The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

Tori Amos, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" from the Crucify E.P. (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Episode o' the Day
"In the Hands of the Prophets" (season one, episode twenty; 21 June 1993): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Much of the billiance of Deep Space Nine can be glimpsed in the tension between Vedek Winn, a leader of the Bajoran religion, being a major, recurring villain throughout the series & the nuanced, respectful treatment of Major Kira's faith in the Bajoran religion.

"In the Hands of the Prophets" also stands head & shoulders above its peers, the first-season finales of the contemporaneous Star Trek series: "The Neutral Zone" (T.N.G.); both "Learning Curve" (VGR), the aired finale, & "The 37's" (VGR), the intended finale; & "Shockwave, Part I" (ENT).

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Episode o' the Day
"Duet" (season one, episode nineteen; 14 June 1993): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "Duet" is one of the best episodes of Star Trek ever. No qualifiers, no hedges.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

The Firm, "Star Trekkin'" from the Dr. Demento's Hits from Outer Space compilation (Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

The Bruce Lee Band, "Running Out of Time" from the Beautiful World E.P. (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Episode o' the Day
"Dramatis Personae" (season one, episode eighteen; 31 May 1993): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: I enjoyed seeing the clock Commander Sisko made under the influence of the Saltah'na telepathic imprint on display in his office throughout the rest of Deep Space Nine.

The Explorers' Club, № MVII

Operation AXIOM: Destination Moon—The 60th Anniversary of Saturn-Apollo 5
29 January 1964: Saturn-Apollo 5 (Saturn I S.A.-5) lifted off from Florida's Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, the first flight of a Block II Saturn I, the first flight with multiple live stages, & the first orbital flight; the S-I ("S-One") first stage had a larger fuel capacity than the Block I's & fins for aerodynamic stability; the S-IV second stage became the largest satellite yet orbited, burning up on 30 April 1966.

Commentary: In a speech delivered on 21 November 1963, the day before he was assassinated, President Kennedy pointed to the upcoming Saturn-Apollo 5 as the flight when the United States would overtake the Soviet Union in raw boost capacity.

Saturn-Apollo 5 was the first Apollo Program launch since Cape Canaveral was renamed Cape Kennedy, in the slain president's honor.

Ex Luna, scientia.

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Episode o' the Day
"The Forsaken" (season one, episode seventeen; 24 May 1993): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Deep Space Nine makes better use of Lwaxana Troi, in her three appearances from the first through the fourth seasons, than The Next Generation ever did. This is another very typical Star Trek episode, with an alien probe causing computer problems & officious Federation officials; that last bit has been a trope since T.O.S.: Starfleet officers are the Federation's finest, with bureaucrats & ambassadors serving as overbearing & usually incompetent foils to our heroes.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the IV Sunday in O.T.

The Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Audrey Assad, "Be Thou My Vision" from Inheritance (Saint Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Stars My Destination: The Challenger Disaster

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 38th Anniversary of S.T.S.-51-L
Thirty-eight years ago to the day, 28 January 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger (OV-099) exploded during launch, killing her crew of seven: Commander Francis R. "Dick" Scobee, Pilot Michael Smith, Mission Specialist 1 Ellison Onizuka, Mission Specialist 2 Judith Resnik, Mission Specialist 3 Ronald McNair, Payload Specialist 1 Gregory Jarvis, & Payload Specialist 2 Christa McAuliffe. Scobee (STS-41-C), Onizuka (STS-51-C), Resnik (STS-41-D), & McNair (STS-41-B) were spaceflight veterans; Smith, Jarvis, & McAuliffe were rookies.

The disaster was caused by the failure of an O-ring on one of the Challenger's two Solid Rocket Boosters. The O-ring contractor had warned N.A.S.A. against launching in the unusually cold temperatures on the morning of 28 January, but N.A.S.A. overruled the contractor, whose senior management then relented, against their own engineers' concerns. The disaster was not only foreseeable, but foreseen. N.A.S.A. violated numerous of its own procedures in going ahead with the doomed launch.

The Challenger's mission, STS-51-L, which was to deploy a communications satellite & conduct observations of Halley's Comet, was more high profile than most Space Shuttle missions as 'twas the first flight of the Teacher in Space Project, with public school teacher Mrs. McAuliffe having been selected as an astronaut specifically for the ambitious educational outreach. She was to teach remotely from space via closed-circuit television. Your humble narrator was among the many schoolchildren around the country watching the launch live on television when the unthinkable happened. The Challenger disaster made a considerable impression on popular culture & was commemorated with an on-screen tribute at the beginning of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, released later in 1986. Colonel Onizuka, the first Asian-American astronaut, was the namesake of a shuttlecraft used in several episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, which debuted in 1987.

The Space Shuttle Challenger exploded seventy-three seconds after liftoff, killing all seven of her crew, 28 January 1986, thirty-eight years ago today.

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: The Challenger Disaster
The Phenomenauts, "Heroes" from For All Mankind (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Wayback Machine Tour of the Challenger Disaster
Wayback Machine '23
Wayback Machine '22 | Wayback Machine '21
Wayback Machine '20 | Wayback Machine '19
Wayback Machine '18 | Wayback Machine '17
Wayback Machine '16 | Wayback Machine '11

The Stars My Destination: The Apollo 1 Disaster

Operation AXIOM: Destination Moon—The 57th Anniversary of Apollo 1
Fifty-seven years ago to the day, 27 January 1967, the crew of AS-204, the first manned Apollo flight, retroactively named Apollo 1—Command Pilot Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Senior Pilot Edward H. "Ed" White II, & Pilot Roger B. Chaffee—perished in a fire in the cockpit of their Command Module capsule, atop its Saturn IB rocket at Cape Kennedy's Launch Complex 34 for a launch rehearsal test.

The fire, almost certainly electrical though the precise source of ignition was never identified, was exacerbated by the many highly-flammable materials within the Command Module, as well as the high-pressure, pure-oxygen atmosphere. The high atmospheric pressure—which increased further due to the fire—also prevented the astronauts from opening their Block I Command Module's complex, inward-opening hatch, a fatal design flaw that was subsequently corrected on all subsequent Block II Command Modules.

Grissom was one of the "Mercury Seven," Astronaut Group 1, & the second American to fly in space; his two spaceflights were Mercury-Redstone 4 (the suborbital flight of the Liberty Bell 7) & Gemini 3 (the orbital flight of the Molly Brown, the only named Gemini capsule).

White, a Michigan Wolverine, was one of the "New Nine," Astronaut Group 2; his only spaceflight was Gemini IV, during which he became the first American & second human to conduct an Extravehicular Activity (E.V.A.), or "spacewalk."

Chaffee, a native Michigander, was one of "The Fourteen," Astronaut Group 3; Apollo 1 was to be his first spaceflight.

The crew of Apollo 1 died in a catastrophic fire during a ground test that had not been considered hazardous, 27 January 1967, fifty-seven years ago today.

Bonus! Song o' the Day: The Apollo 1 Disaster
Public Service Broadcasting, "Fire in the Cockpit" from The Race for Space (Space Cadet Mike Papa DSKY)

The Wayback Machine Tour of the Apollo 1 Disaster
Wayback Machine '23
Wayback Machine '22 | Wayback Machine '21
Wayback Machine '20 | Wayback Machine '19
Wayback Machine '18 | Wayback Machine '17
"The Explorers' Club," No. XXXV (2007)

“If we die, we want people to accept it. We’re in a risky business, & we hope if anything happens to us it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk life. Our God-given curiosity will force us to go there ourselves, because in the final analysis only man can fully evaluate the Moon in terms understandable to other men.”
—Gus Grissom

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Episode o' the Day
"If Wishes Were Horses" (season one, episode sixteen; 17 May 1993): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "If Wishes Were Horses" is a very typical Star Trek episode, involving an encounter of our heroes with non-corporeal aliens with essentially magical powers. These aliens are of a piece with the Organians ("Errand of Mercy," T.O.S.), Trelane ("The Squire of Gothos," T.O.S.), Q ("Encounter at Farpoint, T.N.G., et al.), & the Douwd ("The Survivors," T.N.G.), etc. Encounters with such beings tend not to be very interesting to me, but your milage may vary. "If Wishes Were Horses" is a charming episode, but it doesn't accomplish any particular character development or universe building.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Today

Samstag, 27. Januar
They Might Be Giants, "James K. Polk" from Factory Showroom (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: Yesterday, after The Lion King Kids, my nephew challenged me to name the Presidents of the United States. He didn't furnish a reason, & after I had done so my brother was puzzled that I'd neglected to say the middle initial of certain presidents, e.g., I said, "Rutherford Hayes," instead of the more typical, "Rutherford B. Hayes." I did say, "James K. Polk," of course, in large measure due to this R.B.D.S.O.T.D.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Yesterday

Freitag, 26. Januar
Suburban Legends, "Just Can't Wait to Be King" from Day Job (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: Yesterday, I saw my niece, The Cupcake, perform in the stage musical The Lion King Kids, one of five young actresses playing, as a chorus, the gender-swapped role of Rafiki the mandrill.

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Episode o' the Day
"Progress" (season one, episode fifteen; 10 May 1993): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "Progress" is another solid episode, part of the best first season of Star Trek's Golden Age, superior to Deep Space Nine's contemporaries The Next Generation, Voyager, & Enterprise. For the second consecutive episode, Nog's & Jake Sisko's friendship is cultivated, & we also see good character development of both Commander Sisko & Major Kira.

Operation AXIOM: Yes, M!ch!gan!

Si Quæris Peninsulam Amœnam Circumspice
("If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you")

One hundred eighty-seven years ago to the day, 26 January 1837, Michigan was admitted into the Union as the twenty-sixth of these United States of America. Under the protocols of the Missouri Compromise of 1820, Michigan's admission as a free state balanced Arkansas's 1836 admission as a slave state. The Michigan Territory's state constitution was approved by a convention in 1835, but Congressional approval was delayed until after the resolution of a border dispute with the State of Ohio (admitted 1803), which saw the "Toledo Strip" awarded to Ohio & most of what is today called the Upper Peninsula (U.P.) given to Michigan as recompense.

Michigan is unique among the several states in being composed of two peninsulas. In addition to Michigan being surrounded by four of the five Great Lakes, there are almost sixty-five thousand lakes & ponds within these pleasant peninsulas; one is never more than six miles from a natural water source (a lake, river, or spring) nor more than eighty-five miles from a Great Lake. The name Michigan originates in an Ojibwe language word, mishigamaa, usually translated as "large water."

Michigan was admitted to the Union, 26 January 1837, one hundred eighty-seven years ago today.

Tuebor
("I will defend")

Bonus! Song of Michigan's Statehood
The University of Michigan Marching Band, "I Want to Go Back to Michigan" from A Saturday Tradition (Michigan Papa Wolverine)

Commentary: This one hundred eighty-seventh anniversary of sacred Michigan's statehood finds me visiting my kin @ Xanadu in godforsaken Ohio. I want to go back to Michigan!

The Wayback Machine Tour of Michigan's Statehood
2023: 186 Years
2022: 185 Years | 2021: 184 Years
2020: 183 Years | 2019: 182 Years
2018: 181 Years | 2017: 180 Years

The Explorers' Club, № MVI

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 20th Anniversary of Mars Exploration Rover, Part IV
25 January 2004: The Opportunity (M.E.R.-B) landed in the Eagle Crater on the Meridiani Planum, at the Challenger Memorial Station, to begin a 90-sol (a Mars day, 39 minutes 35 seconds longer than an Earth day) mission; Opportunity's 90-sol mission would be extended repeatedly, lasting 5,111 sols (14 years, 47 days); both M.E.R.'s longevity benefited from dust devils cleaning off their solar panels.

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: Opportunity
Seu Jorge, "Life on Mars?" from The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou: Soundtrack from the Motion Picture (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Semper exploro.

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Episode o' the Day
"The Storyteller" (season one, episode fourteen; 3 May 1993): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: The best parts of "The Storyteller" are the friendships, the deepening of Jake Sisko's & Nog's coming-of-age friendship & the beginning of Julian Bashir's & Miles O'Brien's manly friendship. No other Star Trek show handled friendships better.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

New Found Glory, "All about Her" from New Found Glory (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary:

"Forget the way she was
'Cause it's the things she does
That make me sing about her,
She knows I care about her,
She said, 'Be gentle, boy,
'You show a lack of character'…"

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

Nirvana, "Breed" from Nevermind (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: "Breed" can only be listened at high volume.

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Episode o' the Day
"Battle Lines" (season one, episode thirteen; 26 April 1993): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Kai Opaka, we hardly knew ye!

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

They Might Be Giants, "The End of the Tour" from John Henry (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary:

"At the end of the tour,
When the road disappears,
If there's anymore people around
When the tour runs aground
And if you're still around
Then we'll meet at the end of the tour.
The engagements are booked through the end of the world;
So, we'll meet at the end of the tour…"

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Episode o' the Day
"Vortex" (season one, episode twelve; 19 April 1993): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: The titular Chamra Vortex in "Vortex" is not a vortex! It is described on-screen as a nebula & appears like a standard Star Trek nebula, without any particular vortices. "Vortex" is the first episode to describe Odo's people as the "Changelings," though the people who call themselves Changelings won't be encountered until the opening episode of season three.

The Explorers' Club, № MV

Operation AXIOM: Between the Wars
22 January 1924: Ramsay MacDonald became the first British Prime Minister & Foreign Secretary from the socialist Labour Party, in a minority government with the support of the Liberal Party; the MacDonald ministry acted modestly domestically, formally recognized the Soviet Union, & endorsed the Dawes Plan to restructure German war reparations & end the French occupation of the Ruhr.

Lest we forget.

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Episode o' the Day
"The Nagus" (season one, episode eleven; 22 March 1993): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "The Nagus" introduces the concept & the person of the Grand Nagus, the leader of the Ferengi Alliance. The initial attempt on The Next Generation, back in 1987, to make the Ferengi the major antagonists of the Enteprise-D crew ("The Last Outpost"), was a disaster. Quark & his kin on Deep Space Nine were the redemption of the Ferengi.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' This Day o' Prayer

The Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children
Tara Philip, "What Child Is This?" from Christmas Hope (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: An excerpt from "the greatest pro-life speech ever given," by the Reverend Richard John Neuhaus (1936-2009), delivered on 11 July 2008:

"We shall not weary, we shall not rest, until every unborn child is protected in law and welcomed in life. We shall not weary, we shall not rest, until all the elderly who have run life’s course are protected against despair and abandonment, protected by the rule of law and the bonds of love. We shall not weary, we shall not rest, until every young woman is given the help she needs to recognize the problem of pregnancy as the gift of life. We shall not weary, we shall not rest, as we stand guard at the entrance gates and the exit gates of life, and at every step along the way of life, bearing witness in word and deed to the dignity of the human person—of every human person.…"

(And here is a hyperlink to the whole speech: First Things-link.)

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Episode o' the Day
"Move Along Home" (season one, episode ten; 14 March 1993): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "Move Along Home" is a far better episode than it is given credit for being.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the III Sunday in O.T.

The Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Audrey Assad, "Lead, Kindly Light" from Fortunate Fall (Saint Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: The pope decreed the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time as the Sunday of the Word of God: Aperuit Illis-link. Alas, there was no particular mention of Biblical literacy in today's homily!

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Episode o' the Day
"The Passenger" (season one, episode nine; 22 February 1993): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: I wish Deep Space Nine had revisited the Kobliad, described as a "dying race," needing the rare & hazardous substance "deuridium" to stablize their cellular structures. Surely, a dying race could be a rich vein for storytelling.

The Stars My Destination: Perilous Peril on the Moon

Destination Moon
Space is hard, even in the hubristic Year of Our Lord 2024. Peregrine Mission One, the first flight of N.A.S.A.'s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program (C.L.P.S., "clips"), was successfully launched by the new Vulcan-Centaur rocket (8 January), but shortly after liftoff a propellant leak deep-sixed any attempt to land the Peregrine lander. The Peregrine was deorbited & burned up in the atmosphere on Thursday (18 January): Peregrine-link.

Meanwhile, J.A.X.A.'s Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon (S.L.I.M.), launched aboard an H-IIA rocket (6 September 2023), landed on the Moon on Friday (19 January), right on target in the Mare Nectaris (the "Sea of Nectar"). Telemetry from S.L.I.M. 7 a small rover it deployed have been received, but the lander is running off of batteries, as the onboard solar panels are not facing the Sun as intended. It is not yet known if the S.L.I.M. will be able to "wake up" at some future point, if the solar panels begin generating power: S.L.I.M.-link.

Ad astra per aspera.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

Death of Guitar Pop, "Captain Melvin's Reggae Party Bus" from Pukka Sounds (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

Alpheus, "The Victory" from The Victory (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Episode o' the Day
"Dax" (season one, episode eight; 15 February 1993): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Good arguments are made on both sides of "Dax's" legal wrangling & the legal question remains unresolved, as the underlying charge is rendered moot. In the second season episode, "Blood Oath," it is established that the oath of one Trill host is not binding on a subsequent Trill host, at least as a matter of Klingon honor.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

National Youth Jazz Orchestra, "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" from Jazz in Film (Mike Papa Whiskey)