Year: 2003

Categories
Television

Birds Of Prey: Reunion

  • January 8, 2003

Birds Of PreyThe 11th episode of the superhero series Birds Of Prey, based on characters from the DC Comics universe, airs on the WB. Jennifer Darling (The Bionic Woman, The Tick) guest stars.

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Categories
Columbia Crewed Spaceflight Space Shuttle

STS-107

  • January 16, 2003

Space ShuttleSpace Shuttle Columbia lifts off for a scientific research mission with the SPACEHAB module – a successor to Spacelab – in its cargo bay, for a flight lasting almost 17 days. Columbia’s crew for this flight is Commander Rick Husband, Pilot Willie McCool, Payload Commander Michael Anderson, mission specialists Kalpana Chawla, David Brown and Laurel Clark, and payload specialist Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut. During liftoff, a piece of insulated foam is vibrated loose from the shuttle’s external fuel tank, causing critical damage to the leading edge of Columbia’s left wing. The foam collision is noticed and discussed internally at NASA, but is not deemed a threat by ground controllers.

Categories
Television

Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Potential

  • January 21, 2003

Buffy The Vampire SlayerThe 134th episode of Joss Whedon’s supernatural series Buffy The Vampire Slayer, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, airs on UPN. James Marsters and Alyson Hannigan also star. Felicia Day (Mystery Science Theater 3000) guest stars.

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Categories
Columbia Crewed Spaceflight Space Shuttle

STS-107: Columbia down

  • February 1, 2003

Space ShuttleAfter nearly 17 days in orbit performing experiments in the SPACEHAB module its cargo bay, Space Shuttle Columbia deorbits to return to Earth for a planned landing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During reentry, a gaping hole in the leading edge of Columbia’s left wing – damage caused by a piece of foam shaken loose from the external fuel tank during liftoff – allows superheated plasma to leak into the shuttle’s superstructure, tearing the vehicle apart. The entire crew (Commander Rick Husband, Pilot Willie McCool, Payload Commander Michael Anderson, mission specialists Kalpana Chawla, David Brown and Laurel Clark, and payload specialist Ilan Ramon) is lost. At first, ground controllers are only aware of a series of sensor failures in the wing, followed by a loss of contact; ground-based cameras finally spot an expanding cloud of debris falling at supersonic speeds. As with the loss of Challenger in 1986, an extensive investigation and review of NASA procedures follows the loss of Columbia and her crew, resulting in a two-year grounding of the remaining shuttle fleet and a pause in construction of the International Space Station.

Categories
Television

Birds Of Prey: Fate Of Clay / Devil’s Eyes

  • February 19, 2003

Birds Of PreyThe 12th and 13th episodes of the superhero series Birds Of Prey, based on characters from the DC Comics universe, air on the WB. Though the show has a vocal cult following, ratings for the series have not been particularly high, and these are the final episodes of the series. A movie with a completely different cast will revisit the Birds of Prey characters in 2020.

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Categories
Hubble Space Telescope Science & Technology Uncrewed Spaceflight

The giant who melted

  • March 12, 2003

HD 209458bNASA’s Hubble Space Telescope makes an astonishing discovery while observing one of the first planets discovered beyond Earth’s solar system. The gas giant planet designated HD 209458b, orbiting the star HD 209458 in the constellation of Pegasus, 150 light years from Earth, is losing its atmosphere. Slightly larger than Jupiter, but locked into a dizzyingly tight orbit around its star (only 4,000,000 miles, with its “year” lasting less than half of an Earth week), HD 209458b’s atmosphere is boiling away into space thanks to the heat of the nearby star. This leads to a new exoplanet classification, “Hot Jupiters,” used to describe gas giants in similarly suicidal orbits. The core of HD 209458b will probably not last long once the last remnants of its atmosphere dissipate.

Categories
Hubble Space Telescope Science & Technology Uncrewed Spaceflight

The sun that coughed

  • March 26, 2003

V838 MonocerosFollowing up on observations from Earth-based telescopes, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope is pointed toward the star V838 Monocerotis – an object of very little previous interest – to discover why it’s suddenly the brightest thing in the entire Milky Way Galaxy. What Hubble sees surprises scientists on the ground: a “shell” of matter surrounding the star, illuminated from within and expanding outward into space (actual photo sequence seen here). What astronomers had seen previously was the illumination of the dust cloud, which is much larger than the star itself. Scientists theorize that the expanding dust cloud is not an indication of a supernova, but a sign that V838 Monocerotis is expanding, expelling gas and then shrinking again. The star is over 20,000 light years from Earth.

Categories
Music

Electric Light Orchestra II / The Lost Planet

  • April 8, 2003

The Lost PlanetEMI Records releases a UK-only remastered, expanded edition of the second Electric Light Orchestra album, Electric Light Orchestra II, featuring a bonus CD bearing the 1972 album’s unused work-in-progress title, The Lost Planet. The bonus disc includes numerous previously unissued songs, including demos from a session to test out prospective new lead singers before Jeff Lynne took that mantle as well, following the departure of co-founder Roy Wood. Though a remastered Electric Light Orchestra II is later issued in North America, it does not include the second disc or its contents.

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