MISSION FILE / MM–BLOG
04 / FIELD NOTES
Dispatches on space, human connection, exploration, and the ideas that move us farther.
Inspiration
This was a cosmic year. It started with a Total Solar Eclipse. Seeing the corona of our Sun during an eclipse is like glimpsing the soul of a star. The corona is the outermost layer, hidden by the Sun’s overwhelming brightness, only revealed in rare moments when the Moon perfectly aligns with the Sun, casting…
Inspiration
Your Mirror – 6 Personality Factors A New Year has begun, a time that calls for making resolutions, promises to do better at something, small or large. We promise to do better at things: to go to the gym more, start a new job, better manage money, or clean up our communities or our oceans.…
Inspiration
Being fit comes in many shapes. We can be fit for duty, fit for work, fit of mind, and fit of body. While each of these fitness factors is important and are mutually supportive, there is one form of fitness that studies show is key to lasting health, longevity, and happiness: social fitness. If you…
Inspiration
On StarTrek’s Next Generation, the Starship USS Enterprise-D sports a unique bar that has an equally uncommon bartender. The Ten Forward is a lounge on the tenth deck of the Enterprise commanded by Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) who leads its intergalactic missions. For the many thousands of crew members of 13 species aboard the…
Inspiration
It is almost Halloween. Halloween, a time when we express admiration for our heroes by wearing costumes that look like them. Children in my neighborhood often dress as space characters, robots, and (my personal favorite) astronauts. Of course, the littlest astronauts get extra candy. But our support for space is not just expressed only by…
Inspiration
Feeling nostalgic, I recently flipped through the channels to watch an old childhood cartoon favorite, The Jetsons. Afterward I saw it from a new perspective. In 1962 Hanna-Babera animators had created a new entertainment to portray space age life in the year 2062. It’s been 40 years since that time and we have 40 years…
Inspiration
Yoda is an iconic figure in Star Wars movies. He is a beloved character with a distinctive appearance and voice. But most importantly he is very wise. I have discovered that there are real Yodas who dwell among us. One can’t help to be captivated by Yoda in the stories. He is an extraterrestrial humanoid,…
Inspiration
Alone. Another deep breath. My glasses fog again. A tear headache follows. Focus: How long has it been? Not long. Not according to the calendar. Everyone is doing okay, I’m sure. Me? ‘Yes, all good,’ I practice just in case. The cell phone rings. I reach out — in time. Supporting health in the confines…
Inspiration
[image credit: NASA] When we see our home from space, we love it all the more, and want to take care of it. In space we get perspective. We need to leave home and look back at it. Then we know how precious it is.
Inspiration
The Tokyo Olympics provide golden moments where the best get to wear the prized gold medallion and stand on center stage of the platform to receive it. This is how we honor greatness. What we overlook is the heroes’ dilemma; if not remedied, it could be their most fearsome opponent that defeats them. We love…