The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: 46 Jahre

Shirley Walker, "Superman: The Animated Series (Main Title)" from the Superman: The Animated Series (Main and End Titles) E.P. (Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: 46 Jahre

Danny Elfman, "Batman: The Animated Series (Main Title)" from Batman: The Animated Series, Volume 1 (Original Soundtrack from the Warner Bros. Television Series) (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Operation ÖSTERREICH: Please Stand By

Please Stand By | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

Weekly Wednesday Weigh-in
Last weigh-in: 330.2 lbs. (12 June 2024)

The Explorers' Club, № MCII

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-51-F (№ 19), Part I
29 July 1985: Spacelab 2—The Space Shuttle Challenger OV-099 lifted off from Florida's K.S.C. with CDR Gordon Fullerton, Pilot Roy Bridges Jr., M.S.1 Karl Henize, M.S.2/F.E. Story Musgrave, M.S.3 Tony England, P.S.1 Loren Acton, & P.S.2 John Bartoe; the center S.S.M.E. rocket shut down during ascent due to sensor failures, resulting in an "Abort to Orbit," a lower-than-intended orbital altitude.

Commentary: S.T.S.-51-F was the eighth flight of the Challenger OV-099.

S.T.S.-51-F suffered a launch abort on 12 July, when the countdown was halted at T-minus three seconds (T-0:03) due to a malfunctioning coolant value on a different Space Shuttle Main Engine.

Your eyes do not deceive you, attentive reader, Spacelab 3 (S.T.S.-51-B) flew before Spacelab 2. Spacelab 2 flew in a different configuration than Spacelabs 1 & 3, with no pressurized module in the Challenger's Payload Bay, but rather the Spacelab Infrared Telescope mounted on the Instrument Pointing System, with control equipment in a smaller pressurized cylinder known as the "Igloo."

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: S.T.S.-51-F
Fountains of Wayne, "Troubled Times" from Utopia Parkway (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Semper exploro.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: 46 Jahre

Danny Elfman, "The Batman Theme" from Batman: Original Motion Picture Score (Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: 46 Jahre

John Williams, "Prologue and Main Title" from Superman: The Movie—Original Motion Picture Score (Mike Papa Whiskey)

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

The Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sandi Parry, "The Lord's Prayer" from Everlasting (Saint Mike Papa Whiskey)

Bonus! Song o' the Day: 46 Jahre

Five for Fighting, "Superman (It's Not Easy)" from America Town (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary:

"It may sound absurd, but don't be naïve,
Even heroes have the right to bleed.
I may be disturbed, but won’t you concede
Even heroes have the right to dream,
And it's not easy to be me…"

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: 46 Jahre

The Bruce Lee Band, "Superman" from The Bruce Lee Band (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary:

"Superman, can you save me from my own insecurities?…"

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' This Auspicious Day

Goldfinger, "Superman" from Hang-Ups (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary:

"So here I am,
Growing older all the time,
Looking older all the time,
Feeling younger in my mind!…"

The Explorers' Club, № MCI

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 50th Anniversary of Apollo-Soyuz, Part III
20-24 July 1975: Cosmonauts Leonov & Kubasov landed in the the Kazakh S.S.R. (21 July); after three more days in orbit, astronauts Stafford, Brand, & Slayton splashed down in the Pacific & were recovered by the U.S.S. New Orleans; due to pilot error during re-entry, toxic fumes were drawn into the unnamed Apollo C.M., Brand lost consciousness, & the trio had to be hospitalized for a fortnight.

Commentary: Soyuz 18 landed in the Kazakh S.S.R. on 26 July 1975. Seven men were on low Earth orbit throughout the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project: Stafford, Leonov, Brand, Kubasov, & Slayton, & Soyuz 18 cosmonauts Pyotr Klimuk & Vitaly Sevastyanov aboard the Salyut 4 space station.

This was the last return of an American spacecraft until the landing of the Space Shuttle Columbia on 14 April 1981 at the end of S.T.S.-1; this was the last splashdown of an American capsule until the Crew Dragon Endeavour returned on 2 August 2020 at the end of Crew Demo-2.

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
Lenka, "Trouble Is a Friend" from Lenka (Space Cadet Mike Papa DSKY)

Semper exploro.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: 45 Jahre

They Might Be Giants, "It's Not My Birthday" from the Then: The Earlier Years compilation (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary:

"It's not my birthday,
It's not today,
It's not my birthday;
So, why do you lunge out at me?…"

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: Apollo-Soyuz

Operation AXIOM: The 50th Anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
The Chinkees, "She's My Friend" from The Chinkees… Are Coming! (Space Cadet Mike Papa DSKY)

Commentary: It would take twenty years for the seeds of cooperation planted during Apollo-Soyuz to bear fruit. This one-off example of collaboration between Cold War foes would fall by the wayside during the heightened political & military tensions of the late Seventies & the Eighties. Only with the collapse of the Soviet empire in the late Eighties & the Soviet Union itself in the early Nineties did cooperation again become feasible, manifesting itself first in the Shuttle-Mir program (1993-1998) & then in the International Space Station (1998-present), which is composed of the Russian Orbital Segment (guidance, navigation, & control) & the U.S. Orbital Segment (the orbital laboratory).

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

"Weird Al" Yankovic, "When I Was Your Age" from Off the Deep End (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: Apollo-Soyuz

Operation AXIOM: The 50th Anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
Save Ferris, "Sorry My Friend" from It Means Everything (Space Cadet Mike Papa DSKY)

Skammentary: The Americans called the enterprise the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. The Soviets called the enterprise both Experimental Flight Union*-Apollo (Eksperimentalniy polyot "Soyuz"–"Apollon") & Soyuz 19. Despite the Soyuz 19 designation, & contrary to some claims, the American flight was not "Apollo 18." (Apollo 18 was a cancelled Apollo mission to the Moon—originally slated to continue through Apollo 20, until budget cuts forced the lamentable cancellation of missions.)

*Soyuz is Russian for "union."

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

"Weird Al" Yankovic, "Here's Johnny" from Polka Party! (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: Apollo-Soyuz

Operation AXIOM: The 50th Anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
Barenaked Ladies, "Best Damn Friend" from Grinning Streak (Space Cadet Mike Papa DSKY)

Commentary: Soyuz 19 Commander Alexei Leonov will be forever remembered for the first E.V.A., his twelve-minute spacewalk during Voskhod 2 (1965). Apollo-Soyuz, ten years later, was his second & last spaceflight. Apollo-Soyuz was also Flight Engineer Valery Kubasov's second flight, after Soyuz 6 (1969), though he would journey into space one more time, commanding Soyuz 36 (1980).

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

"Weird Al" Yankovic, "C.N.R." from Alpocalpyse (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: Apollo-Soyuz

Operation AXIOM: The 50th Anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
Queen, "You're My Best Friend" from the Greatest Hits I compilation (Space Cadet Mike Papa DSKY)

Commentary: The dates of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (15-24 July 1975) line up almost exactly with the dates of Apollo 11 (16-24 July 1969). This makes celebrating the A.S.T.P. more difficult, as even the fifty-sixth anniversary of Armstrong's & Aldrin's first steps on the Moon generally outshines the fiftieth anniversary of Apollo-Soyuz.

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

The Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Abruptors, "Anxiety" from Noticeably Cheerless (Saint Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: Today is not the feast of Saints Martha, Mary, & Lazarus, but the sisters feature prominently in today's Gospel.

Bonus! Moonshot Songs o' the Day: Apollo 11

Operation AXIOM: The 56th Anniversary of Apollo 11
Public Service Broadcasting, "Go!" from The Race for Space (Space Cadet Mike Papa DSKY)

&

National Aeronautics & Space Administration, "Apollo 11 Excerpt 19" from The Apollo Missions (Space Cadet Mike Papa DSKY)

Commentary:

"That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for Mankind."

The Wayback Machine Tour of Apollo 11
№ DCXCVIII: The 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11, Part I
№ DCXCIX: The 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11, Part II
№ DCC: The 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11, Part III
№ DCCII: The 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11, Part IV
№ CMLXXIV: Neil Alden Armstrong
№ MXXV: Michael Collins
№ MXXXII: Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin Jr.

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: Apollo-Soyuz

Operation AXIOM: The 50th Anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
Alpheus, "Friend for Life" from Unify (Space Cadet Mike Papa DSKY)

Skammentary: In the course of training for & conducting the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, American astronaut Tom Stafford & Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov became honest-to-goodness best friends. Leonov became godfather to Stafford's youngest children & Stafford gave the eulogy at Leonov's funeral in 2019. (Stafford shuffled off this mortal coil on 18 March 2024, just sixteen months ago.)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

"Weird Al" Yankovic, "Close but No Cigar" from Straight Outta Lynnwood (Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Explorers' Club, № MC

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 50th Anniversary of Apollo-Soyuz, Part II
17-19 July 1975: The Apollo & Soyuz capsules docked, & Stafford, Leonov, Brand, Kubasov, & Slayton shook hands, took turns boarding each other's spacecraft, exchanged flags & gifts, conducted scientific experiments, & read a statement from General Secretary Brezhnev & spoke with President Ford; after undocking, the Apollo eclipsed the Sun so the Soyuz crew could photograph the corona.

Commentary: The Apollo & Soyuz capsules re-docked after the Solar eclipse experiment, but no more crew transfers took place. The two craft were docked for a total of just under forty-eight hours.

N.A.S.A.'s "worm" logo made its debut during the A.S.T.P., as seen above on Deke Slayton's flight suit.

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
Smash Mouth, "Why Can't We Be Friends?" from Fush Yu Mang (Space Cadet Mike Papa DSKY)

Semper exploro.

Bonus! Song o' the Day: In Memoriam

Guster, "Parachute" from Parachute (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: In memoriam Felix Baumgartner (20 April 1969-17 July 2025). Requiescat in pace.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

"Weird Al" Yankovic, "King of Suede" from "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: Apollo-Soyuz

Operation AXIOM: The 50th Anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
The Interrupters, "A Friend Like Me" from The Interrupters (Space Cadet Mike Papa DSKY)

Skammentary: The Docking Module provided an airlock between the Apollo & Soyuz capsules, which normally operated at different atmospheric pressures & with different gas mixtures. The Androgynous Peripheral Attach System was jointly developed by the Americans & the Soviets, to allow either side to function as either the "active" or the "passive" partner. It was the basis of the docking system used twenty years later during the Shuttle-Mirprogram & continuing today on the International Space Station. The Docking Module was stored where the Lunar Module would have gone atop the S-IVB second stage, & extracted using a smilar manuever.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

"Weird Al" Yankovic, "My Bologna" from "Weird Al" Yankovic (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: We've concluded our non-exhaustive series of songs "Weird Al" played @ Pine Knob on 2 July; now we're just playing "Weird Al" songs. As was said of a different musician in Office Space:

"I celebrate the guy's entire catalogue."

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: Apollo-Soyuz

Operation AXIOM: The 50th Anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
Kemuri, "My Best Friend" from Freedomosh (Space Cadet Mike Papa DSKY)

Skammentary: Apollo-Soyuz was the fourth flight for Commander Tom Stafford (Gemini VI-A, 1965; Gemini IX-A, 1966; Apollo 10, 1969). 'Twas the first flight for Command Module Pilot Vance Brand, who would have commanded Skylab Rescue, if it had been necessary, & who later commanded three Space Shuttle missions (S.T.S.-5, 1982; S.T.S.-41-B, 1984; & S.T.S.-35, 1990). This was the only flight for Docking Module Pilot "Deke" Slaton, one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts, who had been grounded in 1962 on dubious medical grounds.

As of this writing, Major Brand is still alive, aged ninety-four.

Operation ÖSTERREICH: Please Stand By

Please Stand By | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

Weekly Wednesday Weigh-in
Last weigh-in: 330.2 lbs. (12 June 2024)

The Rebel Black Dot Songs o' the Day

"Weird Al" Yankovic, "The Saga Begins" from Running with Scissors (Mike Papa Whiskey)

&

"Weird Al" Yankovic, "Yoda" from Dare to Be Stupid (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: The encore consisted of "The Saga Begins" & "Yoda," the latter interrupted by a wild, several minutes-long a capella performance by Al & the band, after which they finished playing "Yoda."

The Explorers' Club, № MXCIX

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 50th Anniversary of Apollo-Soyuz, Part I
15-16 July 1975: Soyuz 19 lifted off from the Kazakh S.S.R.'s Baikonur, with CDR Alexei Leonov & F.E. Valery Kubasov aboard a Soyuz 7K-TM capsule atop a Soyuz rocket; call sign Soyuz ("Union"); CDR Tom Stafford, C.M.P. Vance Brand, & Docking Module Pilot Donald "Deke" Slayton lifted off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center aboard an unnamed Apollo C.S.M. atop a Saturn IB rocket.

Commentary: Apollo-Soyuz was the final flight of an Apollo Command & Service Module & the last American manned space flight until the Space Shuttle began flying in 1981. So, we here at "The Explorers' Club" are pulling out all the stops & giving the A.S.T.P. the full Apollo mission treatment. The three manned Skylab missions were arguably more interesting & important that the A.S.T.P., but they were just too long for this kind of effort.

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
Less Than Jake, "All My Best Friends Are Metalheads" from Hello Rockview (Space Cadet Mike Papa DSKY)

Commentary: The above image is the American version of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission patch. The Soviet version was identical, just rotated one hundred eighty degrees (180º) so that the red was on the left & the blue on the right. (The different patch orientations can be seen in the crew portrait above.) The Soviet name for the mission was Experimental Flight Soyuz-Apollo.

Semper exploro.