Noting this for ongoing discussion...and Musk is clearly enmeshed in this particular mess, by our settler-nations' encouragement.

https://apt613.ca/space-is-part-of-the-land-indigenous-knowledges-and-colonization-by-light-and-satellite-pollution/

This morning, I tried to watch the launch of the new space telescope on YouTube, but it turned out I missed the launch time by about seven minutes. I still got to see enough to make me quietly happy for most of the rest of the day.

The household range is having problems. The heating elements on top are still working just fine for frying, steaming and boiling, but the burner box - the oven - is not in good shape. I'd call the process of heating anything "sluggish" if anything. We're not sure what's caused that, and calling for help is naturally Problematic right now. So cooking lasagna was cancelled in favour of relying upon Pizza Pizza last night.

My day job is on hold until after New Year's due to lack of people available to supervise.

*shrugs*

More as it comes to mind...

This is cool.

https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/multimedia/raw-images/

Okay, writing workshop went okay yesterday afternoon. Last night's architecture/urbanism discussion centering on Black involvement in architecture, design, urban (re)development, etc. was useful in seeing how equity principles can be made reality, as well as giving the wider public a look at projects being made reality right now.

This morning? I've started some laundry, gotten started on today's job search work, and planning to hope-scroll and doom-scroll through today's news as it evolves. Seems like we've got some hot stuff breaking on the exoplanet front.

NGTS-14Ab:

https://phys.org/news/2021-01-neptune-sized-exoplanet-ngts-survey.html

TOI-561b:

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/12/world/super-earth-star-milky-way-scn-trnd/index.html

KOI-5Ab:

https://phys.org/news/2021-01-planet-koi-5ab-orbits-triple-star-skewed.html

Oh, and the count at exoplanet.eu as of today? 4404, split up between 3250 systems.

More on various topics later.

Space nerd wants to revisit this site later. You might end up having fun too.

http://scifleet.esa.int/#/

I was hoping for a response along these lines, but am pleasantly surprised at the speed of it.

Details in the Twitter thread starting here:

https://twitter.com/ruperto1023/status/1334184780192223232

Noticing this on Slashdot while otherwise continuing my job search this morning:

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/20/11/17/0053200/cable-failures-endanger-renowned-puerto-rico-radio-telescope

We re-learned that word here:

https://www.schneier.com/?p=60284

Noting comments from krpalmer and muchado about today's spaceflight milestone...

I admit to being distracted myself by multiple factors:

- solving the printing-from-open-applications issue plaguing me for the last two days, successfully.
- the meeting of my Mac User Group earlier this afternoon via Zoom.
- trying to work up a custom-designed greeting card for a neighbour's imminent birthday, preferably by using new-to-me graphic design software.
- worries about the tornado watch AND warning late this afternoon in my region.
- shopping errands.
- general research and exploration of the internet.
- other stuff to be added later, maybe.

The fact is that this was an important milestone of sorts today. The revival of American spaceflight technologies used from Mercury to Gemini to Apollo with upgraded components, with some success. It's a capability rebuilt to some degree, and yet as someone who enjoyed much of the Shuttle era, I cannot help but see it as backsliding somewhat. Physics and economics and human biology and psychology will certainly have their ways to varying degrees here, and have done so these past weeks.

I do await further developments with great interest and some hope. I want to see human adventure expand its horizons, and not to see this turned into a mere escape hatch for the richest of us.

Well, this was a fun way to spend a quarter-hour between job-search activities.