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A Great Month for Space Travel

Dear Reader,

Two great space-related things happened since my last newsletter, and I debated which one to write about, so I decided to write about both.

First up: the amazing return to the Moon by the crew of Artemis II, flying the Orion spacecraft to the Moon and using it for a slingshot trajectory to return to Earth. I'm sure you've read all about the historic firsts (and seconds), so I won't bother repeating that.

I was 8 years old in 1969 when I watched Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon on my parents' black-and-white TV. It was amazing, and each subsequent Apollo mission kept building: the moon buggy, golf on the moon, the video showing the Apollo 17 LEM blast-off from the moon. If you had told me then that we wouldn't be back to the moon for over fifty years, I would not have believed you.

So while it's been a long time coming, I'm very glad we're back. In two years, we should see another astronaut take that "big leap for mankind" and make more footprints up there. And it sounds like we'll be establishing a more permanent presence, probably near the south pole where there is water and consistent solar exposure.

The other great space thing was the movie "Project Hail Mary." It's been out for a while now, so if you haven't seen it in the theater yet, I highly recommend it.

Based on the novel by The Martian author Andy Weir, Project Hail Mary is a fun, eye-popping, heart-tugging, mysterious, engaging time in the theater. It has a lot of similarities (of course) to The Martian movie:

• Lone hero in impossible situation
  • Spends a lot of time talking to himself
  • Wisecracking everyman
  • Problem solving, "science the s—- out of it"
• New obstacles after it looks like success

It also has some distinct differences:

• The Martian:
  • “Earth trying to save one man”
  • Parallel stories on Earth and on Mars
  • Solitary effort by hero
• Project Hail Mary:
  • “One man trying to save Earth”
  • Parallel stories in present and flashbacks to restore the hero's memory
  • VERY reluctant hero, becomes a buddy movie

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It's still in theaters, so be sure to see it before the small screen is your only option.

What's Rick Reading Now?

Last month, I told you about a book on sale, Return to the Galaxy by BA Gillies. I bought it myself and read it. It's clearly a prequel novel, not really following the usual plot structure, but sets up an interesting universe where some much older human race seeded the galaxy and left some of those colonies alone to survive on their own (Earth being one of those). Now that they're under attack by an alien race, they're seeking to jumpstart those "lost colonies" to get up to speed and help them out. It's very compelling, with extremely short chapters and flashbacks to action scenes of the alien race attacking the older human race. If you didn't get it last month, you can still pick it up on Amazon for $0.99, or borrow it for free if you have Amazon Prime.

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Happy Reading!

Rick A. Allen

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