Redundancy Seeing SpaceX’s prototype starship explode after launch reminded me of the necessity of redundancy in launch systems. I think back 10 years when over a short time span when Orbital, SpaceX, and Roscosmos all had anomalies with their cargo missions bound for the International Space Station. Without redundancy in capability, a launch failure in […]
Author: Torn
Torn’s Science, Technology, & Science Fiction 17–23 April 2023
Fabulae Lunae: 1. Thunder Moon Tussle Available now at Amazon.com: Thunder Moon Tussle (kindle edition) Nils Carmike, a fallen from grace astronaut turned smuggler, forges a new life on the lunar frontier. Harassed by the strikingly beautiful and demanding Deputy Miller, he is faced with fines and conflict, resulting in a tumultuous relationship and ultimatum […]
Torn’s Science Fiction, Technology, & Science 2–16 April 2023
Fermi Paradox The Great Filter The Fermi Paradox creates an interesting dilemma from science. What is the filter that seems to be preventing conclusive evidence of alien civilizations? We have several options: Planets capable of supporting life: That might be a deceptive description. What is a planet capable of supporting life. The first indication is […]
Torn’s Science Fiction, Technology, and Science Fiction 26 March — 1 April 2023
Panspermia Something interesting occurred in the late 1960’s as part of the Apollo program. The uncrewed probe Surveyor 3 was landed in the Ocean of storms in 1967. Part of the Apollo 12 mission, the second crewed landing in 1969, was to retrieve engineering samples from Surveyor 3. That mission was a success, but that […]
Torn’s Science Fiction, Technology, & Science March 7–25, 2023
Fusion Why is fusion so important? There are many answers. One is that it enables many items from science fiction. Space exploration itself is revolutionized with many different schemes for fusion engines. The benefits are mainly about power. For fusion, there is a lot of it. In science, one can look at a periodic table […]
Torn’s Science Fiction, Technology, & Science 28 February — 6 March 2023
The Drake Equation The Drake Equation is an equation that gives an estimate of the number of radio capable civilizations in the galaxy that could be detected using conventional radio astronomy techniques. A good overview of the Drake Equation is provided by the Seti Institute. I have written an article about the Drake Equation as […]
Torn’s Science Fiction, Technology, and Science 20–27 Feb 2023
Thunder Moon Tussle is a novel that would never have happened if I had followed my original plan. I was writing another novel and decided that I needed a backstory told. That backstory wasn’t expected to be very long. However, that was before I introduced Deputy Genevieve Miller. Seldom does a character arrives that disrupts […]
Torn’s Science Fiction, Technology, & Science 12–19 February 2023
A new short vignette by Torn MacAlester: Vulcani Cinis Genny planted her face against the living room window, watching the snow fall. The sky grew darker as she marveled at the dark snow covering the grass. “Can I make a snowman when it stops snowing, Mom?” “Honey, come and sit by me,” said her […]
Torn’s Science Fiction, Technology, and Science 5 — 11 February 2023
Golf and Outgassing by Torn MacAlester A few years ago, I began thinking about the return to the Moon in a fictional setting. Most of what I wanted was a sense of realism. Part of that realism centered around a couple unresolved issues from the past. In particular, I thought about finding a way to […]
Torn’s Science Fiction, Technology, and Science 29 January — 4 February 2023
Apollo 14 Apollo 14 is the 8th crewed Apollo mission and the 3 landing. The mission landed at the Fra Mauro Highlands. The mission lasted 9 days and represented the first mission after Apollo 13 accident that scrubbed the landing. I wrote a short article about Apollo 14 in 2022. The landing site for Apollo […]