The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

Save Ferris, "The World Is New" from It Means Everything (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Explorers' Club, № MCIV

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-51-F, Part II
30 July-6 August 1985: Spacelab 2—The crew split to conduct science twenty-four hours/day (Red Team: Bridges, Henize, & Acton; Blue Team: Musgrave, England, & Bartoe; Fullerton floated 'twixt); the Infrared Telescope imaged 60% of the galactic plane & the Canadarm deployed & recovered the Plasma Diagnostics Package satellite; after 127 orbits, the Challenger landed at California's Edwards.

Commentary: The lower altitude due to the Abort to Orbit during ascent meant the mission timeline had to be entirely rewritten on the fly, but S.T.S.-51-F turned out to be a highly successful flight & was extended for an additional day (seventeen orbits, twenty-five & a half hours).

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: S.T.S.-51-F
Robbie Williams featuring Michael Bublé, "Soda Pop" from Swings Both Ways (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Semper exploro.

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 Song o' the Day: SKAugust

Mustard Plug, "Everything Girl" from Pray for Mojo (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: It was great seeing Mustard Plug live in Detroit last Christmas.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

Spring Heeled Jack, "Beggin'" from Songs from Suburbia (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Romantic love leads only to heartbreak in third-wave ska-punk. This suggests a variation on the High Fidelity question: Am I cynical about romantic love because I listen to ska-punk music, or do I listen to ska-punk music because I am cynical about romantic love?

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

MU330, "Pool Party" from MU330 (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: None of us had ever heard of MU330 until we went to Clutch Cargo's in February 1999 to see the Reel Big Fish. I'd been learning about & listening to ska for a year & a half, & that was my first ska show. MU330 were one of the opening band; ever since, we have accounted them the best opening-act find of all time.

The Explorers' Club, № MCIII

Operation AXIOM: Destination Moon—The 60th Anniversary of AS-105
30 July 1965: AS-105 (Saturn I S.A.-10) lifted off from Florida's Cape Kennedy A.F.S., the fifth flight of a boilerplate Apollo C.S.M. & the tenth & final test flight of a Saturn I rocket; the primary objective was to test the launch vehicle's internal guidance systems; AS-105 also deployed the final micrometeoroid detection satellite, Pegasus III, which remained in operation until 1968 & in orbit only until 1969.

The Wayback Machine Tour of Saturn I Test Flights
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCCXLVI: The 60th Anniversary of Saturn-Apollo 1
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCCLXXXII: The 60th Anniversary of Saturn-Apollo 2
"The Explorers' Club," № CMXVIII: The 60th Anniversary of Saturn-Apollo 3
"The Explorers' Club," № CMXLI: The 60th Anniversary of Saturn-Apollo 4
"The Explorers' Club," № MVII: The 60th Anniversary of Saturn-Apollo 5
"The Explorers' Club," № MXXIX: The 60th Anniversary of AS-101
"The Explorers' Club," № MXLVIII: The 60th Anniversary of AS-102
"The Explorers' Club," № MLXXIV: The 60th Anniversary of AS-103
"The Explorers' Club," № MXCI: The 60th Anniversary of AS-104

Ex Luna, scientia.

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

The Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Osymyso, "Prepare" from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: Original Score Composed by Nigel Goodrich (Saint Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: This very night, you might be called to account for your life; be prepared.

Bonus! Song o' the Day: SKAugust

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "All Things Considered" from Pay Attention (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: None of my dearest kith & kin in Blue Tree Whacking, my brothers alongside whom I've made movies & music & danced at innumerable shows, ever liked The Mighty Mighty Bosstones as much as I do. There's no accounting for taste, yet I've always found this perplexing.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

Reel Big Fish, "Trendy" from Turn the Radio Off (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: All day every day.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

Less Than Jake, "Bad Scene and a Basement Show" from Borders & Boundaries (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: This SKAugust, we are highlighting music to which your humble narrator could have listened in the year 2000, the last year of the Twentieth Century (though popularly reckoned the first year of the Twenty-first Century). Borders & Boundaries was released on 24 October 2000.

If you don't comprehend why the photo above accompanies today's R.B.D.S.O.T.D., ask a member of Generation X.

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.)