Spreading the Signal: The Online Petition

Posted by Chris Tobias on June 17, 2015
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by Chris Tobias

When Jeff and I founded Take Back the Sky in September of 2012, we wanted to develop a multi-faceted strategy for convincing SpaceX to name their first manned Dragon space capsule Serenity.  We knew that at the heart of our campaign would be good, old-fashioned, pen-and-paper letter writing.  After all, a hand-written letter still has a more profound effect on its reader than a message that’s delivered by any electronic means, and the letter writing campaign that convinced NASA to name their first space shuttle Enterprise is the stuff of legend.  We were also well aware, however, that, in the 21st century, any successful campaign has to be versatile and include the internet and social media, especially one that targets a specific demographic that would be classified as belonging to “geek” culture.  That’s precisely the reason why you’re able to read this blog post today, and it’s also why you can visit our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter.  It’s also why we decided to take advantage of another trend that has gained all kinds of momentum in the internet age and set up an online petition.

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Serenity: A Dream of What’s to Come

Posted by Chris Tobias on May 25, 2015
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SpaceX’s Dragon is recovered after a successful splashdown last week. The unmanned transport ship returned over 3,100 pounds of cargo and experiments from the ISS. (Photo: SpaceX)

by Jeff Cunningham

Ni hao, fellow travellers. Jeff here, in a long-overdue return. When I offered to take over this weekend to lighten Chris’ load during exam week and we got to discussing a topic, something about his choice of words got me thinking about the future. In the past week or two, we’ve seen the successful milestone pad abort test of the Dragon II manned spacecraft, followed by the safe return of her unmanned freighter sister craft from the International Space Station. The past couple of days have also seen some unprecedented conversations in the United States capital–who ever thought we’d see the day when legislatures would seriously discuss things like property rights for the first settlers in the ‘Verse? It is indeed an exciting time to be alive. Between stories like this and the premiere of Disney’s Tomorrowland in theaters, it’s becoming clear that society may finally be beginning to turn away from the general malaise and pessimism that accompanied the recession, and is now looking towards the future. In this same spirit, I’d thought it might be a good time to talk to you all about “the road from here.” I suppose we haven’t been as detailed as we could have been about how your letters and petition signatures would lead to a real-life Serenity or what comes in between the two. “No time like the present,” as they say… Continue Reading

MegaCon: A Mighty Crowded Sky

Posted by Chris Tobias on May 8, 2015
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Pictured: My pick for best costume(s) of MegaCon 2015. You have to be old enough to have owned an SNES as a child to even grasp how stupendously awesome these people are.

by Jeff Cunningham

MegaCon began not long ago as a minor anime convention in Orlando, Florida. In recent years, however, it’s grown much larger with added panels and more prestigious guests to become the annual sci-fi and general fandom con in Florida.

Having recently returned to my dear home and old stomping grounds, I was looking forward to seeing how the con has changed in the years since I’d last seen it, and I was proud that it would be Take Back the Sky’s first con outing in the southeastern United States. Even better, the supremely awesome people at D&B Comics offered to partner with us at the event, without which our participation simply wouldn’t have been possible.

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SpaceX’s Dragon V2 to Undergo Key Test May 6

Posted by Chris Tobias on May 2, 2015
Posted in: Launches. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
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The Dragon V2 is ready for its pad abort test. (Photo: SpaceX)

by Chris Tobias

SpaceX recently completed its second successful launch of a Falcon 9 rocket in less than two weeks, a record turnaround time for the company.  The first of those launches sent an umanned Dragon to the International Space Station.  It’s still berthed there, and will return to Earth later this month.

But while that unmanned Dragon remains in Low Earth Orbit at the ISS, SpaceX is about to take a major step in the development of their manned Dragon capsule, the very same one that we hope will one day be named Serenity.

On the morning of Wednesday, May 6 at approximately 7am, SpaceX plans to conduct a “pad abort” test of its Dragon V2, the manned version of the Dragon that will carry astronauts to the ISS as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.  The test at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Launch Complex 40 will simulate a launch pad emergency.  The Dragon will be shot into the air from the launch pad, and will deploy its parachutes and splash down in the Atlantic Ocean.  In the process, the Dragon will also employ its “SuperDraco” thrusters, which are designed to aid the capsule and its crew in escaping from a rocket on the pad or in flight if things get “interesting” in Hoban “Wash” Washburne’s definition of the word.

Following this test, the next step will be this summer, when SpaceX will conduct an “in-flight abort” test, launched from California.  In that test the Dragon will attempt to escape from a Falcon 9 rocket after its launch.

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Another SpaceX Falcon 9 Set to Launch Monday

Posted by Chris Tobias on April 26, 2015
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by Chris Tobias

The SpaceX Dragon is still safely nestled in her lair at the International Space Station and won’t return to Earth until next month, but that doesn’t mean the fine folk at SpaceX won’t have anything to do until then.

In fact, they’ll be launching another Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Monday evening, April 27, carrying a communications satellite into orbit for Thales Alenia Space.

The TurkmenÄlem52E/MonacoSat, Turkmenistan’s first national telecommunications satellite, is scheduled to launch aboard the Falcon 9 at approximately 6:14pm EDT on April 27.  If all goes as planned (the current weather outlook stands at about 60%) and things don’t get “interesting,” the satellite will be deployed to geosynchronous transfer orbit a little over a half hour after the Falcon 9 breaks atmo.

Due to the heavy payload on the mission there will be no attempt to recover the first stage of the booster rocket, which means SpaceX’s robot barge Just Read the Instructions will be sitting this one out.  SpaceX CEO Elon Musk already indicated their next attempt at recovering the Falcon 9’s first stage will be in a couple of months.

You’ll be able to watch SpaceX’s live coverage of Monday’s launch along with us and the rest of the ‘verse, starting at 5:55pm EDT at spacex.com.

Until then, peace, love and rockets…

Falcon 9, Dragon and CRS-6: It Was a Great Day for a Launch!

Posted by Chris Tobias on April 14, 2015
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Photo: NASA

by Chris Tobias

Today was the kind of day that gets us excited about space travel.

SpaceX successfully launched their Falcon 9 rocket and deployed the Dragon capsule, which is currently on its way to the International Space Station with supplies, provisions, experiments and even an espresso machine!

And to top it all off, they darn near pulled off a historic landing and recovery of the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket booster aboard their robot barge Just Read the Instructions.  The rocket hit the bullseye, but came in too hard for a that landing “like a downy feather” that SpaceX was hoping for.

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CRS-6: Falcon/Dragon Launch Scrubbed, but These Dark Clouds Have a Silver Lining

Posted by Chris Tobias on April 13, 2015
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The weather at the launch site was beautiful today, but less than ten miles away dark clouds were looming… (Photo credit: Look in the upper right-hand corner!)

by Chris Tobias

River Tam:  Storm’s getting worse.

Mal Reynolds:  We’ll pass through it soon enough.

— “Serenity”

Today’s attempt by SpaceX to launch a Falcon 9 carrying a Dragon capsule to the International Space Station on the sixth commercial resupply mission to the ISS had to be scrubbed just a few minutes before liftoff because of weather concerns.

Those who watched the launch attempt live online probably scratched their heads at the announcement, given the beautiful blue sky and white, fluffy clouds that served as the backdrop for the rocket as it sat on the launch pad.  The real danger, however, was a front of dark, well-developed cumulonimbus “anvil” clouds that were within ten miles of the launch site.  There were also some reports of distant lightning strikes within the ten-mile limit in the run-up to the launch window, and it is standard procedure to scrub a launch under such conditions.

The next launch attempt will be tomorrow, Tuesday, April 14, just after 4:10pm EDT.  In all fairness, though, tomorrow’s weather currently only looks to be 50% go for launch, whereas today’s was 60% just a short time before the scrub had to be called.

And yet, the way we see it, there was a lot to feel positive about today.

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Launch Day: SpaceX Falcon 9 and Dragon Ready for Re-Supply Flight to ISS, Historic Booster Recovery

Posted by Chris Tobias on April 13, 2015
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by Chris Tobias

If the forecasted rain showers and thunderstorms around Cape Canaveral hold off long enough to permit it (about a 60% likelihood), SpaceX will launch another Dragon capsule aboard a Falcon 9 rocket just after 4:33pm EDT today.  The mission, which is the sixth commercial re-supply mission to the International Space Station, also has the potential to make history, as SpaceX will once again attempt to recover the first stage of its Falcon 9 booster on a drone-controlled barge stationed offshore in the Atlantic Ocean.

If the launch goes ahead as planned, the Falcon 9 will deploy the Dragon approximately ten minutes after liftoff, and the capsule will rendezvous with the ISS around 7am EDT on Wednesday morning.

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Take Back the Sky to Appear at MegaCon this Weekend

Posted by Chris Tobias on April 8, 2015
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by Chris Tobias

Take Back the Sky will make its first con appearance of 2015 this Saturday, April 11 at MegaCon in Orlando, Florida.

Jeff Cunningham, Take Back the Sky’s co-founder and resident rocket scientist, will be at MegaCon all day Saturday, from 10 AM to 6 PM.  Jeff and his crew will be at D & B Comics‘ spacious corner booth, number 550.  They’ll be collecting signatures for our petition, promoting our “Leaf on the Wind” campaign and answering questions about how Browncoats and others who care about the future of manned space flight can take action to help convince SpaceX to name the first of their manned Dragon V2 spacecraft Serenity.  They’ll even have templates on hand that will make it really easy for you to write your very own letter to Elon Musk.

Of course, our Take Back the Sky crew is also looking forward to having the chance to meet “fellow geeks” and simply enjoy the con experience.   It’s always really shiny just to talk to those in attendance about Firefly, Serenity, science-fiction in general and all things related to space and the space industry.

And to make the first con of the season something special, we’re conjurin’ a very special giveaway.  One lucky person who writes a letter to Elon Musk at our table asking him to name the first manned Dragon Serenity will win a shiny metal print of a screen shot of Summer Glau (Firefly’s River Tam) and Emily Bett-Rickards (Felicity Smoak from the hit CW television series Arrow), courtesy of summerglau.com.

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You can win a shiny metal print of Summer Glau and Emily Bett-Rickards just like this one, courtesy of Take Back the Sky and summerglau.com. Stop by the D & B Comics booth at MegaCon on Saturday, April 11 to find out how.

In order to be eligible to win the print, all you have to do is write a letter at our table asking Elon Musk to name SpaceX’s first manned Dragon Serenity, and then “Like” D & B Comics on Facebook.  To learn more about the contest, just stop by the D & B Comics table on Saturday and ask about the Take Back the Sky giveaway.

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And speaking of D & B Comics, we’d like to thank our shiny sponsors for making it possible for us to appear at MegaCon this year.  Please show them your support the next time you’re in the market for any of Dark Horse Comics’ Firefly and Serenity books, or any other comics-related merch.

We hope to see you at MegaCon this Saturday, April 11.  Until then… peace, love and rockets!