The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

Fountains of Wayne, "Bright Future in Sales" from Welcome Interstate Managers (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary:

"I've got to get my shit together,
'Cause I can't live like this forever…"

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

Reel Big Fish, "Ban the Tube Top" from Cheer Up! (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary:

"You're outta sight,
You keep me up at night,
You dress funny,
Strapless and skintight.
You're out of sight,
You keep me up at night,
You make me crazy,
You wear it out of spite.
Ban the tube top tonight!…"

The Stars My Destination: The Challenger Disaster

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 39th Anniversary of S.T.S.-51-L
Thirty-nine 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-nine 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 '24 | 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 Explorers' Club, № MLXXI

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-51-C, Part II
26-27 January 1985: Many mission details remain classified; Mattingly (U.S.N.), Shriver (U.S.A.F.), Onizuka (U.S.A.F.), Buchli (U.S.M.C.), & Payton (U.S.A.F.) were all active-duty military; Onizuka was the first Asian-American astronaut; the liftoff of S.T.S.-51-C was featured in the IMAX film The Dream Is Alive (1985); after just 49 orbits, the Discovery landed back at K.S.C.'s Shuttle Landing Facility.

Commentary: The support of the Department of Defense was necessary for N.A.S.A. to procure the Congressional funding to construct the technologically revolutionary Space Shuttle, & thus D.O.D. requirements significantly influenced the Orbiter's design, e.g., the dimensions of the Payload Bay & the huge delta wing. S.T.S.-51-C was the first of several classified D.O.D. Space Shuttle missions.

With Onizuka's flight on S.T.S.-51-C, every veteran member of the S.T.S.-51-L crew (the Challenger disaster) has flown.

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: S.T.S.-51-C
MxPx, "Secret Weapon" from Secret Weapon (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Semper exploro.

The Stars My Destination: The Apollo 1 Disaster

Operation AXIOM: Destination Moon—The 58th Anniversary of Apollo 1
Fifty-eight 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-eight 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 '24 | 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

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

Reel Big Fish, "Down in Flames" from Why Do They Rock So Hard? (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary:

"It's alright, it's O.K.,
It was gonna happen anyway,
We had our chance,
We made our point,
But you're not gonna take that
Away!
Away!
Away!
Away!…"

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Yesterday

Samstag, 25. Januar
The Interrupters, "Jenny Drinks" from Say It Out Loud (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

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

The Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
James Horner, "The Year of Jubilee" from Glory: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Saint Mike Papa Whiskey)

Operation AXIOM: Yes, M!ch!gan!

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

One hundred eighty-eight 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-eight years ago today.

Tuebor
("I will defend")

Bonus! Song of Michigan's Statehood
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "Detroit Rock City" from the 20th Century Masters—The Millenium Collection: The Best of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones compilation (Michigan Papa Wolverine)

Commentary: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones are a ska band, but "Detroit Rock City" is not a ska song.

The Wayback Machine Tour of Michigan's Statehood
2024: 187 Years | 2023: 186 Years
2022: 185 Years | 2021: 184 Years
2020: 183 Years | 2019: 182 Years
2018: 181 Years | 2017: 180 Years

The Explorers' Club, № MLXX

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-51-C (№ 15), Part I
24-25 January 1985: The Space Shuttle Discovery OV-103 lifted off from Florida's K.S.C. with CDR Ken Mattingly, Pilot Loren Shriver, M.S.1 El Onizuka, M.S.2/F.E. Jim Buchli, & P.S.1 Gary Payton; the quintet deployed a classified Department of Defense satellite using an Inertial Upper Stage; "blow-by" damage to Solid Rocket Booster O-rings—both primary & secondary—was observed, the worst yet.

Commentary: S.T.S.-51-C was the third flight of the Discovery OV-103. S.T.S.-51-C was the one hundredth orbital human spaceflight.

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: S.T.S.-51-C
Glenn Miller, "Shhh, It's a Military Secret" from Glenn Miller's 50 Finest (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Semper exploro.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

They Might Be Giants, "Drink!" from Mink Car (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary:

"I'll take back my piñata, it's wasted on you,
Just spinning that pool cue all over the room,
And give back the blindfold that's under your shoe.

"Let's drink, drink, this town is so great!
Drink, drink, 'cause it's never too late
To drink, drink, to no big surprise,
But what words rhyme with 'buried alive'?
What words rhyme with 'buried alive'?…"

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

A New Found Glory, "The Glory of Love" from From the Screen to Your Stereo (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary:

"I am the man who will fight for your honor,
I'll be the hero that you're dreaming of,
Gonna live forever, knowing together
That we did it all for the glory of love…"

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

The Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children
Topol, Paul Whitsun, Maurice Lane, & Villagers, "To Life" from Fiddler on the Roof (Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "Walked Like a Ghost" from While We're at It (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Bonus! Song o' Inauguration Day

Big D and the Kids Table, "President" from How It Goes (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: The long national nightmare of the Biden administration has ended. The long national nightmare of the second Trump administration has just begun.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Chris Murray, "Let There be Peace" from the Plea for Peace compilation (Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Wayback Machine Tour of Martin Luther King Junior Day
M.L.K. Day '24 | M.L.K. Day '23 | M.L.K. Day '22
M.L.K. Day '21 | M.L.K. Day '20 | M.L.K. Day '18
M.L.K. Day '17 | M.L.K. Day '16 | M.L.K. Day '15

The Explorers' Club, № MLXIX

Operation AXIOM: The Space Race—The 60th Anniversary of Gemini 2
19 January 1965: Gemini 2 lifted off from Florida's Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, with an unnamed Gemini spacecraft atop a Titan II G.L.V. rocket; pallets of flight instrumentation were installed in place of the crew couches; the mission objective was to evaluate & certify the Gemini capsule's heat shield; the suborbital flight was successful & the capsule was recovered by the U.S.S. Lake Champlain.

Commentary: The Gemini capsule, SC-2, was reflown during OPS 0855 (3 November 1966), the only flight of the U.S. Air Force's Manned Orbiting Laboratory project.

The Wayback Machine Tour of Project Gemini
№ MXXI: The 60th Anniversary of Gemini 1
№ DCCXXXIX: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini 3 — Gus Grissom & John Young
№ DCCLIII: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini IV — Jim McDivitt & Ed White
№ DCCLXVI: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini V, Part I — Gordon Cooper & Pete Conrad
№ DCCLXVIII: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini V, Part II
№ DCCLXXIX: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini VI, Prelude
№ DCCLXXXVII: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini VII, Part I — Frank Borman & Jim Lovell
№ DCCLXXXVIII: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini VI-A, Part I
№ DCCLXXXIX: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini VI-A, Part II — Wally Schirra & Tom Stafford
№ DCCXC: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini VII, Part II
№ DCCCIV: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini VIII — Neil Armstrong & Dave Scott
№ DCCCXVI: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini IX, Prelude
№ DCCCXXI: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini IX-A, Part I — Tom Stafford & Gene Cernan
№ DCCCXXII: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini IX-A, Part II
№ DCCCXXX: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini X — John Young & Michael Collins
№ DCCCXXXIX: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini XI, Part I — Pete Conrad & Dick Gordon
№ DCCCXL: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini XI, Part II
№ DCCCXLVIII: The 55th Anniversary of OPS 0855
№ DCCCL: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini XII, Part I — Jim Lovell & "Buzz" Aldrin
№ DCCCLI: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini XII, Part II

Semper exploro.

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2025)

Episode o' the Day
"The Reckoning" (season six, episode twenty-one; 27 April 1998): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "The Reckoning" isn't as good as the episode that introduced the Pagh Wraiths, season five's "The Assignment," but it is noteworthy for highlighting just how faithless & self-serving Kai Winn is, foreshadowing her turn away from the Prophets at the end of the series.

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2025)

Episode o' the Day
"His Way" (season six, episode twenty; 20 April 1998): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: After years of will-they-or-won't-they tension, the romance between Major Kira Nerys & Constable Odo finally blossoms due to the mentorship of Vic Fontaine, a self-aware hologram. Once again, Deep Space Nine steals the thunder of its corporately favored but vastly inferior sister show, Voyager. The Maquis were created for VGR, but D.S.9 made better use of them. VGR featured a self-aware hologram as a main character, The Doctor, but they wasted the talents of actor Robert Piccardo on incredibly stupid & ham-fisted "hologram rights" storylines; Vic Fontaine (played by the late James Darren) is how you handle a self-aware hologram, especially "His Way" & season seven's "It's Only a Paper Moon."

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2025)

Episode o' the Day
"In the Pale Moonlight" (season six, episode nineteen; 13 April 1998): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "In the Pale Moonlight" is simply exquisite.

The Explorers' Club, № MLXVIII

The Space Race—Astronaut Group 3 (the "Fourteen"), Part XIII
Charles Arthur Bassett II (30 December 1931-28 February 1966), Major, U.S. Air Force—He was scheduled to fly Gemini IX (1966), but died with Elliot See when their T-38 Talon crashed into the McDonnell Aircraft factory where their Gemini spacecraft was being built; they were the first prime crew to die during space flight training; he was scheduled to conduct an Extravehicular Activity.

Bonus! Space Race Song o' the Day: The Fourteen—Charlie Bassett
New Found Glory, "Ending in Tragedy" from Catalyst (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Wayback Machine Tour of Charlie Bassett
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCCII: In Memoriam Elliot See & Charlie Bassett

Requiescat in pace.

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2025)

Episode o' the Day
"Inquisition" (season six, episode eighteen; 6 April 1998): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "Inquisition" introduces Section 31, one of the most controvertial ideas in the history of Star Trek. We're not going to discuss the moral implications of Section 31 here, I just want to express my admiration for the writers, still introducing imaginative & consequential elements into the Star Trek universe in the last third of the second-to-last season. The Next Generation was a spent force by the time it concluded, but Deep Space Nine could have run for another season or two without any dropoff in quality.

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2025)

Episode o' the Day
"Wrongs Darker than Death or Night" (season six, episode seventeen; 30 March 1998): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "Wrongs Darker than Death or Night" is Star Trek at its best, showing the moral & emotional complexities of life, memory, & the past. By this point in the show, after "Waltz," Gul Dukat is in full psycho villain mode, living only to destroy Bajor & its Prophets, & he confronts Major Kira Nerys with the knowledge he & her late mother, Kira Meru, were lovers. Kira convinces Captain Sisko to allow her to investigate these claims using the Orb of Time (which also facilitated the time travel in "Trials and Tribble-ations" [season five, episode six]). She argues that if the Prophets permit her to travel in time, they will also protect her from damaging the timeline. I like the faith aspect of that argument, that by this point in the show Sisko is comfortable with her appealing to him as the Emissary, not as a Starfleet captain, but it doesn't square with the Orb of Time's first appearance in "Trials and Tribble-ations," when the crew had to take active measures to prevent a Klingon agent from altering the timeline by murder Captain James T. Kirk.

In any event, Kira discovers that Dukat had indeed told her the truth, that her mother had not died in a refugee camp as she'd always been told, but that her mother had been taken as a "comfort woman" to Terok Nor, the original Cardassian name for Starbase Deep Space 9, & had spent seven years as the mistress of Gul Dukat. Not only that, but Dukat had kept his promise to Meru to take care of her family, providing them with extra food & allowing them tore turn home from the refugee camp. Kira Nerys benefitted directly, though unknowlingly, from the collaboration of her mother, Kira Meru.

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

Episode o' That Day
"Change of Heart" (season six, episode sixteen; 2 March 1998): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: I watched "Change of Heart" back in October 2024, but I cannot be certain of the precise date as I failed to record it then.

The episode is an interesting meditation on love & duty,the conflict between the personal & the professional. Lieutenant Commander Worf has one of his best moments of the series when he decides to save the life of his wife, Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax, by abandoning his mission to rescue a Cadarassian defector, at the cost of the defector's life.

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

Episode o' That Day
"Honor among Thieves" (season six, episode fifteen; 23 February 1998): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: I watched "Honor among Thieves" back in October 2024, but I cannot be certain of the precise date as I failed to record it then.

O'Brien must suffer. In this episode, the chief goes undercover for Starfleet Intelligence, to infiltrate the Orion Syndicate, who are in cahoots with the Dominion. He grows too close to his target, a human Syndicate operative named Liam Bilby, whom O'Brien must then betray to complete his mission. Bilby goes through with his assignment, which has becomes a suicide mission thanks to O'Brien's infiltration, in order to protect his family from Syndicate retribution.

This is the first mention of the Orion Syndicate, & virtually the first mention of Orions since The Original Series, though no Orion is seen on-screen. Later, Enterprise & Lower Decks would establish the Syndicate as the government of the Orions.

The Explorers' Club Special: January 1915

Operation AXIOM: The World War
January 2015 found us at eight consecutive episodes of "The Explorers' Club" & counting, dating back to November 2014, with the Great War as the exclusive subject. The conflict widens, geographically & technologically, to the Russo-Turkish frontier & to the aerial bombing of England by Germany.

The Wayback Machine Tour of the World War: January 1915
"The Explorers' Club," № CDXXVI: The Battle of Sarikamish (22 December 1914-17 January 1915)
"The Explorers' Club," № CDXXVII: The first Zeppelin bombing raid (19-20 January 1915)
"The Explorers' Club," № CDXXVIII: The Battle of Dogger Bank (24 January 1915)

Lest we forget.

The Explorers' Club, № MLXVII

Operation AXIOM: The Space Race—The 50th Anniversary of Soyuz 17
10 January-9 February 1975: Soyuz 17 lifted off from the Kazakh S.S.R.'s Baikonur, with CDR Aleksei Gubarev & F.E. Georgy Grechko aboard a Soyuz 7K-T capsule atop a Soyuz rocket; call sign Zenit ("Zenith"); the duo docked with & boarded the Salyut 4 space station, finding a note from its builders: "Wipe your feet;" after twenty-nine days of astrophysical research, they landed in the Kazakh S.S.R.

Commentary: Complicating the search for photographs of Soyuz 17 is that there were also missions designated Soyuz TMA-17 (2009-2010) & Soyuz MS-17 (2020-2021), flights to the International Space Station. Also, the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project dominates 1975 in the photo search results.

Bonus! Space Race Song o' the Day: Soyuz 17
Lenka, "Here to Stay" from Two (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Semper exploro.