DaboGirl

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Posts posted by DaboGirl

  7. Posted

    Enterprise is the only Trek incarnation that I haven't seen every episode of yet. I went out and bought season 4 on DVD because I heard it was the best. Some good episodes, great effects, but no stories like "City on the Edge of Forever" or "The Visitor" or any of 20 or so other great pure Trek episodes from TOS, TNG, DS9 or Voyager.

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  9. Posted

    Kevin Smith is just about the luckiest guy on the planet and I’m pretty sure he’s aware of it. His filmmaker buddies have always seemed more than willing to share their upcoming works well in advance of their release dates. He saw “MI:III” early as well as “The Dark Knight,” and here in mid-September of ‘08 he’s already seen two must-sees for ‘09! That would be “Watchmen” AND “Star Trek.”

     

    When I met up with Kevin in Toronto this week to chat about “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” (a mature flick that’s actually most reminiscent of “Chasing Amy” despite what you may assume) I just had to pick his brain about “Star Trek” and he told me quite a bit.

     

    “It’s really strong,” said Smith. “[J.J. Abrams] was rejiggering the opening few scenes. It’s one of those things where you first heard about it and were like no they’re not going to redo ‘Star Trek’! And then you see the movie and you think, wow he did pull it off! He turned it into a viable renewed franchise.”

     

    Who stood out among this new cast, I asked him. “Chris Pine is fantastic,” he gushed. “It is a star-making performance. From his first scene forward, this dude is not doing an impression of Shatner. He is doing young Kirk. He doesn’t have the slow delivery mannerisms of Shatner but it’s totally James T. Kirk, the bravado, the self-assuredness. It’s such a great performance. You can’t take your eyes off the guy. Anytime he’s not on the screen you’re waiting for him to get back. And the chick [Zoe Saldana] who plays Uhura is really great. They made Uhura really interesting.”

     

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    My interest in this flick couldn’t get any higher. Do you trust Kevin’s assessment? What do you think of his take on Chris Pine? Can he possibly live up to Shatner?

  13. Posted

    Nemisis was fair at best. Data was such a major character in Trek lore and his death had no where near the emotional impact that Spock's death did from The Wrath of Khan. It was just handled badly. That coupled with driving around in dune buggies like idiots, Riker/Troi wedding (anyone besides hardcore Trekkies were looking at their watches), Troi/Viceroy 'in my mind' junk all make for a bad trip to the local Cinema.

  21. Posted

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    Oct. 24: The Chang'e 1 lunar probe, mounted atop a Long March 3A rocket, lifts off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province.

     

    All Things Considered, October 24, 2007 · Amid patriotic pomp and circumstance, China on Wednesday launched its first-ever lunar probe. It is expected to reach its orbit Nov. 5.

     

    The probe will spend more than a year scanning the moon's surface in preparation for the launch of an unmanned lunar vehicle in 2012.

  22. Posted

    As NASA's space-shuttle program nears its official end in 2010, space exploration has become an increasingly global competition.

     

    The Europeans, Russians, Chinese and others are competing for bragging rights to develop the next generation of manned spacecraft.

     

    NASA’s Constellation program, designed both to replace the space shuttle and get America back to the moon and on to Mars, has gotten a lot of publicity — and a lot of flak — as it threatens to go over budget and behind schedule.

     

    Meanwhile, the Europeans and Russians have teamed up to create their own platform, the Chinese are continually upgrading their vehicles and the Japanese and Indians are mulling their own manned space flights.

     

    Here's an overview of the different projects and where each stands.

     

    Project Constellation stands at the forefront of future U.S. space travel.

     

    Aiming for a lunar landing by 2020, NASA hopes that the program will establish a long-term outpost on the moon’s surface and solidify America’s position in Earth orbit, ultimately leading to manned missions to Mars and beyond.

     

    The Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), named for the constellation of stars, is the centerpiece of the Constellation fleet.

     

    At 16.5 feet in diameter, the craft's interior volume is more than 2.5 times as much as that of the classic Apollo capsule it's based on.

     

    With the capability to transport and support four astronauts for up to six months, NASA believes that the Orion will be critical in establishing man’s ongoing presence on the moon.

     

    "This is a wonderful opportunity for NASA to learn from the things we've done in the past, take the best of those activities, and blend them together using the latest methods of manufacturing and management to make a system that will enable us to go out and explore beyond low-Earth orbit," Houston Orion project manager Skip Hatfield said on NASA's Web site.

     

    On July 18, NASA successfully completed a full-scale exhibition to test and develop the Orion’s jettison motor.

     

    Firing the Orion off the launch pad are the Project Ares launch vehicles, named after the Greek name for the god Mars.

     

    Ares I, designed with a five-segment solid rocket booster and J-2X engine, is a crew launch vehicle that will lift more than 55,000 pounds to low earth orbit.

     

    The tallest of the fleet, Ares IV is capable of staying in low earth orbit for up three months and utilizes two five-segment solid propellant boosters for launch power.

     

    Finally, cargo launch vehicle Ares V will lift an astounding 286,000 pounds to low earth orbit using two five-segment solid propellant boosters and RS-68 engines.

     

    A lunar mission's crew capsule would be lifted into orbit on an Ares I, while its Earth escape vehicle and Altair lunar lander would travel aboard an Ares V; the two components would be united in orbit for the trip to the moon.

     

    The Altair lander allows for up to 4 astronauts to travel the moon's surface with supplies and equipment to construct an outpost.

     

    Europe and Russia Join Forces

     

    In 2004, President Bush announced the Vision for Space Exploration, a new space policy that declared the development of the Orion capsule to be a solely American effort.

     

    That didn't sit well with the European Space Agency, which had been cooperating with the NASA for years on various projects.

     

    "I have been told by [NASA Administrator] Mike Griffin and [White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director] John Marburger that the CEV is not for international cooperation," said ESA General-Director Jean-Jacques Dordain at a conference in Paris.

     

    "If Europe is not involved in the next-generation transportation systems, we will stay forever a second-class partner," Dordain said.

     

    So the Europeans turned instead to Roskosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency.

     

    For a time it seemed the ESA might help Roskosmos develop the Kliper, a stubby lifting-body manned craft that was the leading candidate to succeed Russia's ancient Soyuz design. But it was never pursued.

     

    In June 2006, ESA and Roskosmos began a two-year collaborative study to see if they could work together on the Advanced Crew Transportation System (ACTS), an existing ESA project.

     

    Despite further reports of unsuccessful meetings between top officials from both agencies, on July 18, 2006, Anatoly Perminov, head of Roskosmos, announced that Russian funding for the Kliper spacecraft had been cancelled.

     

    Within days, ESA and Roskosmos announced that they had come to an agreement to work together on the ACTS vehicle project.

     

    Reports had already come in May that a design had been chosen for the shared ACTS vehicle.

     

    The capsule abandons the trademark spherical Russian design in favor of a more Apollo-like conical structure and is expected to make its first manned launch from Russia’s new Vostochny spaceport in 2018.

     

    Continued Kliper Development

     

    Despite the loss of government funding, Russian aerospace company RKK Energia has decided to continue developing the Kliper even as it also works on ACTS.

     

    The Kliper has a launch mass of 13 tons, is equipped for self-contained missions of up to 15 days and can spend up to 360 days in orbit.

     

    "Economically speaking, the goal set in designing the reusable six-seater Kliper is a lower per-member cost of flight. The cost of putting crewmen in orbit is much less than in the present Soyuz ships and many times less than American shuttle service," RKK Energia head Nikolai Sevastyanov told the Russia's Novosti news agency in June 2005.

     

    Vladameer Daneev, lead designer of the project, hopes to carry out plans for a manned mission in 2012.

     

    More from Europe

     

    Like the Russians, Europe has continued its own private-sector research independent of the ACTS collaboration.

     

    On May 13, the BBC reported that the European Aeronautics Defense and Space Company (EADS) had announced plans for construction of a manned spacecraft.

     

    The proposal intends to modify the European robotic space freighter known as the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) into a three-man spacecraft capable of ferrying astronauts into low-Earth orbit, a task that the Europeans currently rely on the U.S. and Russia for.

     

    In addition, EADS plans further advances to the existing Ariane 5 rocket system, which was originally designed as a launch vehicle for the cancelled Hermes space shuttle.

     

    Asia Catches Up

     

    Not to be overlooked, China, India and Japan are advancing their own space-exploration programs.

     

    China's Shenzhou spacecraft performed its first manned flight in the fall of 2003, making it only the third nation to successfully carry out an independent manned space mission.

     

    SpaceDaily.com reported in November 2006 that Beijing plans for the Shenzhou 7 mission to feature a one-man space walk.

     

    Further reports in 2007 from Space.com indicated that the launch will take place in October of 2008, following the Beijing Olympics.

     

    Meanwhile, the Indian Space Research Organization project Chandrayaan 1, meaning "moon vehicle" in Hindi, is the first Indian planetary science and exploration mission.

     

    The spacecraft, which includes European instruments, will be used by engineers for scientific investigation of the moon.

     

    Rounding out the state of space exploration is the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) H-II Transfer Vehicle, or HTV.

     

    Capable of carrying 6 tons of cargo, the launch vehicle is primarily used for the transportation of food, water and project materials.

     

    On July 20, the Yomiuri newspaper in Tokyo reported talks between JAXA and the U.S. regarding U.S. purchase of the HTV in order to fulfill its commitments to the International Space Station.

     

    The Japanese have excelled in robotic space probes, sending craft to orbit the moon, observe the Sun and retrieve material from comets, but, like the Europeans, have never independently sent a man into space.

     

    JAXA said in 2006 that it plans to put men on the moon in 2020 and establish a lunar base by 2030, but further plans have not materialized.

     

    Mars and Beyond?

     

    With the Chinese and Japanese setting sights on the moon, the U.S. has naturally aimed beyond.

     

    "We have a long-term plan to put a man on Mars by 2037," NASA Administrator Michael Griffin told a space conference in India last September.

     

    That's something no other country can realistically aspire to just yet. But with six different space agencies planning manned missions of one form or another, it's truly a never-ending race for space.

  23. Posted

    The new movie is a prequel which i think is a mistake did they not learn there mistake from Enterprise.

     

    I would prefer to see something after Voyagers return either with a different ship or a different species maybe someone outside the federation.

    Or maybe 100 yearsin the future

    The thing that they are cashing in on is name recognition with this new TOS era movie vs. Enterprise.

     

    How many people are more familiar with the name Sato vs. Uhura, Capt. Archer vs. Capt. Kirk, T'Pol vs. Mr. Spock?

     

    Starting again gives them a crew of Travis Mayweathers that they at least feel don't give them that built in audience.

     

    I don't really agree or disagree with their idea. I guess we will all find out next summer...

  25. Posted

    J.J. Abrams And ‘Star Trek’ Writers Reveal Film Has ‘All The Gadgets You Could Want’

     

    Published by Jennifer Vineyard on Tuesday, September 2, 2008 at 12:14 pm.

     

    The writers, directors, and producers behind the “Star Trek” reboot guard the secrets of the upcoming movie like it’s their own Prime Directive. Mention anything that could reveal a plot point — like say, moments with Kirk and Spock’s mothers — and they immediately employ defensive maneuvers.

     

    “The what? What flashbacks?” writer/director J.J. Abrams asked. “I never said flashbacks.”

     

    “We didn’t say there were flashbacks!” teased writer/producer Alex Kurtzman.

     

    But that didn’t mean they aren’t willing to give something up — in the spirit of diplomacy, of course. Plot and character development might be off limits (they all refuse to answer the question, “Where does the movie start” except Abrams, who teased, “In the fu-ture”) — but gadgets aren’t. “We intentionally don’t talk too much about the story,” said producer Bryan Burk, “but there’s all the gadgets you could want. No replicators,” since they originated in “Next Generation,” “but there’s warp speed and transporter beams and tricorders and communicators and everything you could want. All the gadgets.”

     

    “It’s one thing in ‘Star Trek’ to get all excited and freak out about communicators, but to them, it’s like it’s the new iPhone,” Abrams said. “These are just the tool they’re using.”

     

    The writer’s team had “endless discussions” about how to portray the gadgets, as well as all the other details of “style” and “esthetics,” Abrams said. “If you do the bridge of the Enterprise, what does it look like? Does Uhura has the piece in her, or does she not? And if she does, what does it look like? If they have tricorders, what do they look like? Phasers, how do you go from stun to kill, and does anything happen? What does the whole fleet look like? I’m telling you, every day, we were figuring this out, how do we take what we know and love and ‘Star Trek’ and apply it to a modern audience.”

     

    Some of these details will be a little more hidden, Burk said, as easter eggs. “There will be appearances of things,” he said.

     

    “We have family members who would disown us if we got any of those wrong,” said writer/producer Roberto Orci.

     

    At the same time it’s meant for hardcore fans, “it’s designed very much to be seen if you don’t know anything about it,” Orci said, “including the story of how they all met. It’s finally, truly Star Trek Zero in a way. You don’t have to know anything.”

     

    What do you want to see in “Star Trek”? What does the movie need to have to be complete to you?

     

    J.J. Abrams And ‘Star Trek’ Writers Reveal Film Has ‘All The Gadgets You Could Want’ - 09.02.08