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In 1968 the movie industry realized that okay science fiction movies could become great with the right soundtrack. Case in point, 2001: A space Odyssey. The story is convoluted. It is based on a short story I read before most people reading this were born. How they managed to stretch it out to a full length movie eludes me. I do not remember any of the characters in the film, they were inconsequential. I do vaguely remember HAL the computer. He was the best actor in the film. But the film is best remembered for its score, which ironically was composed by Richard Strauss, born in 1864 and died in 1949, almost 20 years before the movie was made. It is a great composition, and well used to provide some sort of narrative to a weak story. Of course, sometimes you can get both a good story and a good soundtrack. Case in point: Star Wars. I remember the characters, Spielberg certainly gets credit for creating memorable characters not only in Star Wars but in most of his films (even the bombs). Spielberg hit a homerun with picking John Williams to compose the music. His music has moved film after film from mediocre to great. Unfortunately, some pretty good science fiction films have been ruined with poor musical scores. The Space between Us was a great story, but often losing the narrative and acting to a score that seemed totally mismatched to the film. Compared to the weak story and overuse of special effects (consider the seemingly endless panning around the Enterprise) The Space between us is a heart stopping and interesting science fiction tale. Sadly it did not have Jerry Goldsmith (Star Trek) nor John Williams to score the film.

I’m always looking for new ideas in astronomy and science for a new story. The most interesting one I’ve run across is the quasi-moons that follow Earth’s orbit around the sun. There are several of these masses that range from 50 meters in diameter to a few miles. If we ignore the hype they are really asteroids following our orbit around the sun. This week there have been a number of stories about an object in the Milky Way traveling at 1.3 million miles per hour. To put that in perspective, if you were traveling to the moon at that speed it would take 11 minutes. That’s shorter than almost all commuter times to work. A trip to the sun would take about 3 days, and a trip to Mars would be about four and a half days. So what is this object and why is it significant. Scientists believe that it is likely a brown star that was kicked out trajectory by a supernova. Size-wise it is much smaller than our sun, but bigger than our planet, if the scientists are correct. As a science fiction junkie I’d be inclined to think of it’s as a very large planet that has a huge basement (or infrastructure) to house an entire civilization. It is currently moving in a path that would take it out of our galaxy. Why is it significant? Objects traveling this fast 0.1% of the speed of light have been hypothesized, but this is the first evidence of such speeds being documented. Will I use this in a future story? Well, in reality I have used the concept of such speeds and greater with the crazy sister of Ryder in the Orion’s Spur series, but most especially in the last book, Paragon’s Virtue. Will I use it in any upcoming stories? In Salt of the Earth it is a factor. Even though Salt of the Earth is confined to our Solar System the protagonists do discover an element that enables them to approach such speeds in the Solar System. Glad to see its possible. For galactic tales speeds even greater are necessary. https://www.yahoo.com/news/rare-hypervelocity-star-may-able-191548544.html

Okay I admit it is not a totally original concept. But in Book 5 of Orion’s Spur, crazy Debbie has to race between the Perseus arm of the galaxy to the Sagittarius arm of the galaxy in the Sara. To continue accelerating she sling shots off of multiple stars along her path, going faster after each swing. I was not surprised, but delighted to see an article today about this same concept being put to practice by NASA. They are doing a multiple sling shot using first the Moon, and then Earth to send a spacecraft to Venus, and then on to Jupiter cutting across the Solar System using a shortcut. My only disappointment is that they didn’t also use Venus as yet another speed accelerator along the way. The article is a good and short read: https://www.yahoo.com/news/spacecraft-slingshot-around-earth-moon-203913638.html

The setting for Demeter is 100 light years from Earth in the Orion’s Spur. What is Orion’s Spur? It is a minor arm (and thus sometimes referred to as a spur) sitting between the Sagittarius and Perseus arms of the galaxy. Both of these larger arms have billions of stars scattered in their comet-like journey around the center of the Milky Way. Orion’s Spur has a much smaller star population with estimates running between 300 and 800 million stars. Our sun and Earth are in Orion’s Spur. The Orion’s Spur series focuses on William Ryder, his sister Debbie, and their friends. It begins as an adventure as they are kidnapped or conscripted for a year of service in a far away system. The issue of bullying sets the story up at the individual level in chapter 1, but goes on to the broader issue of large powers and their impact on those in between. The series also addresses such things as – who can you trust and does might make right? The story arc of the five books follows the adventures and coming of age of several characters as they grow and change. My favorite aspect of the story is the ability to influence others through kindness, even one’s enemies. The first book, Demeter came out 10 years ago, followed by Return to Demeter, Defending Demeter, Haumeah and Paragon’s Virtue. The books are available in e-book format at Amazon, along with paperback versions for those who like to actually hold what they read. In the end of July of this year, all five books are now available on Audiblebooks.

I recently read an article about the asteroid that caused the mass extinction of the dinosaurs. The latest theory is that it was a water rich asteroid from beyond Jupiter. The scientists claim the previous theory was incorrect (caused by a comet) because no comets they are aware of contains ruthenium, a rare element. As I read the article I thought back to the parable of the blind men and the elephant. If you’re not familiar with the story it tells of a group of blind men trying to describe an elephant. Each of the blind men feel a different part of the elephant and announce that it is like what they felt. Depending on what part of the elephant they touched they individually came up with the theory that an elephant was like a rope, a tree, a snake, a wall, etc. Theories are great, but explaining the universe or even what happened on Earth three billion years ago, or 50 million years ago, or 10,000 years ago is still speculation based on the limited knowledge that we have today. A little over a hundred years ago scientific theory believed that diseases came from ‘bad air”, another that the universe was unchanging and infinite; diseases could be cured by draining some of the bad blood from a person’s system. It doesn’t take centuries or millennia for new scientific facts or theory to change. Now theories seem to be changed as often as you might change your clothes. Robert Heinlein is often referred to as a futurist. Many of his visions of the near future became a reality. More than science I believe that science fiction results in the evolution of things to come. Science in and of itself seems more focused on what cannot be rather than what can be. Example, based on mathematical theories we cannot travel faster than the speed of light or we will turn into a bolt of lightening (or energy). Rather than limiting what we are and what we can be we need to move beyond scientific theories that have their foundation on the toenail of the elephant.

Who was the first nova of science fiction? Early writers dedicated to science fiction generally started as pulp fiction writers. Some developed into talented authors. One of these writers was e.e. Doc Smith. I first became acquainted with Edward Elmer Smith (aka E.E. Smith or E.E. “Doc” Smith) while riding trains in Tokyo. I spent a couple of hours a day commuting on mass transit and discovered Kinokuniya’s, a large bookstore with hundreds of English novels from all sorts of genres. I reread books by Robert Heinlein but wanted something new. What I found was the Skylark Series written by e.e. Doc Smith. He started writing the first of the three books in 1919, but did not get it published until the late 1920s. It was a series of adventure yarns set in space. What I remember most about the books, other than their entertainment value, was the limited breadth of the plot. In the first novel the protagonist saves the Solar System, in the second he saves the Galaxy, and in the third he saves the Universe. Hard to go on from there In the 1930’s he started an even more popular series, the Lensman series. This series was again a fun adventure series with a space police force. He stopped focusing on scientific futurism and narrowed his target to adventures set in space. They were also fun to read, and better written. In fact, they came in second to the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov as the best science fiction series of all time. Interestingly, none of Smith’s novels have yet to be converted to the big or small screen. Ron Howard tried to develop a film as late as 2008, but plans were eventually scrapped. Too expensive.

Nostalgia is sweet. We generally remember only to good when reflecting on the past. That is not always the case, but more often than not we have positive memories of the past. As a science fiction nut my early memories of my pre-teen years tied strongly to Robert Heinlein and Edgar Rice Burroughs among others. Heinlein did a wonderful job of creating a universe focused on our own Solar System. It was alive with strange characters from Venus and Mars. Venus was a swampy world with non-fire breathing dragons who were much smarter than us, but also less mobile. Mars had strange characters that I always thought of as small garbage cans with extrusions for mobility and handling their ray guns that were more like octopus arms than actual arms and legs. Edgar Rice Burroughs did write a series of novels about Venus but his greatest science fiction series had to be John Carter of Mars. Mars was a dying world with its water canals drying up and ongoing wars between three factions. The movie John Carter of Mars did not really catch the vision, but movies rarely do. I was severely disappointed in my teenage years to learn that Venus had an environment that was totally toxic, and Mars had no water at all; dead worlds or rocks with all life limited to creative writers. Again, things change. Now there is a theory being advocated that there is a form of life on Venus, but alive in the swirling clouds of that world. And Mars? Mars has tremendous oceans of water. Much like Heinlein’s vision, most of the water is trapped underground, although he did have at least one surface river. He might have been wrong on that part. The challenge is accessing the water as it appears to be 7-15 miles under the surface. At a random spot, drilling would be challenging even on Earth, but getting the infrastructure to tap water on Mars might be problematic. But wait. Who says there aren’t some sort of caves and caverns that might bring access to the water much closer, and possible to access. That is an unknown for now. Just as science dashed my hopes for an adult life exploring the solar system, it now again brings hope of water and life back into the picture. The future for exploration and discovery is again in front of us. Rather than desolation and disappointment, the future can hold optimism and life beyond our own planet’s surface. I’m fascinated to see what science decides about our solar system in another 40 years. martian-landscape-two-SBV-305347535-HD

William Joshua Ryder, known throughout the series simply as Ryder is the protagonist of the Orion’s Spur series. We are introduced to Ryder at age 15. He is a fringe member of the school society or in this case a skater. The other main group introduced in what is really a preface to the story are the cowboys. Ryder has gained the eye of a cowboy and class bully, Barry Hales. Barry is a high school football star in the making, Ryder is more cerebral. At a school dance a confrontation goes awry and Ryder winds up in the hospital. The result of this incident is far reaching. First, Ryder is transferred to another school with his sister Debbie and his crush, Cynthia Flores. This leads to a trip to Europe, not not really, as they are kidnapped and taken to a world 100 light years from Earth, Demeter. Ryder starts to develop in Demeter where his assignment as a conscripted Earthling is to work in strategic gaming and planning. As he builds confidence, he also develops into a natural leader among his five friends who are also in Demeter. As the series progresses his coming of age journey continues to expand in a galaxy of conflicting parties (Sagittarius and Perseus arms of the galaxy) with Orion’s Spur caught in between. He unravels mysteries, threats, and attempts on his life. How does this character grow up? That is one of the major elements of the book series. One thing I was proud of in writing this series is that it also follows the growth of his sister, Cynthia, and his two friends Randy and Joel, as each has their own story. Ryder’s impact on those who want to do him harm is another interesting twist to the story, which in many ways is my favorite part of the book. The first three books are set in Demeter (the inside of an asteroid the size of Ceres, where an entire world exists). The books move on to Haumeah and finally into both the Perseus and Sagittarius arms of the galaxy.

Earlier I discussed the earliest(at least to me) science fiction writers who influenced how I think of writing. Jules Verne and Robert Louis Stevenson were great writers for both science fiction and adventure. For me H.G. Wells and Edgar Rice Burroughs are the next significant writers in the science fiction genre. H.G. Wells was an educator and futurist. His works often involved identifying and writing about future trends and concepts. When I think of his writing that I am most familiar with I think literature rather than pulp writing. Some of his books can be and were used in English classes. His titles include such classics as “The Invisible Man”, “The Island of Dr. Moreau”, “The War of the Worlds” and “The First Men in the Moon”. If the far fetched premise of some of his novels is unbelievable (at the time) he overcomes those objections by writing the story in a manner that is otherwise believable with strong characters. Edgar Rice Burrough on the other hand is sheer fantasy and fun. His series such as Tarzan and John Carter are delightful reading at least for young male readers. His protagonists are always strong and heroic in colorful settings. I was always a fan of the John Carter series and Pellucidar. His stories are fun to read with memorable characters, but great literature? or would they even find a publisher today? Probably not. Nonetheless, a guilty pleasure. When I watch movies, some films are so fun, and the characters so delightful that I can watch them over and over again. That is Burroughs. Some films are events with great acting and important stories that I know I must see at least once, but am okay with not seeing again. That is H.G. Wells.

Avoid peeling out with rhino snot I ran across an interesting article this morning that was both interesting and made me smile. As theoretical plans for building permanent Moon bases continues an issue I had not thought of before has arisen. Peeling out and wheelies come to mind as it is described. Apparently the Moon is covered in regolith. I wasn’t sure what regolith was so I looked it up, it is loose rock, gravel and in the Moon’s case lots and lots of dust. The small craft that have landed and later relaunched from the Moon dealt with this without a problem because they were light weight and didn’t create a massive disturbance. But it could present a problem for the larger craft that are envisioned for future Moon landings tied to permanent bases. So how do you clear that away to get to bedrock? or do you? One approach involves robots building a landing pad made of….. regolith. At the bottom of the article I share is an interesting demonstration video that shows how it would be done. I found it interesting and hope you do as well. https://www.yahoo.com/news/build-landing-launch-pads-moon-100041474.html