NASA launched their Ares I prototype today at 11:30 a.m. ET when a break in the weather allowed the test to go unhindered. It was a beautiful launch and appeared to go completely as planned. Congratulations to NASA for a successful beginning for their third generation flight vehicle!
Incidentally, there was a beautiful Mach cone when it went supersonic!
After scrubbing the launch yesterday due to weather, NASA is going to try once more to launch its first prototype of the Ares I rocket today. This is the new vehicle that will be taking astronauts to the International Space Station after the retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet, and eventually, it will take us back to the moon.
Specifically, they are testing the stage one solid rocket section and separation of the Ares I-X. The vehicle will be unmanned and is only an initial test of the spacecraft’s abilities.
Hopefully, the launch will go as planned without further weather delays or unforseen mishaps. This should be a stepping stone to the next phase in NASA’s space exploration.
The launch is scheduled for 8:00 a.m. ET.
Last month, CCP, the developer of the MMORPG Eve Online, announced the next step in the evolution of the Eve universe: DUST 514.
DUST 514 is a first person shooter based in the same universe as Eve Online, known as New Eden. DUST players will essentially be mercenaries for hire by Eve players in order to secure planets for alliance sovereignty in systems.
There are a lot of mixed thoughts on this new idea, both for the future of Eve Online and first person shooters. Many are afraid that the sovereignty system is in danger of being corrupted by FPS players that simply don’t care about the politics of New Eden and just want to make a name for themselves on DUST. On the other hand, it is a vastly new idea of two completely different types of games interacting with each other and affecting the outcomes of players both in space and planetside.
One of the biggest issues with DUST is that it was announced to be released for consoles, while nothing has been mentioned about a PC version..
At this point, not much is known about DUST 514, only the basic premise, a sweet video preview and a couple of screenshots. But CCP will undoubtedly reveal more at their Fanfest next month, as well as the details behind the next Eve Online release: Dominion.
Mixed concerns aside, CCP continues to outdo themselves. Every Eve release is better than the last, and their hints at what they have in store for Dominion has excited a lot of people. If DUST 514 works smoothly with the Eve community and turns out to be a solid FPS, it could seriously change video game interaction forever.
Disney released a teaser trailer for the long awaited sequel for the 1982 movie Tron at the 2009 Comic-Con. Anyone who’s seen the original film will recognize the famous light cycles in this trailer. Basically, it looks as if it’s the same Tron universe, except a lot cooler.
Tron Legacy will be released in 2010, with 3D in select theatres.
On a slightly disappointing, yet not surprising note, Disney is not allowing this video to be embedded, so you have to go directly to YouTube to watch the trailer.
Yeah, Disney sucks. But this movie looks awesome.
Good news everyone! Futurama is returning!
After Fox dropped the sci-fi cartoon in 2003, Futurama has only existed in reruns on DVD, Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, and more recently, Comedy Central. Although several Futurama movies have been made and aired on Comedy Central, no episodes have been made for some time.
Until now. On Friday, it was made official that the entire cast had struck a deal with Fox to return for the show and 26 episodes will be made to air on Comedy Central next year.
You can read more here.
CCP, the developer of the MMORPG EVE Online, a game which I am severly addicted to, has released a cool new video promo for the game. Hopefully, it will explain my addiction a little bit. If not, it’s still pretty shiny and fun to watch.
I’m just getting around to writing a review for Star Trek two weeks after its release, but I’ve seen it twice now and think that it was an awesome movie.
J.J. Abrams took the best aspects of the original Star Trek series and movies and combined them with amazing special effects, interesting plot line, and character backgrounds. Federation starships are no longer the wimpy vessels that fire single phasers and the occasional photon torpedo. In this movie, a starship can target several oncoming torpedos and take them out with phasers in mere seconds, resulting in a dazzling light show.
The music is great too. Michael Giacchino set up a great soundtrack that accents the film extremely well. I even found myself humming the main theme as I was leaving the theater.
The cast did an amazing job recreating the characters that were so well established in the past films. Karl Urban’s portrayal of Bones McCoy was especially good. I enjoyed seeing each Enterprise crew member having their shining moments and loved every callback to the other movies.
Of course there are things to nit pick about. Any hard core trekkie can find a good handfull of things to complain about. There are some continuity issues with the previous Trek installments, but honestly, I think they did a fantastic job with what they had. And I loved what they did with the universe.
Abrams managed not only to reboot the franchise in the fashion of Batman Begins and Casino Royale, but also keep the Trek universe connected to the original shows and films. This managed to please trekkies and casual viewers at the same time, a feat not easily achievable for a Star Trek film.
In short, J. J. Abrams breathed new life into a franchise that was dying. He made a Star Trek movie one of the first Summer blockbusters of the year and didn’t dissapoint. He set the stage for a sequel and drew a new generation of would be trekkies.
This friday, J.J. Abrams rebirth of Star Trek hits movie theaters. From the look of the previews, I’d say that the movie will either be really awesome or really awful. For the first time in a very long time, a Star Trek movie is one of the most anticipated movies of the year. It even has many non-Trekkies excited.
Hopefully, the movie will live up to its expectations. I’ll be watching the film with a slight apprehension, although I tend to trust Abrams after seeing Mission Impossible III, Cloverfield, and LOST. His fantastic treatment of LOST, even near the end of it’s next-to-last season, almost has me forgiving him for what he did to Alias.
Almost.
Yesterday, I sampled the Star Trek soundtrack on Amazon.com. Michael Giacchino seems to have done a fabulous job with the score, keeping the feel of the original movies and hinting at the previous scores while still making it his own. Giacchino is a great up-and-coming film score composer. You might know his work from Mission Impossible III, Pixar’s The Incredibles and Ratatouille, LOST, Alias, and the Medal of Honor video game series.
Happy Easter, everyone! I was suddenly reminded of Jim Gaffigan’s take on our Easter holiday traditions and it made me smile, so I’ve decided to share his bit with everyone. Here’s Jim Gaffigan talking about holidays:
Hoverboards and flying cars happen in six years. Back to the Future has told us the future.
Also, the movie Jaws XIX.
