Kondor Art Club, June 2024: JudiLynn India – Messages
Open through most of June 2024 at the Kondor Art Club, a part of Hermes Kondor’s Kondor Art Centre, is a solo exhibition by JudiLynn India which again demonstrates her extraordinary acrylic art, here given a digital edge through the considered use of post-processing via Procreate, a raster graphics editor developed for devices using Apple’s iOS and iPadOS.
JudiLynn has expressed a love of art and artistic expression for most of her life, studying the subject at both school and university, whilst also learning to play the piano, guitar and violin. Her art has always been a personal journey, one encompassing her outlook on life, her spirituality and her personality – which might be describes as vibrant, passionate and fuelled by a desire to create and explore. This latter aspect of her creativity has, over the last two decades, encouraged her to combining her love of acrylic painting with a growing appreciation of the potential presented by digital painting software and techniques.
Kondor Art Club, June 2024: JudiLynn India – Messages
All of this is fully displayed within Messages at the Kondor Art Club.
Occupying the full gallery space, this collection of some 40 digitally-enhanced, acrylic originals carries within it a familiar sense of the abstract and the natural – aspects of Judi’s work I have always enjoyed.
Each of the compositions offered is described as a spiritual adventure for the artist; something perhaps most clearly seen in the pieces carrying one or more circles within them – a motif, perhaps of the spirit’s enduring nature, and symbolising unending cycles – the embodiment of the alpha and the omega, if you will.
The use of the the circle is not the only symbol or motif to be found within these pieces; many include representations of writing. That the words /letters / symbols might be indecipherable makes no difference, their inclusion not only reflects the title of the the collection, they serve as a reminder that starting with art – in the form of simple paintings – and progressing to use of symbols, hieroglyphs and eventually the written word, we are a race of creatives (and in “written” I would also include the use of music, through its notations and interpretation, as both a means to communicate and to express ourselves), and also archivists; recording what we see, learn, love and cherish for both our out pleasure / knowledge and for those who will inevitably follow us.
Kondor Art Club, June 2024: JudiLynn India – Messages
In this Messages might be said to be an essay in art, a celebration of life, of humanity, nature and all that makes us individually and collectively unique. And like is, each of the compositions within this collection work collectively, each one adding its own lines to the exhibition’s narrative; yet at the same time each is unique and within its own voice, capable of standing on its own, ready to be appreciated just as richly on that basis as for any connection to the rest of the collection.
The following notes were taken from the Tuesday, June 4th, 2024 Simulator User Group (SUG) meeting. They form a summary of the items discussed, and are not intended to be a full transcript, and were taken from my chat log and the video by Pantera – my thanks to her as always for providing it.
Meeting Overview
The Simulator User Group (also referred to by its older name of Server User Group) exists to provide an opportunity for discussion about simulator technology, bugs, and feature ideas.
Meetings are open to anyone with a concern / interest in the above topics, and form one of a series of regular / semi-regular User Group meetings conducted by Linden Lab.
Dates and times of all current meetings can be found on the Second Life Public Calendar, and descriptions of meetings are defined on the SL wiki.
Simulator Deployments
On Tuesday, June 4th, the Main SLS channel was restarted without any deployment.
On Wednesday, June 5th:
The BlueSteel RC channel will be restarted.
The rest of the RC simhosts should be updated with a re-deployment of the Spring Break Simulator update.
Upcoming Deployments
The major deployment for June is set to be Summer Fun. Among other things this should include:
Leviathan Linden’s game controller event work to support game controllers – although these will require a viewer-side update to expose the updated viewer UI.
Rider Linden’s work on the SL Combat System (SLCS) 2.0 updates (see my Combat User Group summaries for more).
LSL updates:
A new parameter to llRezObjectWithParams REZ_PARAM_STRING – allows the passing of a 1024 char string to the object being rezzed.
llGetStartString() to retrieve the string.
A fix for the notecard cache so that it a fixed amount of memory (enough memory to store 48 max-sized notecards) rather than the count of notecards.
A fix for the “flying on logging-in” issue.
Those wishing to test any of the above in advance of the deployment of Summer Fun (due some time in June), can do so in the region Riders Test Channel on Aditi (the Beta grid).
The July simulator update is to be called Picnics, but there is no information on what it might contain at present, other than EZ_PARAM_DIE_IF_NO_REZZER, and llDerezMyObject.
Bugsmash Work
Bugsmash is the term given to a dev team suspending work on their core projects and spending a week(ish) focusing on resolving bugs and smaller features for inclusion in a future simulator release.
In recognition of this, it was suggested that if there are specific, niggling bugs people want looked at, they raise them at this meeting and the Tuesday, June 11th meeting. There is no guarantee any specific issues will be addressed during the Bugsmash period, but having a list – and update to bugs on Canny will help the Lab assess what might be examined / fixed.
SL Viewer Updates
On Tuesday, June 4th, the Materials Featurettes RC viewer updated to version 7.1.8.9357006492.
The rest of the current official viewers in the pipeline remain as:
Release viewer: Maintenance X RC (usability improvements), version 7.1.7.8974243247, dated May 8 and promoted May 13 – no change.
Release channel cohorts:
Maintenance C RC (reset skeleton in all viewers), version 7.1.7.8820704257, May 6.
Maintenance B RC (usability updates / imposter changes) 7.1.7.8820696922, April 29.
Commentary about avatar animations states / syncing between viewers / the simulator in terms of updates being passed back and forth.
The batting of ideas around particles and the particle system.
† The header images included in these summaries are not intended to represent anything discussed at the meetings; they are simply here to avoid a repeated image of a rooftop of people every week. They are taken from my list of region visits, with a link to the post for those interested.
Joyful Gardens, June 2024 – click any image for full size
Imagine romantic botanical gardens where you can have fun too. Visit our butterfly house and watch them flutter around you. Wander through the maze, hop on rides, or find a spot to dance, cuddle and kiss. Where romance lingers and memories are made.
So reads the description for Joyful Gardens, a simply delightful region design by Hedy Heartsong, and which is home to more than might first appear to be the case when visiting.
Joyful Gardens, June 2024
Leveraging the Land Capacity bonus available to Full private regions, the setting’s charm commences with the general design of its three islands. This is hardly obvious from ground level, but can be seen on the map available on the reverse wall of the landing point’s notice board or indeed, by looking at the World map, although to really appreciate Hedy’s sculpting of the land, I recommend camming overhead and looking down. Doing so will reveal that each island has been shaped in a manner which, when taken together, summarise the inherent theme of the setting: that of nature.
This is a place where it is exceptionally easy to get around on foot, each of the islands offering its own charms and attractions. The main island and the smaller island to the south-east are connected via a zip line and a small bridge. However, to reach the second of the smaller islands, sitting up off the north-west coast of the main island, you’ll need to either fly, make use of a rezzable skiff from the small jetty alongside the main island’s lighthouse or use the bubble rezzer available at the landing point for a more sedate ride to reach it. If none of these options appeal, then the island has a network of teleporters to help guide visitors from point-to-point around the setting: just look for the tree stumps with the topiary rabbits jumping over them.
Joyful Gardens, June 2024
Located on the south side of the main island, the landing point is roughly equidistant from both the lighthouse and the bridge crossing the narrows to the south-east islet. It faces a walk along a narrow neck of grassy land which quickly flairs out into the main island proper. Which of the three routes you opt to take is entirely up to you; as noted, the lighthouse sits above a small jetty where a skiff can be rezzed so you can pootle around the islands on the water, whilst the south-eastern islet is the location of a cosy little house / cabin and can – again as noted above, be reached by way of a bridge.
The fact that the latter is set apart from the rest of the setting initially suggests it is a private residence; however, signs on the picket fence before it bid visitors welcome, an invitation to explore it and the grounds around it. Both he house and its accompanying outbuilding have the look of having once been put to more work-a-day uses, possibly as barns, but have now been converted into a cosy little residence and bath house respectively. They sit within a wildling garden where the grass has been allowed to freely grow, and fruit and vegetables are being cultivated in planters watched over by ripening corn on the cob.
Joyful Gardens, June 2024
Steps and a deck extend down from the island’s flank and out over the waters of the cove separating it from the main island, the deck presenting both a place to sit and a chance to rez a skiff and continue onwards by water. Just above and behind this is the termination point from the zip line which can also be used to reach the house from the central uplands of the main island. Obviously, you can also travel onwards from the house via the teleport network – but if you opt to take the skiff, don’t simply motor off and around the islands – it it to the middle of the bay and have a look at what lies beneath. the waves.
Away to the north-west Bird Island (as I’m going to call it) is home to a chapel, the waters between it and the main island guarded by a pair of sharks. Fortunately, it also has a jetty and skiff rezzer (I didn’t see a teleporting tree stump there), so you can avoid being looked upon as a moving snack by said sharks as you swim back across the channel separating the two islands.
Joyful Gardens, June 2024
The main island in the trio is home to a number of points of interest spread across its gently rising form, including ruins up on the central uplands – which have their own weather as well as the starting point for the zip line mentioned earlier; a maze (one of two awaiting exploration, although you will need to avail yourself of the teleporter system to reach the second (and larger) of them) and an outdoor space that seems to combine an events / celebration / reception space (the chapel is set for weddings) with a small formal terrace / seating area / pond and a brace of carnival rides and a pair of hippity-hop amusement rides.
Meanwhile, sitting under the ruins is an old mining tunnel which can be explored from one end as it dives under the hilltop, whilst the north side of the island is home to the Joyful Jardin Vert, and its exposition bontanique. Here, laid out in a small and tidy formal garden space can be found a profusion of geraniums, gerbera and nemophila flowering amidst privet brushes and shrubs, the flower beds neatly divided by paves walks offering access to a central fountain and seating area.
Joyful Gardens, June 2024
Shielding all this on three sides are tall glass-and-stone greenhouses, one of which is now a butterfly house, the second a teaching room for those wishing to enhance their green-fingered skills, and the third a place in which to relax and enjoy a dance or a nibble of cake and freshly brewed tea (although the bubbly admittedly attracted me more – tea and I have a near life-long agreement that we will largely ignore once another!).
Throughout the entire setting are numerous places to sit and relax, opportunities to photograph the local flora and fauna and to generally appreciated Hedy’s landscaping talents. In keeping with this, do be sure to follow the trail between the trees on the west side of the Jardin Vert in order to fins more eye-catching and secluded little spots. And do make sure to travel with local sounds on to get more of an immersive feel for the setting. Photography is encouraged throughout, and should you need to rez props for your work, contact Hedy and she’ll do her best to assist you.
Joyful Gardens, June 2024
Genteel, relaxing and eye-catching under almost any EEP daytime setting (I’ve using the Shared environment in my images here), Joyful Gardens is a region that more than meets the promise of its name.
Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation
Updates from the week through to Sunday, June 2nd, 2024
This summary is generally published every Monday, and is a list of SL viewer / client releases (official and TPV) made during the previous week. When reading it, please note:
It is based on my Current Viewer Releases Page, a list of all Second Life viewers and clients that are in popular use (and of which I am aware), and which are recognised as adhering to the TPV Policy. This page includes comprehensive links to download pages, blog notes, release notes, etc., as well as links to any / all reviews of specific viewers / clients made within this blog.
By its nature, this summary presented here will always be in arrears, please refer to the Current Viewer Release Page for more up-to-date information.
Note that for purposes of length, TPV test viewers, preview / beta viewers / nightly builds are generally not recorded in these summaries.
Official LL Viewers
Release viewer: 7.1.6.8745209917, formerly the Maintenance Y/Z RC ( My Outfits folder improvements; ability to remove entries from landmark history), dated April 19 and promoted April 23 – No Change
Cayla (YumiYukimura): Monochrome Memories, June 2024
Cayla (YumiYukimura) invited me to visit her latest exhibition at Saint Elizabeth’s Studio and Gallery in Second Life, which opened on Monday, June 3rd, 2024. Entitled Monochrome Memories, and with the sub-title of Shades of Adolescence, its an exhibition that is somewhat personal for Cayla and which has – being frank – drawn mixed feelings from me on viewing it.
The personal aspect of the exhibition comes from the fact it is rooted in a physical work project Cayla undertook, as noted in the her introduction to the exhibition:
When I was a young teacher and photographer, I was invited to participate in a group exhibition at a prestigious local art gallery. I had to develop, process, mat, and frame the photographs in my own, one person, professional darkroom. During my free prep periods, at school, I would select a student, take them outside, and have them self pose against a wall of the school building dressed in their everyday attire. This was during the 1970s and 1980s.
Unfortunately, all of my original photographs were destroyed in a flood, including the negatives. The AI-generated pictures presented here evoke memories of those I captured during that time. Just like the originals, these AI pictures are in black-and-white.
Cayla (YumiYukimura) on Monochrome Memories
Cayla (YumiYukimura): Monochrome Memories, June 2024
Cayla also note that during that original exhibition, several of the artists commented on how her images reminded them of the black-and-white photography of Indiana-born and Arkansas-based photographer Mike Disfarmer (1884-1959). He spent a good portion of his adult life living and working in a small photography studio where he would create and sell images of the local townsfolk and those from the surrounding area. As a working photographer, selling set of three photographs at 50 cents, Disfarmer never really garnered much attention during his life – and this might have remained true following his death, but for the 1970 discovery of a cache of his original glass negatives still located with the premises of his former studio.
Carefully catalogued, restored and preserved, these negatives formed the basis for two exhibitions of Disfarmer’s photography – and catapulted him into the realm of well-regarded and celebrated Outsider Artists, his ability to portray the lives of everyday folk in a starkly realistic manner which has come to symbolise life in the mid-west of the United States in the middle of the 20th century.
Cayla (YumiYukimura): Monochrome Memories, June 2024
Within Monochrome Memories, Cayla presents a collection of AI generated pieces which seek to both re-capture the core theme of her original physical world exhibition in that the subjects are (as per the exhibition’s sub-title) predominantly young / adolescent subjects pictured against a wall, whilst mixing-in a touch of Disfarmer in that that all carry either a neutral or (in some cases) slightly dour expression. In this way – and again like Disfarmer – they might be said to offer a stark, unblemished view of people joined not by art, but by the environment in which they live; thus offering a collective snapshot in time.
There is much that is attractive about this collection in its own right, as well as in the manner in which it seeks to offer an echo of a former display and present a reinterpretation of Disfarmer’s approach to photography. For example, I particularly liked the subtle use of self-portraiture (in terms of Cayla’s Profile image avatar) within the collection, and the little touches of humour (the bearded “JC” standing against a wall and reading a Bible-like tome and with a church steeple visible behind him, for example).
Cayla (YumiYukimura): Monochrome Memories, June 2024
That said, I will admit that the very fact these are AI images at their heart gave me issues; I have an admitted ambivalence towards such art for many reasons – including the way in which I feel it can all too easily detract from an artist’s intent more than add to it. Here, for example, it was just a handful of images that kept demanding my attention; not because of the artistry or narrative evident in them, but because they looked to me as if the AI tool had simply lifted from photographs of Tilda Swinton, Bob Dylan and James Dean, Phil Lynott and others. Whilst not Cayla’s fault, this reaction lifted me away from an appreciation of her work and into the realm of pondering the merits of AI tools – and for that, I apologise to her.
Nevertheless, I do see this as an exhibition worthy of viewing, and thus commend it to you.
A depiction of China’s Chang’e 6 mission landing on the far side of the Moon, June 1st (UTC), 2024. Credit: CCTV
China’s sixth robotic mission to the Moon successfully touched down on the lunar far side at 22:23 UTC on Saturday, June 1st, marking four out of four successful landings on the Moon (the early Chang’e missions being orbiter vehicles).
Chang’e 6 is the most ambitious Chinese lunar surface mission yet, charged with placing a lander and rover on the Moon, collecting samples from around itself, and then returning those samples to Earth for analysis by scientists around the world. It’s not the first sample return mission to the Moon – nor even the first by China; that honour went to the previous surface mission, Chang’e 5. However, it will be the first lunar mission to return samples gathered from the Moon’s far side and from the South Polar Region of the Moon, which is the target for human aspirations for establishing bases on the Moon, as currently led by China (the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) project) and the United States (Project Artemis).
As I’ve previously noted, the mission – launched on May 3rd – took a gentle route out to the Moon and comprises four elements: an orbiter charged with getting everything to the Moon and bringing the sample home; and lander responsible for getting the sample gathering system, the sample return ascender and a small rover down to the Moon in one piece; the ascender, charged with getting the samples back to lunar orbit for capture by the orbiter, and the returner, a re-entry capsule designed to safely get the samples through Earth’s atmosphere and to the ground.
China’s ability with its robotic landers is impressive. Chang’e 6, for example, carried out its landing entirely autonomously – the only way for it to communicate with mission control is via two Queqiao (“Magpie Bridge-2”) communications relay satellites operating in extended halo orbits around the Moon and with a time delay that while measured in seconds was still too long for mission control to manage the lander directly.
Instead, the vehicle used a variable-thrust motor to descend over its target landing location close to Apollo crater. On reaching an altitude of 2.5 kilometres, the vehicle started scanning its landing zone using imaging systems to find an optimal landing point and then continue its descent towards it. Then at 100 metres altitude, the vehicle entered a short-term hover and activated a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) system alongside its cameras to assess the ground beneath and around it and manoeuvre itself directly over the point it deemed safest for landing.
Following landing, mission control started a thorough check-out of the lander’s systems, including the sample gathering scoop and drill in readiness for operations to commence. The first order of business will be to gather up to 2 kg of surface and subsurface material for transfer to the ascender vehicle, which could be launched back into orbit within the first 48 hours of the start of operations.
An artist’s rendering of a Change 5/6 lander on the Moon’s surface (the craft being almost identical), the ascender vehicle sitting on top of it. Credit: China News Service
As well as this, the lander will carry out an extensive survey of its landing zone, in which it will be supported by its mini-rover. The latter is apparently different to the Yutu rovers carried by Chang’e 4 and Chang’e 3 respectively, being described as an “undisclosed design”. Overall mission time for the lander and rover is unclear, but will be at least a local lunar day.
Chang’e 6 marks the end of the third phase of China’s efforts to explore the Moon. The next two surface missions, Chang’e 7 (2026) and Chang’e 8 (2028) form the fourth phase, and will be geared towards preparing China to undertake its first crewed landings on the Moon in the early 2030s, and with the development of a robotic base camp on the South Polar Region which can then be extended into a human-supporting base.
Starliner Hits Further Delay
June 1st was the latest target launch date to be missed by the Boeing CST-100 Starliner on its maiden crewed flight after a computer issue caused the attempt to be scrubbed just under 4 minutes prior to a planned 16:25 UTC lift-off.
As I’ve been reporting over the last few Space Sunday updates, Boeing and NASA are attempting to clear the “space taxi” designed to fly crews to and from orbiting space stations for normal operations by having it complete a week-long flight to, and docking with, the International Space Station (ISS). However, the vehicle and its launcher, the veritable Atlas V-Centaur combination, have hit a further series of hitches.
An image captured from one of the video camera at Launch Complex 41 (LC-41), Cape Canaveral Space force Station, showing the Boeing CST-100 Calypso sitting atop its Atlas Centaur V-N booster with just under 8 minutes to go in the countdown towards the June 1st launch attempt, and just under 4 minutes out from the GLS system aborting the launch. Credit: NASA / ULA
If there is light at the end of the tunnel, it is that this and one of the previous causes for a launch delay sit not with the Starliner vehicle, but with a ground-based computer system or with the launch vehicle’s Centaur upper stage respectively. In the June 1st launch attempt everything was proceeding smoothly right up until some four minutes prior to launch, when there was an apparent error in one of the Ground Launch Sequencer (GLS) computers housed within the launch pad.
The GLS is a triple redundant system charged with overseeing all the actions the launch pad must make in sequence with the launch vehicle at lift-off. These include things like shutting off vent feeds from the space vehicle through the umbilical support system, separating and retracting the umbilical systems as the vehicle lifts off, and firing the pyrotechnics holding in place the launch clamps keeping the vehicle on the pad, and so on.
These events have to happen rapidly and in a precise order, and all three GLS computers must concur with themselves and one another that everything is set and ready and they can collectively give the command for the launch to go ahead as the countdown reaches zero. In this case, one of the three GLS systems failed to poll itself as rapidly as the other two, indicating it had a fault in one of its subsystems. Such an issue is regarded as a “red line” incident during a vehicle launch, and so the GLS computers triggered an automatic abort call, ending the launch attempt.
Mission commander Barry “Butch” Whitmore and pilot Sunita “Suni” Williams depart the Neil A. Armstrong Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre before boarding the crew bus that would take them to neighbouring Canaveral Space Force Station and their CST-100 starliner. Credit: John Raoux via Associated Press
United Launch Alliance (ULA) who operate the launch pad and the launch vehicle, traced the fault to a single card within one of the GLS computers, and initially hoped to perform a rapid turn-around swap/out so as to have the pad ready for a further launch attempt on Sunday, June2nd. However, at the time of writing, it appears the launch has now been postponed until no earlier than Wednesday, June 5th.
Orion: Heat Shield Woes
On May 2nd, 2024, NASA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report titled NASA’s Readiness for the Artemis 2 Crewed Mission to Lunar Orbit, a determination of the space agency’s readiness to undertake its circumlunar crewed Artemis 2 mission currently slated for 2025. It did not make for happy reading for some at NASA.
In particular, the report notes that following the Artemis 1 uncrewed flight test around the Moon in November / December 2022 the vehicle’s heat shield suffered numerous issues despite carrying out its primary role of protecting the craft through re-entry into the atmosphere to allow it to achieve a successful splashdown at the end of the flight.
November 28th, 2022: an image capture by a camera mounted on one of the solar arrays of the Orion MPCV of Artemis-1 as it reaches its furthest distance from Earth (432,210 km) and well beyond the Moon. On December 5th, the craft passed around the Moon at an altitude of just 128 km, where it performed and engine burn to start it on its way back to Earth. Credit: NASA
The heat shield is a modern take on the ablative shielding used on capsule-style space vehicles, as opposed to the thermal protection systems seen on the likes of the space shuttle and the USSF X-37B, SpaceS Starship and Sierra Space’s upcoming Dream Chaser. The latter are designed to absorb / deflect the searing heat of atmospheric entry without suffering significant damage to themselves. Ablative heat shields however, are designed to slowly burn away, carrying the heat of re-entry with them as they do so.
However, in Artemis 1, the heat shield – which should “wear away” fairly evenly (allowing for the space craft’s overall orientation) – showed more than 100 instances where it in fact wore away very unevenly, in places leading to fairly wide and deep cavities pitting the heat shield, potentially pointing to the risk of the structure suffering a burn-through which might prove catastrophic.
NASA and heat shield manufacturer Lockheed Martin have not been unaware of the problem; they have been working to try and locate the root cause(s) for well over a year; however, the OIG shone a potentially unwelcome light on the situation, both highlighting the extent of the damage – something NASA had hitherto not revealed publicly – and also drawing attention to additional issues that collectively threaten the agency’s attempt to try an complete the Artemis 2 mission by the end of 2025.
An image captured from a camera inside the Orion capsule during atmospheric re-entry, December 11th, 2022. Black lumps of material torn from the heat shield, rather than being ablated, can be seen in the vehicle’s wake. Credit: NASA
The additional issues include the fact during the Artemis 1 uncrewed flight, problems saw in Orion’s power distribution system which lead to electrical power being inconsistently and unevenly delivered to many of the vehicle’s critical flight systems. Again, NASA has stated the power issues issues were the result of higher than expected radiation interference during the Artemis 1 flight, and has sought to implement “workarounds” to operational procedures for the vehicle, rather than addressing the problems directly – something which has drawn a sharp warning from the OIG:
Without a permanent change in the spacecraft’s electrical hardware, there is an increased risk that further power distribution anomalies could lead to a loss of redundancy, inadequate power, and potential loss of vehicle propulsion and pressurisation.
– OIG Report into the Orion MPCV flight readiness for Artemis 2
Following the release of the OIG report, NASA responded with what can only be called a statement carrying a degree of petulance within it, with associate administrator for Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate Catherine Koerner apparently referencing the OIG’s report as both “unhelpful” and “redundant” – an attitude which raised eyebrows at the time it was issued.
In this, some at NASA might have been angered by the OIG not only underlining problems they have been struggling to deal with, but by the fact the report included images showing the extent of the damage to the heat shield which until the OIG report, has remained out of the public domain – and they are rather eye-popping.
Two of the official NASA images showing the severe pitting and damage caused to the Orion MPCV heat shield following re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere at 36,000 km/h at the end of the uncrewed Artemis 1 mission, December 11th, 2022. These were made public within the NASA OIG report on the readiness or Orion for the Artemis 2 mission which the agency has said will take place by the end of 2025. Credit: NASA / NASA OIG
In the wake of the OIG report and NASA’s somewhat petulant response, Jim Free, the NASA associate administrator in overall charge of the agency’s ambitions to return to the Moon with a human presence has stepped into the mix, stating the heat shield issue will now be additionally overseen by an independent review panel charged with assisting both NASA and Lockheed Martin and guiding them towards a solution that will hopefully rectify the problem and safeguard the lives of those flying aboard Orion in the future. But whether this result in the mission going ahead in 2025 or being pushed back into 2026 remains to be seen.
Dear Moon – We’re Not Coming
In what comes as no surprise, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has cancelled his booking to use a SpaceX starship to fly him and eight others around the Moon and back to Earth. First announced in 2018, the flight – called “dearMoon” – was seen by Maezawa as an “inspirational” undertaking that would see him and a mix of artists, musicians and writers make the trip and then produce pieces of work based on their experience. It was announced with great fanfare in 2018, with the flight slated for 2023 – which, as I noted at the time, just wasn’t going to happen.
I signed the contract in 2018 based on the assumption that dearMoon would launch by the end of 2023. “It’s a developmental project so it is what it is, but it is still uncertain as to when Starship can launch. I can’t plan my future in this situation, and I feel terrible making the crew members wait longer, hence the difficult decision to cancel at this point in time. I apologise to those who were excited for this project to happen.
– Statement from Yusaku Maezawa, June 1st, 2024
The dearMoon crew (with two back-ups). Left to right: Kaitlyn Farrington (USA – backup); Brendan Hall (USA); Tim Dodd (USA); Yemi A.D. (Czechoslovakia); Choi Seung-hyun (South Korea); Yusaku Maezawa (Commander – Japan); Steve Aoki (Pilot – USA); Rhiannon Adam (Ireland); Karim Iliya (UK); Dev Joshi (India); and Miyu (Japan – back-up)
At the time the announcement of the flight was made in 2018, starship hadn’t even flown, so the idea the entire system could be designed, finalised, tested, flight, achieve a rating to fly humans and be capable of making a trip around the Moon and back was nothing short of a flight of fancy – which is why, in part, that little mention of it has been made since. However, the mission concept served to boost Starship / Super Heavy in the public eye and bring and bring undisclosed (but described by Elon Musk as “very significant”) sum of money to SpaceX.
It’s not clear if the money has or will be refunded to Maezawa, who subsequently turned to more conventional means to reach space, flying aboard a Soyuz vehicle as a “space tourist” to spend 12 days at the ISS in December 2021.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 