by Jeff Cunningham
A common misconception that we often encounter is that many people think that space is really far away. Others don’t understand the difference between “sub-orbital” and orbital craft, i.e. why we can’t use tourist craft like Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo to go to Mars, or why SpaceX’s Dragon is similarly a poor match for space tourism.
by Jeff Cunningham
Ni hao and welcome back to our ongoing look at the science and technology of everyone’s favorite cancelled TV show, Firefly. Today, we’re slipping the surly bonds of Earth-That-Was to look at gravity-defying vehicles and artificial gravity generators in space. As always, we’ll start by setting boundaries: We’re defining “anti-gravity” or gravity-defying craft as vehicles that travel hovering a finite distance from a gravity-generating point mass (such as the center of a planet) without generating any thrust or propulsion. That last part is the kicker: Rockets, helicopters, and Serenity herself don’t count, because they all get around by propelling something (air or superheated gases) downwards in order to push themselves upwards. Continue Reading
by Chris Tobias
Take Back the Sky Featured on Geek Pittsburgh
Geek Pittsburgh featured Take Back the Sky in the latest blog post on their website. We’re all manner of grateful to them for boosting our signal! (Click the link above to read on.)
by Chris Tobias
The Pittsburgh Comicon is just one week away, and Take Back the Sky will be there all weekend. We’ll be presenting the latest rendition of our panel “One Small Step for Fans: Browncoats in Space” on Friday, September 27 at 5PM in Room 3, and we’ll have a table on the main floor all three days, where you can sign our online petition and write letters to Elon Musk asking him to name SpaceX’s manned Dragon “Serenity,” and also get more information about our “Leaf on the Wind” campaign. If you’re going to be there, be sure to stop by and say hello. We’d love to talk to you about Firefly, the space industry or whatever else is on your mind, because making new friends is shiny! See you in the ‘Burgh.
by Jeff Cunningham
Welcome to the first in a series examining the real-life science behind Joss Whedon’s not-quite-science-fiction-more-of-a-western Firefly and its follow-up film sequel, Serenity. First up, we’ll be looking at a staple of pop-culture sci-fi that, interestingly enough, is only rarely seen in Firefly and Serenity: lasers, phasers, energy weapons, and other PEWPEWPEW! Continue Reading
by Chris Tobias
September 6 marks the one-year anniversary of Take Back the Sky, and I have to say I think we’ve come a long way in these first twelve months. Our online petition has over 1,400 signatures and continues to climb, we’ve sent hundreds of letters to Elon Musk at SpaceX asking him to name his first manned Dragon spacecraft Serenity (and those are just the ones we’ve collected and sent at cons; it’s likely there have been hundreds more), we’ve been featured on podcasts and blogs, and we’ve presented panels and worked tables at two conventions, with a third scheduled for later this month (Pittsburgh Comicon, September 27-29). Until we hear the announcement that the next manned US spacecraft will be called Serenity, though, there’s still plenty of work to be done, so we figured we’d kick off the second year of Take Back the Sky with a very special project that should be all manner of fun for everyone.
Since the autumn season is just around the corner, we thought this would be the perfect time for us to show Elon Musk how much we want him to christen his first manned Dragon Serenity by sending him a leaf on the wind… literally.
by Chris Tobias
I let my wife Richelle choose the destination of our family vacation this year. I figured she’d more than earned that right. After all, she had been willing to let me go off to a major con in Philadelphia for four days in late spring, and had put up with my taking over the job of organizing Pittsburgh’s annual Can’t Stop the Serenity events. She also agreed with the idea of our traveling to Germany next summer with a group of my students and their parents instead of taking a family vacation.
When she said she’d like to go to Houston, Texas for a few days to visit her sister Laurie and her family, I was on board without hesitation. My previous experiences in Texas were overwhelmingly positive, and I enjoy spending time with Laurie, her husband Steve and their two kids, who are both about the same age as my son. Since this would be the first time we visited them since they moved to Houston from Austin, I was also looking forward to seeing what the city of Houston had to offer, and I was especially enthusiastic about the prospect of visiting the Johnson Space Center. Continue Reading
by Chris Tobias
Thanks to everyone who stopped by to see us at the WV Pop Culture Con in Morgantown, WV this past weekend. We added over 200 signatures to our online petition and picked up a bundle of new letters to Elon Musk and SpaceX asking for a manned Dragon spacecraft named Serenity. It was really shiny making new friends and talking about all things Firefly and the future of space exploration. We hope to see some of you again at the Pittsburgh Comicon September 27-29 in Monroeville, PA.
by Chris Tobias
Take Back the Sky Panel at WV Pop Culture Con Now on Sunday, August 25
We have just been notified that the Take Back the Sky panel “One Small Step for Fans: Browncoats in Space” at the WV Pop Culture Con is now scheduled to take place on Sunday, August 25 at 12PM in Panel Room B. If you’re coming to the con, be sure to drop in and check it out. We hope to see you there!
by Chris Tobias
Take Back the Sky will be at the WV Pop Culture Con in Morgantown, WV this Saturday and Sunday, August 24-25. We’ll be doing an encore of our Wizard World panel “One Small Step for Fans: Browncoats in Space” on Saturday, and we’ll have a table on the convention floor where you can sign our online petition and write your own letter to SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk asking him to name the next manned US spacecraft “Serenity.” If you’re at the con this weekend, be sure to stop by and say hello. We always love meetin’ new folk, especially Browncoats and those who love talkin’ about space science. Click the con’s logo for a link to their site. Hope to see you there!
Take Back the Sky 
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