The WorldCon Reminder Post

WorldCon in Chicago

My revised list of WorldCon panels:

Fri Aug 31 Noon-1:30:pm Game Show: Iron Chef Flash Fiction
Grand Suite 3 The aim of the game is to write a short story in less than 5 minutes. The moderator will give the panelists a subject to write about, and after 5 minutes our writers will each read their masterpieces and let the audience decide the winner before they head into the next round into the next challenge. Three rounds are planned but a fourth will be added if time permits.
Christopher J Garcia, Dr. Phil, Janet Freeman. Lawrence M. Schoen (M), Mur Lafferty

Fri Aug 31 4:30-6:00:pm Scale and Space: Seeing Neil Armstrong's Footprints
Columbus EF What can we see from space? Popular TV shows suggest we can infinitely enlarge any image without any loss, but the real world is both much more complicated and much more interesting. We know Neil Armstrong's footprints are still on the Moon - but can we see them? And from how far away? And what else can we see? The Internet is full of fascinating images. (This is an updated version of a Science presentation I made at ConFusion 2011 -- I wonder if the audience will be larger with this weekend's news of the death of Neil Armstrong?)

Sat Sep 1 3:00-3:30:pm Reading: Dr. Phil
Dusable
I'll be reading from the opening of my second unpublished military SF novel, Out of Ashes Rises The Phoenix and Ensign Marie Rossetti's Really Bad Day in Port Outboard Engine aboard the starship USFS Llewellyn.

Sun Sep 2 12:00-1:30:pm The Role of SF for Teachng Critical Thinking
Comiskey A discussion of science fiction's role in the academic world, and how using science fiction in the classroom promotes literacy and encourages students to think critically.
Chris Mirell, Dr. Phil, Erica Neely, Jonathan Vos Post, Val Ontell


And then there's the Wake For Wendy At WorldCon (WFWAWC):

Thursday 30 August 2012 -- 7pm

For years my sister Wendy tried to get us down to Atlanta over Labor Day for DragonCon. But she was going to come up to Chicago for WorldCon in 2012. Sigh.

This is the Official Notice that we will have the Wake For Wendy At WorldCon (WFWAWC). The dinner is at Ron of Japan -- Wendy was very fond of Teppanyaki. Indeed, we went to Ron of Japan in 1979 when she visited me at Northwestern after the Great Blizzard of '79.

Website with menus and pricing -- there are vegetarian options and I was asked about whether they do gluten free soy sauce or tamari -- they emailed and said they just ordered some gluten free soy sauce:
Ron of Japan
230 East Ontario Street, Chicago IL
Google Maps
Thursday 30 August 2012
7pm to 9pm ?

You don't have to attend WorldCon to be a part of WFWAWC -- several members of the UCF in fact already are likely to wake but not con. We're up to 15 friends and family so far. Teppanyaki is not cheap but it is one helluva show. If you want to be added to the reservation and come celebrate my sister Wendy K. Braxton, you can leave a comment here or email me at:
drphil at dr-phil-physics dot com

Afterwards... I still haven't taken a picture yet, but I HAVE received a Viking Boat via Amazon.com. There might be some sort of ceremony involving some of Wendy's ashes, the Viking boat and a fuel load of Jack Daniels... and the Chicago River is between the restaurant and the Hyatt.

I'll enjoy seeing you there and supporting me in remembering my sister.

Dr. Phil

Neil Armstrong (1930-2012)

One Last Step For A Man

Over the weekend I was surprised to hear that Neil Armstrong had died. I knew he'd had a heart attack or heart incident the other week, but it sounded like they'd caught it in time.

Most of the missile booster era astronauts were military test pilots. Neil was a NASA civilian astronaut. There were always people who thought he'd gone that route to be politic. He was, after all, a naval aviator in the Korean War and resigned his commission around 1960. But I always thought that he didn't want to serve two masters -- he joined NASA to be an engineer and test pilot.

I am, and ever will be, a white-socks, pocket-protector, nerdy engineer, born under the second law of thermodynamics, steeped in steam tables, in love with free-body diagrams, transformed by Laplace and propelled by compressible flow.

Others carped about the scraps that he got into, but hell, test flights and space missions are dangerous, and he did walk away from those flights.

I thought he'd earned his astronaut wings on the X-15. But in his seven flights on two of the three X-15s he reached only some 39 miles (!) in altitude and just shy of 4000 mph. On one of those flights the X-15 went squirrelly on him and he had to regain control.


Neil Armstrong and X-15 56-6670 (I think).

From the desert dry lake beds, Neil went into the second class of NASA astronauts and flew on Gemini VIII with Dave Scott. This was the second attempt to dock with an Agena target vehicle after Gemini VI's Atlas-Agena exploded during launch.

Neil Armstrong in Gemini VIII.

The docking was successful, but a stuck thruster on the Gemini forced a separation and an early emergency landing.

Agena docking vehicle seen from Gemini VIII.

During the ramp up to the Apollo moon landing missions, Neil had to fly the infamous LLTV -- Lunar Lander Training Vehicle -- a nasty open frame that combined a lunar module descent engine with a vertical jet designed to cancel 5/6ths of the LLTV's weight.

Neil Armstrong and the sinister looking LLTV.

Another control problem and with seconds to spare, Neil ejected safely.

The LLTV crapping out. This is test flight.

History Channel was running the 2009 TV movie Moonshot today. First man on the moon. What I loved about Neil Armstrong is that he`was there for the mission -- had no use for the fame. With his status, he was never going to fly in space again and he "retired" to teaching engineering.

So I recognize his achievements and contributions, as I think he'd want. And as I'll point out on Friday (DW), when you look up at the Moon sometime, his boot prints will be there for a long time.

There Was A Time...

... when news organizations would have obits already set for famous people. I suppose we can be grateful that the person typing this breaking news story on the web didn't pick Lance Armstrong's name. But really.

Of course, not everyone got the Right Stuff memo.

Dr. Phil