[Books] Hidden Figures Audible Review

America's history is certainly a most colorful one for a wide variety of reasons. From the very birth of that nation to its long journey to where the country is today, so many things had to happen in a very particular manner. Some good things good and some things bad - it's all part of what has become history.

Hidden Figures tries to shine a spotlight on some of the lesser known heroes of the space race. And we're not talking about anyone who got to go into space. We're not even talking about someone who was in Mission Control.

Instead this book focuses on the lives of African American female mathematicians, which feels like the minority lottery when you string all those words together.

[Movies] The Martian (2015)

I often make fun of the movie awards season - you know that period towards the end of the year when different studios shift to releasing much more serious movies that are clearly designed to stand a chance at getting nominated for an award or to. It's a weird quirk of Hollywood in order to ensure the movie remains fresh in the minds of votes when it does come time to make a decision.

The Martian came out a little earlier than that period, but you'd be foolish not to consider that this movie was right up there with the other Oscar hopefuls. but to be fair, it's a pretty epic movie and one that felt like it wanted to put a bit more effort into getting the science more or less right, which reminds us of other heavy science fiction movies like Gravity and Interstellar.

It took me a while before finally getting around to watching this movie for no particular reason. We missed it when it came out in theaters and so we ended up waiting for the home video release.

And no I rather regret not having watched this movie sooner.

[Space] Moon Mission Delays

The bold announcement some months back by NASA about a manned mission to the moon by 2014 is now being brought down to earth once more due to budget constraints now leading to delays in the launch timetables. Differences in what President Bush requested and what Congress actually approved means a delay of several months, pushing the launch of the Orion, which is what they're calling the mission vessel, well into 2015.

So much for a bright new tomorrow. The news of a coming moon mission has had the space community somewhat excited about the prospects.

Related Links:

• [Science] Moving to the Moon
  
• CNN.com: NASA budget crunch wil delay moon ship's first flight
  
• CNET News.com: NASA tests moon building (photos)

Photo linked from Skept's photostream.

[Science] Moving to the Moon

In somewhat geekier circles, the news has started to circulate about NASA's plans to not only return to the moon but to establish a permanent settlement there by the year 2024.

On it's website, NASA explains the three primary reasons for man returning to the moon.

1.) Human Civilization
2.) Scientific Knowledge
3.) Exploration Preparation
4.) Global Partnerships
5.) Economic Expansion
6.) Public Engagement

Their reasoning seems sound enough and perhaps this is the kind of high profile project that the organization needs to revive public interest in space exploration and thus provide additional funding for future projects. It's been a while since NASA has done anything really big, especially in light of recent tragedies. Our last manned mission to the moon was the Apollo 17 mission in December of 1972.

Personally, I'm pretty excited about this. This news item, coupled with Stephen Hawking's recent statements about the importance of humanity colonizing other worlds should definitely generate a lot of support and interest in the agency in the coming years. Let's just hope they succeed, since this could be the start of some pretty amazing things to come.