SLurl Details

  • Arcadia (Akimitsu, rated Moderate)

SOS Winter Fair 2020 in SL: merchant applications sought

Posted on by Inara Pey

Survivors of Suicide (SOS) is a peer to peer support group within Second Life dedicated to help those who have been impacted by depression, thoughts of suicide, or who have attempted suicide or have lost someone to suicide. The group offers practical support, as well as education and information on dealing with depression, suicide prevention and more.

Founded in December 2008, SOS is the longest running support group of its kind in Second Life, and celebrates its anniversary each year with a special Christmas Fair – and 2019 will be no different, with merchant and vendor application currently open until November 8th – although this may be extended if spaces are still available.

The theme for the 2020 fair is Winter Wonderland, with the event running from Saturday, December 5th, 2020 through until Saturday, January 2nd, 2021 inclusive.

Merchants are asked to adhere to a number of guidelines, comprising:

  • Booths are provided with a 50 LI allowance that should not be exceeded.
    • Merchants are asked to dress them in accordance with the theme.
    • Scripts should be kept to a minimum and only used as required (e.g. within vendors, etc).
    • All items offered for sale must not violate IP, copyright, patent, trademark or similar rights held by others.
  • Booths must include an SOS kiosk (provided by the organisers) for donations.
  • At  least one item must be offered at 100% sale price to SOS, or 2 items at 50% sale price to SOS.
  • Set-up will commence at noon SLT on Monday, November 30th, and must be completed by noon SLT on Thursday, December 3rd.

In addition, applicants are asked to have a free Group slot available so they can be invited into the SOS group for rezzing rights, and should provided a 512×512 copy of their store logo to the organisers via e-mail (address in the application form).

Those interested in applying should complete the SOS Winter Fair 2020 application form.

For further information, please refer to the SOS website.