SAYING FAREWELL...THE FINAL FLIGHT

Goodbye to the Space Shuttle Discovery

The space shuttle Discovery prepares for flight at Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39A, in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Feb. 23. Discovery launches with a crew of six astronauts on February 24 on a mission to the International Space Station – The Final Flight.

Space shuttle Discovery lit up the sky at sunset as it roared off Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on its mission to the International Space Station. The STS-119 mission was the 28th to the space station and Discovery's 36th flight. Discovery delivered the final pair of power-generating solar array wings and the S6 truss segment.

  

STS-26 Discovery, Orbiter Vehicle 103, mated with the external tank and solid rocket boosters, rolls out of Kennedy Space Center's vehicle assembly building. This high angle view looks almost directly down of OV-103, ET, and SRBs nose cones and the mobile launch pad. .

Backdrop by a blue and white Earth and the blackness of space, the Space Shuttle Discovery's docking mechanism (top foreground), payload bay, Remote Manipulator System Orbiter Boom Sensor System, vertical stabilizer, and orbital maneuvering system pods appear in this photo taken by a STS-119 crewmember during the 12th day of flight in March 2009.

NASA... Where do we go from here?

Catastrophe Looming?

Recently I finished a bunch of research on solar flare activity for a story I'm writing. Interestingly enough, on Monday the sun let loose its most powerful eruption in more than four years disrupting radio communications and generating concern around the world. But it could have been a lot worse, experts say.

Despite its strength, Monday's solar storm was a baby compared to several previous blasts, and it provides just a hint of what the sun is capable of. A true monster storm has the potential to wreak havoc on a global scale, knocking out communications systems, endangering satellites and astronauts and causing perhaps trillions of dollars in damages.

The sun's activity cycle is ramping up, so more storms will likely be coming our way over the next few years. That's not to say the big one is imminent, experts say — but you never can tell. And analysts warn that humanity is more dependent than ever on the high-tech equipment that can be affected by a solar storm, the stakes are higher than in the past.

Wow! That's what I said upon hearing this news. When I contemplated this story, I asked the question 'what if' the sun went crazy and caused real potential danger for an earth-like planet? My SF story is close, too close to reality.

According to my research, solar storm events come in several different flavors.

Solar flares are intense bursts of radiation that send waves of photons streaming toward Earth. The scale measuring their strength has three general categories – Class C, Class M and Class X – with Class X flares being the most powerful. Monday's Valentine's Day solar flare registered a Class X2.2 on that scale.

Other storms, known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), are large clouds of plasma and magnetic field that erupt from the sun's surface, sending lots of particles our way. Both flares and CMEs have the same root cause — a disruption of the magnetic field in the sun's outer atmosphere. And both events can affect life here on Earth.

The most severe damage comes from the powerful CMEs. Particles from these outbursts take longer to reach us — up to three days. But when they get here, their interaction with Earth's magnetic field can cause massive "geomagnetic storms," which have the potential to wreak long-lasting havoc around the globe. Monday night's storm produced both a big solar flare and CMEs.

~Oh boy~
It's hard not to be excited and a little weird too, because my story has a lot of this same kind of looming catastrophe. Of course my stories are all about the romance, and this one is no different. Sub plots are also as important in SFR as the romance.

In the light of what occurred on Monday, I would like to share an unedited excerpt from my latest story. Most of the action takes place on an orbiting Space Station just below the Planet's exosphere. The Astroscientists on Starlab who are actually searching for life on other planets, have just discovered what could spell disaster for their world. 


Karla stood in the tight-nit area of Starlab’s main research hub and peered over Frank’s shoulder, viewing the monitors as Jay stood next to her.

Frank cleared his throat then spoke. “During my watch last night, I raised the remote UV filters on scope two and aimed it directly at our sun.” He paused and looked up at Karla. There is no doubt our sun's solar flare and CME activity is increasing at a much too rapid rate. Last night's event eruption registered a massive Class X9.6, with more data coming in as we speak. Our planet is in peril. If CME continue to bombard us at this high rate, well, I don’t have to tell you where we are headed.”

* * * *

From his shielded high orbiting spacecraft above the planet, he observed the humans on their space station as they bristled about in fear. Their own sun was about to destroy their world…

Kaye

Photos from Monday's actual sun flare activity available from Space.com

Aliens Among Us?

The Ancient Astronaut Theorists say so. Aliens have always been here, and helped to shape our history.

I'm home sick today and for several hours I've been watching Ancient Aliens on the History channel. Sounds like an odd place for this type of programing, but not really. Projected theories, past, present and future abound in this show. It's the perfect show for someone like me. 

For instance, the moon is hollow. Aliens placed it in Earth's orbit for us. Yeah it's true. So the rhythmic motion of the moon on the Earth could have caused life to evolve here. Is the moon artificial-- is it a satellite and somewhat like the Death Star in Star Wars?

Here's another-- the missing link-- is it possible that an advanced culture from some distant solar system intervened in human evolution? Wild concepts, right?  But not so much if you have a Science Fiction brain! Here's one-- Are Angels (translated messengers) really ET extraterrestrial beings? Travelers from distant planets? For sure this stuff is fodder for a SF author

Kaye

Finding Solutions

While working on Forbidden Destiny, the second book in the Forbidden Series, several factors surfaced.

At the end of Forbidden Love I left my characters hanging out in deep space, traveling at FTL toward T’Kon’s distant galaxy. The opening of the new story had to punch, as well as touch on how they came to be where they were as a reminder.

Since this story has scenes on Asconage, T’Kon’s home planet, I needed more development about that big turning point, namely, the rule of no interspecies mating. More questions. What will the Asconage Council do when T’Kon faces them? Characters and situations need to change in order for a story to develop well. So will the Council make an exception in T’Kon’s case? Will they change the rules?

I think not.

So what will happen? For the purpose of this story, I came up with an adventurous and dangerous (for the characters) idea. What if T’Kon plans a temporal leap to reset time? Lots of interesting dilemmas conflict and action could happen within this scenario. Yet I know my hero, and he will not— for long leave the love of his life behind. So now what?

And then again I could have been left with a similar conclusion as in the first book. That darn rule of no interspecies mating and facing the wrath of the Asconage Council. I had to deal with how to get around it, resolve the issues.

I was reminded of a cool series I’m watching that airs on the SyFy channel on Fridays. It’s called Merlin. In this particular Arthurian Legend, a young Merlin becomes servant to a young Arthur, because King Uther (Arthur's father) has banned magic from Camelot, and Merlin must practice magic behind the King's back,  as he protects Arthur, the future king of Camelot at all costs. We know that in Arthur’s future, Merlin the Wizard and magic are part of Camelot. 

Also, in this version, Arthur's future wife, Guinevere is working in Camelot as a servant. We know how that will eventually turn out, even though the two will not let their relationship develop because nobles cannot merry servants. Well, not yet. Even worse, only Nobles can become Knights. Things will change. One of the things I like about this series is the way hints are placed throughout alluding to what a future Camelot will be like under Arthur's rule. Even though for now Arthur adheres to his father's wishes. And he is just now developing his own way of believing. Cool premise.

So it is in my story as well. Remembering that T’Kon is the future ruler of Asconage, gave me an idea. Even though the future will find change afoot, brought about by T’Kon, I had to deal with the present situation.

Finding the right solutions that allow for changes inside a story and within the characters isn’t always easy. Working through the problems presented during the writing of  Forbidden Destiny was challenging. Though this second story is a bit heavier and shows more of T’Kon’s culture, working out the dilemmas my two lovers, T’Kon and Maya faced was an exhilarating experience for me.

Forbidden Destiny coming in 2011. If you'd like to read the blurb click the title.

Kaye