Month: January 2021

Space Sunday: Apollo 14, 50 years on

Posted on by Inara Pey
Panorama of the Apollo 14 landing site taken in 1971. Credit; NASA

Fifty years ago today, January 31st, 2021, America’s Apollo lunar missions resumed – and came perilously close to a second aborted mission.

Originally scheduled to take place in July 1970, Apollo 14 was delayed following the Apollo 13 crisis (see: Space Sunday: Apollo 13, 50 years on), to both allow time for recommendations resulting from the investigations into the Apollo 13 mishap to be implemented. This not only led to a hiatus in lunar landings, it also meant that the Apollo 14 crew of Mercury 7 veteran Alan B. Shepard Jr. (Commander),  Stuart A. Roosa (Command Module Pilot) and Edgar D. Mitchell (Lunar Module Pilot) eventually spent more time training together than any other Apollo crew to that point: a total of 19 months.

In the immediate aftermath of Apollo 13, NASA Administrator Thomas O. Paine indicated the agency would ideally like to launch the mission before the end of 1970; however, the recommendations for changes to be made to the Command and Service Module (CSM) combination meant that the earliest the agency could realistically schedule a launch for the mission was at the end of January 1971 – with much of the work in supervising the necessary changes being loaded directly onto the shoulders of Shepherd and Roosa.

We realised that if our mission failed—if we had to turn back—that was probably the end of the Apollo program. There was no way NASA could stand two failures in a row. We figured there was a heavy mantle on our shoulders to make sure we got it right

– Edgar D. Mitchell, discussing Apollo 14 preparations, speaking in 2011

A  further complication for the mission was that following Apollo 13, the original landing site for the Apollo 14 crew at Littrow crater, in Mare Serenitatis was abandoned in favour of sending the mission to Fra Mauro, the intended landing site for Apollo 13, and which was seen as having greater scientific relevance, requiring Shepherd and Mitchell to revisit their lunar surface and geology training – Littrow had required a high degree of training in volcanic geology; Fra Mauro was an impact crater site.

Official Apollo 14 crew photo: Stuart Roosa, Alan Shepard (centre) and Edgar Mitchell. Credit: NASA

The key changes to the CSM combination were around the oxygen tanks that had exploded on Apollo 13. These includes a complete redesign of the tanks and the circuitry within them, while a third tank was add on the opposite side of the SM that could act as a back-up in case of issues with the first two. Other changes included incorporating a 5 US gallon tank of “emergency” drinking water and an additional battery to help maintain electrical power to the Command Module in event of the main power buses failing. Alterations were also made to the connections between the Command and Lunar modules for easier and faster transfer of power and control between the two.

Outside of the need to overhaul the CSM combination in the wake of Apollo 13, the Lunar Module for the mission – the last of the “short term” H-class missions – underwent changes that included anti-slosh baffles in the descent engine fuel tanks intended to prevent incorrect low fuel warnings to be triggered – an issue that plagued both Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 – and the installation of additional equipment hard-points for the surface science mission, which would be the most intensive yet for an Apollo lunar mission.

Aside from these changes, the mission was to be the first to fly an altered Saturn V rocket. Whilst ostensibly the same externally as all the previous Saturn Vs that had flown, SA-509 had a series of internal changes made to its fuel system to prevent pogo oscillations – a self-excited vibration in liquid-propellant rocket engines caused by combustion instability that can, if unchecked, result in an engine exploding. On Apollo 13, such oscillations had meant the centre J2 engine of the rocket’s upper stage had to be prematurely shut down.

Saturn V SA-509, topped by the Apollo 14 spacecraft, rolls out from the Vertical Assembly Building (now the Vehicle Assembly Building) on its way to launch pad 39-A. Credit: NASA

Of the crew, Shepard was the only one to have previously flown in space as the first American to complete a sub-orbital hop aboard Mercury Freedom 7 in May 1961.

Born in 1923, Shepard attended the US Navy Academy at Annapolis from 1941 to 1944 (the normal 4-year training course having been cut by 12 months due to World War 2). He  initially served aboard the destroyer USS Cogswell – it then being a requirement that Navy aviators serve shipboard time prior to starting flying training -, rising to the rank of Air Gunnery Officer, responsible for the ship’s anti-aircraft guns and crews, a position he held while the Cogswell served critical roles in the Battle of Okinawa and off the coast of Japan.

In November 1945 he transferred to flight training school, and after almost washing out as a pupil, went on to  gain 3,600 flying hours  with more than 1,700 in jets, eventually rising to the position of Aircraft Readiness Officer on the staff of the Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet.

After his Mercury flight, In 1963 Shepard was grounded due to Ménière’s disease, an inner-ear ailment that caused episodes of extreme dizziness and nausea.This precluded him from flight involvement in the Gemini programme, although from 1963 through 1969 he was NASA’s Chief of the Astronaut Office with overall responsibility for astronaut training and mission selection.

In 1969, Shepard underwent successful surgery to correct his ear issue, and was returned to active flight status. He immediately lobbied his successor as Chief of the Astronaut Office, Donald “Deke” Slayton for a position on Apollo, and was initially earmarked to command Apollo 13. However, his “inexperience” in having missed the entire Gemini programme, and that of his crew as a whole, saw them “bumped” to Apollo 14 to allow them a greater amount of training.

Both Stuart Roosa and Edgar Mitchell were rookies, with Apollo 14 their first and only flight into space. Roosa had previously been a “smokejumper” with the US Forest Service, parachuting into remote area to combat forest fires, prior to transferring to the United States Air Force and training to be both a fighter pilot and an experimental test pilot.  On joining NASA in 1966, he was the capsule communicator (CAPCOM) for the tragic Apollo 1 fire, and also served on the support team for Apollo 9, working closely with Edgar Mitchell.

Mitchell was another Naval aviator, having entered the service in 1952 with a degree in industrial management.  During during his military flying career he gained a second bachelor’s degree in aeronautics and a doctorate in in aeronautics and astronautics. He also clocked an impressive 5,000 flying hours as both a front-line fighter pilot and a test pilot, 2,000 of those hours gained in jets.

Mitchell’s involvement with space activities actually started before he joined NASA, when in  1964 he was assigned to the US Air Force Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL), serving as Chief, Project Management Division of the Navy Field Office that was liaising with the Air Force, and also as an instructor in advanced mathematics and navigation theory for MOL astronaut candidates. When MOL was cancelled, he applied to NASA, and was accepted as a part of the fifth astronaut intake alongside Stuart Roosa.

Given it was the first mission to follow Apollo 13, there was a lot of media and political attention on Apollo 14, including pressure for it to launch on schedule. As it was, weather intervened on the launch day, causing the countdown to be paused for some 40 minutes – the first time such a delay had occurred with and Apollo mission. Launch eventually took place at 21:03:02 UTC on January 31st, 1971.

The pre-launch delay wasn’t considered to be a significant issue, as the mission was to take a faster trajectory to the Moon than previous launches, so the delay effectively left it running precisely “on time” compared to earlier missions. Following a require time in Earth orbit, the S-IVB third stage engines were-lit, pushing the mission on its way to the Moon.

Once en-route, the CSM – christened Kitty Hawk by the crew in honour of the Wright Brothers –  had to separate from the S-IVB, then turn through 180º to dock with the now-exposed Lunar Module (called Antares after the star Shepard and Mitchell were due to use as reference point when orienting their craft for its lunar landing) and then gently pull it clear of the rocket stage, which would then gently divert away from the Apollo vehicles flight path.

Roosa, as Command Module Pilot, hoped to set the record for competing this manoeuvre using the least amount of fuel. However, the extended docking mechanism in the nose of the Command Module had other ideas – it refused to latch onto the lunar module firmly enough to trigger the release of the pin holding the LM in place on the S-IVB. Over two hours Roosa repeatedly attempted to make an initial “soft dock” with the LM, but was repeatedly thwarted, leaving the crew and mission control agitated: if the LM could not be extracted by the CM, then the mission was over – and two mission failures in succession, even without any loss of life, would likely spell the end of Apollo.

Continue reading “Space Sunday: Apollo 14, 50 years on” →

A path of inner awareness in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Inner Self Awareness

In December 2020 I visited Path to Oneself Reflection, an immersive and semi-interactive art installation by the SL Random Art Crew led by RoxkSie (Roxie Logan) that sought to  offer a look back at 2020  with its pandemic and divisions, and offer nudges for our thinking and outlook, and consider the ways in which the past years has both separated and united. It was an impressive and complex installation as I noted in A path of reflection in Second Life; in that piece, I also noted that the story of 2020 and its impact was far from over.

Thus is it that, officially opening on Monday, February 1st – although it has been available for the public to visit for that last couple of weeks – is what might be called the sequel to The Path, entitled Inner Self Awareness.

That it follows on from the Path is perhaps most clearly demonstrated by the fact Inner Self Awareness has a setting that is very much in keeping with its predecessor, although the actual focus of the installation is very different: whereas The Path encouraged us to look back over the past 12 months and consider how they have affected us both on an individual and societal level, Inner Self Awareness asks us to consider, what, as we emerge into a new year, we may have learnt from the past twelve months and how we might, as individuals, seek to move into the future and the changes (if any – change is not a subject everyone is comfortable with, as the installation duly notes in places) we might make in order to better embrace that future.  To quote RoxkSie directly:

We have lost so much that is fundamental to what we call our normal lives. We are going to learn what our new normal is very shortly. This will mean a lot of different things to everyone individually. The year that has passed us has shown more than ever that at times out thoughts are not united; however, there is a lot of good that can be obtained from this. Different mindsets build a diverse society.
Inner Self Awareness

As with The Path, this is an installation that encourages us to walk through a rugged landscape; one in which walls of rock, mountains and hills break the lowlands into a series of areas encircling a central body of water and high peak topped by a massive hand reaching upwards in what might be an attempt to reach beyond what we are and become the promise of what be might be.

In following the path and bridges through the landscape, we’re asked to consider a number of topics and how they might impact us, and we them: the nature of diversity, the ideals of choice and change, the challenge of acceptance and willingness to change, how we might better face the future as individuals and in  the benefit of humanity as a whole. Within these topics are couched responsibilities that affect us all, from dealing with the pandemic through to touching upon matters such as climate change.

All of makes Inner Self Awareness as very personal experience, one that is extremely difficult to transfer into words, simply because it does require each of us to invest a fair degree of introspection in it – and the very fact that we all have different perspectives means that the installation is going to resonate differently, depending upon just how much time and thought we  are prepared to give to the subjects RockSie prompts us to consider – and the changes we are willing to make in order to help bring about a more desirable  future.

Inner Self Awareness

For me, these thoughts all coalesced around ideas of a greater need for tolerance and understanding on the part of all of us as individuals;  we have become far, far too intolerant of any ideas or thoughts that are not in absolute lockstep with our own. Simply put, far too many of us have become entrenched in our various beliefs and leanings, that we’re unwilling to accept the views of others.

Whatever the cause – and it is hard not to blame social media platforms such as Twitter, it has been increasingly easy for any of us to retreat into (or create) hollow echo-chambers of so-called “like minds” which, whilst seemingly harmless, only serve to negatively amplify a sense of self-righteousness of outlook, to the point where anyone who expresses a point of view that is not 100% in accord with our own is somehow “against us” and thus to be ostracised and / or vilified for daring to offer an alternate viewpoint.

These are attitudes that require intentional act on our part to change,  as this installation attempts to point out through the encouragement of introspection. However, the fact that it does require introspections and an acknowledgement of a need to change, it is easy to brush the need aside because “one person cannot make a difference”, or because there are those who simply will not change. However, neither of these are valid arguments, because the fact is that, while it might feel that “its only me”, numbers do matter and can have an impact, as RoxkSie notes – couching her observation  in a frame of reference that appears to encompasses the subject of climate change:

Nature never changes in its diversity and beauty. From aesthetically ugly to perfect, it is always beautiful and constantly evolving. The things we choose to do, do influence how it evolves and changes. 
One person cannot do a lot, but if 100 or 1,000,000 people change just one habit, it can make a difference.
Some don’t want  change, but it is happening whether we like it or not. Because nature does not care what we think.
Inner Self Awareness

Challenging and potentially discomfiting for some, Inner Self Awareness is an interesting successor to The Path, presenting as it does considerable food for thought – far more in fact, than I’ve thought in here, as there is a veritable treatise to be found within it, and I’ve forcibly restrained my commentary here so ad not to blanket the experience other may have with my  own subjective thinking. When visiting, do be sure to have local sounds enabled (not the audio stream).

SLurl Details

Art + exploration at Wythburn and Raven Craig in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Wythburn Village and Arts Community

Back in October 2020, I was invited to visit the Wythburn Art Walk, a exhibition at Wythburn Village specifically in aid of Making Strides Against Breast Cancer (MSABC). At the time (see: Wythburn Art Walk in Second Life) some two-dozen artists were participating in the region-wide event, which also offered the opportunity for visitors to explore Wythburn and the surrounding region.

The Art Walk / Artists for Life event in support of RFL in SL will be back in 2021 (I understand it is currently scheduled for around April 2021). However, and in the meantime Artistic director at Wythburn, Star Finesmith (MorningStar Finesmith), invited me back to the Village, which is now a burgeoning arts community and centre for arts in Second Life, with two core centres of interest: the village itself and the Raven Craig Art Centre.

Raven Craig Art Centre, Wythburn
Both the village and the Art Centre are located on the shoreline of Wythburn Lake, a ribbon of water that cuts across the land from the rugged uplands to the south-west, denoted by their waterfalls and the tall, blocky form of a Scottish-style castle, to run north and east to where the Art Centre and the village face one another across the water before being linked by a cobbled warehouse area and rutted track that extends from it, marking the lake’s easternmost extent.

The Art Centre, fronted by a garden space offering a strong Japanese / Zen setting complete with a small tea house and Torii gates, is the home of rotating exhibitions of art curated by Star and Sethos and which are intended to feature both established and up-and-coming Second Life Artists. In addition, the Centre is also intended to “freely educate in the history, practice, and methods of the arts in Second Life.”

Raven Craig Art Centre

An impressive building in size, with numerous large, airy halls on two levels, Raven Craig offers a rich opportunity for ensemble exhibitions, some of which could conceivably overlap with one another, encouraging repeat visits. It had yet to be fully occupied at the time I dropped in, with the displays that are available focused on avatar studies by Caly Applewhyte (Calypso Applewhyte), Wren Noir (Wrennoir Cerise), Max (Max Seagate) and star herself, with a mixed selection of avatar studies and landscapes presented in the upper floor rooms by a number of artists including, but not limited to Jaz (Jessamine2108), Akim (Akim Alonzo), Freyja (Freyja Merryman), Janine Portal, Pavel Stransky, and 3D pieces  by Harry Cover (impossibleisnotfrench).

Also to be found on the upper level, but not officially open at the time of my visit, is a forthcoming exhibition of Second life landscape art by AriaRose Canningham (AriaRose Kiyori).

 

Wythburn Village and Arts Community

A short walk along the track from the Centre are the docks and village of Wythburn. Home to the Wythburn Arts Community, the village offers studio spaces of varying sizes to artists interested in renting them. Many have already been taken, thus providing visitors with a further opportunity to see (and purchase, if they wish) a range of art by artists and photographers from across Second Life,  although there were a number of the smaller studios still available at the time of my visit, costing a very reasonable L$100 per week for 100 LI.

Beyond the village, through the arch at its southern extent, the lakeside landscape is also open to exploration. Here, over a bridge that spans further falls that feed the lake, lies a hidden henge sitting within surrounding oak and birch trees and curtain walls of rock. Just westward of this, along the path that might take you eventually around the lake and up to the high castle, is what appears to be a small market area sitting within its own ruins and carrying with it something of a medieval feel.

Wythburn Village and surroundings

What the function of this market-like setting might be, I have no idea; but it also sits close to a further set of ruins which, despite their classical columns, are of a distinctly more modern time frame. Sitting directly on the shore of the lake, they offer good views back towards the village and the Art Centre, as well as up to the castle, whilst also revealing the shore of the lake, rugged as it is, might also be circumnavigated.

Nor is that all. Also to be found within the setting are places with a decided lean towards fantasy, be it via the fae-guarded rotunda sitting within its own glade at the end of a grassy path, or the Game of Thrones-ish Hall of Faces that lies within a network of tunnels that also hide caverns with the most otherworldly of gardens. I’m not going to say where any of these might lie, suffice it to say, keen eyes and willing feet will find the way to them with reasonable ease – and that finding them is part of the fun of exploring this setting.

Wythburn Village and Arts Community

From art exhibition centre to arts community to a richly diverse landscape ripe for exploration and photography, and with opportunities for exploration on foot or horseback (rezzers available or wear your own), Wythburn and Raven Craig offer a lot to see and appreciate. And should the idea of tromping around on your pedal extremities feel off-putting, keep an eye out for the horse and carriage combinations both in the village square and outside the Art Centre; they’ll take you to one of a number of destinations  by way of a gentle ride through and around the village.

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Note that Thirlmere is rated Moderate.

A Handmaiden’s Estate in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
The Handmaiden Estate

When a region’s title includes “Handmaiden” (albeit without the apostrophe and ess), one might be forgiven if the mind jumps immediately to speculation on whether it might have something to do with Margaret Atwood‘s dystopian novel or the television that arose from it.

However, The Handmaiden Estate, designed by StephiDreamEverMore Doune (stephidreamevermore.doune) and Bella Cavanaugh (Bellacatorina McKeenan) on behalf of region holder Takao Kishijoten (Takao Kiyori), looks a lot further east the the totalitarian state of Gilead, drawing as it does primarily on Japan and other Asian elements  for its inspiration. 

The Handmaiden Estate

The region’s description notes that it is a place for “both lust and relaxation”, with the region rating further hinting that it can be a  place where adult activities might be found – as does some of the décor with the main houses. However, to classify The Handmaiden Estate as being solely about adult pursuits would be unfair and inaccurate.

The landing point sits within the gardens of the main houses, both of which are imposing wood and slate structures of neo-classical Japanese design. One has a more direct reference to adult – or more precisely, BDSM – pursuits,  whilst the other has furniture – including modern hot tubs – that perhaps leans more towards the occidental than oriental, making for an interesting mix.

The Handmaiden Estate

The gardens between the houses sits as a continuation of the landscape the beyond the houses and their walls, featuring grass and free-growing flowers and blossoms, which is again a step away from the more stereotypical representation of an oriental environment, where gardens can so often be more formally laid out.

Beyond the main houses the landscape is a further interesting mix. To one side, a canal-like channel splits the landscape, a bath house occupying the far bank. This looks like it could be the home of an onsen, but within, the bath room is more mundane. A large pools sits behind the bathhouse, its unheated water fed by four carved koi, towels and oils neatly laid out along one side for the use of patrons. Shaded by blossoms and lit by paper lamps, I found this pool to be perhaps the most enticing location within the setting in which to spend time.

The Handmaiden Estate

Outside of the bath house’s walls to the west, sits a natural pool fed by water tumbling from a rocky hill. It is the home to pedestal Shoji lanterns and water lilies, a stone bench under a Torii gate presenting it as a place to sit and perhaps meditate. A  short walk away, stone steps rise to a higher peak, one topped by a further house. Guarded by a Buddha at the foot of the steps and stone lions at the top, I’m not entirely sure if this house is intended to be for public use or not, although there were no overt signs that it is reserved as a private setting or residence.

East of the bathhouse lies a small grassy bay, home to a pagoda style pavilion where tea might be taken and offering a view across the bay to where a small island is occupied by an Indonesian statue protected by the dome of a smaller pavilion whilst watched over by a sampan styled boat.

The Handmaiden Estate

With hints of formal gardens that never quite mature along a north-south path running beside the walls of the large houses, a statue of an emperor that perhaps leans more towards Sino origins than Japanese, and the aforementioned occidental furnishings, the Handmaiden Estate offers and interesting fusion of ideas and elements that, whilst perhaps eclectic, actually come together very well to present an interesting setting.

There are definitely some particular gems to be found when exploring. The aforementioned outdoor pool, for example, and / or the circular pond to the south-west, home to heron and guarding a further pavilion that looks in part to be a sitting area and in part a small shrine. However, I confess I did find the region  to be a little let down by the default environment settings, which tender to render it a little flat. As such, I’d recommend dialling the environment over to one of your preferred environments for better ambient lighting. I found doing so really mad aspects of the region really pop, as I hope the images here demonstrate, making it ideal for photography and appreciation.

The Handmaiden Estate

With thanks to Morganacarter for the note card and LM.

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Burn2 Unplugged – January 28th, 2021

Posted on by Inara Pey
Burn2 Unplugged stage

Taking place on Thursday, January 28th, as a one-day event is Burn2 Unplugged, a music fund-raiser for Burn2 in Second Life. The event will feature acoustic performers, with performances running for 10 hours, from 11:00 SLT to 21:00 SLT. A special stage has been set-up at Burning Man  – Deep Hole, with number camps and installations surrounding it that are all available for people to tour and visit, as well as listening to the music and joining with the dancing.

At the time of writing, the event’s line-up and schedule is as follows (all times SLT):

  • 11:00: Wolfie Starfire
  • 12:00 noon: Kitzie Lane
  • 13:00: Suzen Juel
  • 14:00: Zorch Boomhauer
  • 15:00: Gypsy Dhura
  • 16:00: Reno Jones
  • 17:00: Thunderfoot
  • 18:00: Fly Kugin
  • 19:00: Twostep Spiritweaver
  • 20:00: Grace Loudon

So, why not hop along and enjoy the music and help support Burn2?

About Burn2

Burn2 is an extension of the Burning Man festival and community into the world of Second Life. It is an officially sanctioned Burning Man regional event, and the only virtual world event out of more than 100 real world Regional groups and the only regional event allowed to burn the man.

The Burn2 Team operates events year around, culminating in an annual major festival of community, art and fire in the fall – a virtual echo of Burning Man itself.

Related Links

One Billion Rising in Second Life 2021 announced

Posted on by Inara Pey
One Billion Rising 2020

On  Sunday, February 14th, 2021, many in Second Life will join activists, writers, thinkers, celebrities, and people across the world for the annual One Billion Rising (OBR) event to raise awareness of the plight of the more than one billion women and girls (roughly 1 in every 3) who will face physical and psychological abuse and rape as a part of their daily lives.

By bringing people together and raising greater awareness of this situation, OBR aims to bring about a fundamental change in the ways in which vulnerable and defenceless women and girls are treated.

Every February, we rise – in countries across the world – to show our local communities and the world what one billion looks like and shine a light on the rampant impunity and injustice that survivors most often face. We rise through dance to express joy and community and celebrate the fact that we have not been defeated by this violence. We rise to show we are determined to create a new kind of consciousness – one where violence will be resisted until it is unthinkable.

– from the OBR in SL 2021 announcement

One Billion Rising in Second Life 2021 will once again feature multiple regions focused on a central stage where 24 hours of continuous music from DJs and live performers will be provided, starting at midnight (00:00 SLT) on the 13th/14th February. Surrounding this will be art installations, informational exhibits, and more, with activities within them also scheduled throughout the 24 hours of the event to encourage attendance from as many times zones around the globe as possible, while all of the regions will be rated General to allow all residents an opportunity to participate.

One Billion Rising 2019

This year, One Billion Rising in Second Life is adopting the global event’s theme: Rising Gardens, a theme designed to bring together the intersectional issues of poverty, the environment, economic violence and other factors such as climate change and environmental plunder can both cause and sustain the continuing violence towards women and girls (including cisgender, transgender, and those who hold fluid identities that are subject to gender based violence).

Rising Gardens, Rising for Climate Justice and Mother Earth is a call for justice against the aggressive greed and global exploitation of nature and people. It is a call to restore dignity, integrity and respect towards Mother Earth and to all people of the world, particularly women and girls, who have been equally violated by policies and programs that cause environmental degradation.

– One Billion Rising in SL

One Billion Rising 2020

Event Support, Sponsorship and Press Applications

Applications are now being taken from those wishing to support OBR in SL 2021 as staff, or would like to help spread the word through blogs, etc., with further details on both via the following links:

Those interested sponsoring the event should contact Kess Crystal in-world, while for general information and updates, please visit the OBR in SL website.

Note: The objective of One Billion Rising is to raise awareness, not to raise funds; however, information about real-world organisations providing assistance and support to women facing violence, prejudice, etc., will be available for those wishing to donate.