Never Forget

IN MEMORIAM: On the 18th anniversary of the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, NASA astronauts paid tribute to the heroes who risked their lives to save others on that day by tweeting a special message from space.

"Honoring the brave public servants of @FDNY. Thank you for your service, we remember your fallen comrades," NASA's Expedition 60 astronaut Drew Morgan tweeted from the International Space Station. "Your flag and patch are proudly orbiting the Earth on board the @Space_Station! #NeverForget."

Morgan shared photos of a New York City Fire Department (FDNY) patch floating in the Cupola window with a view of Earth in the background, as well as a photo of himself with an FDNY flag mounted inside the orbiting laboratory. 

So many heroes. 9/11 was a day where so many gave everything. Here's a story I'd not heard before today. It's about a young man, a red bandanna, and a heroic effort. The question the memorial video asks is,"What would you do in the last hour of your life?"

Welles Crowther's story is worth a few minutes of your time.


Another 9/11-related story I learned about today for the first time was about Twin Towers' architect Minoru Yamasaki. 

Yamasaki was born in Seattle on Dec. 1, 1912. He graduated from Garfield High School, and then the  University of Washington, class of 1934. Yamasaki also designed the Rainier Tower and Pacific Science Center in Seattle.

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51691083

Given his age and knowing about Japanese internment camps during World War II, I wondered how Yamasaki fared during that period. Apparently the Detroit architecture firm of Smith, Hinchman & Grylls whom Yamasaki was working for during that period helped him avoid internment as a Japanese-American during World War II, and Yamasaki sheltered his parents in New York City. 

ROCK SHOW: Catching up on the rock and roll lifestyle that CJ is currently embracing, here's his review of the Iron Maiden show at the Tacoma Dome last Thursday night.

Ever since their formation on Christmas 1975, English heavy metal band Iron Maiden have found critical and commercial success, selling millions of albums worldwide. Iron Maiden was arguably the leading band in the "New Wave of British Heavy Metal" (NWOBHM), a large group of heavy metal bands that emerged from the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and early 1980s (other notable NWOBHM bands include Judas Priest, Motörhead, Saxon, Def Leppard, Witchfinder General, and Venom).

On September 5th, 2019, Iron Maiden performed at the Tacoma Dome, as part of their "Legacy of the Beast" tour. The opener for the tour is The Raven Age, a band featuring George Harris, the son of Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris (yay, nepotism!). The concerts of the "Legacy of the Beast" tour are highly theatrical, featuring large props and sets, which often only get used for single songs (a good example being a large plane prop that was only used for Aces High, the first song on Iron Maiden's set). Most of the songs on the set list are from Iron Maiden's 1980s albums, when the band was at its peak of popularity.

Bruce Dickinson, Iron Maiden's singer, is impressively still able to sing many high-pitched parts of the band's songs, even at age 60. Noticeably, Dickinson's British accent isn't present in his singing voice, so it's jarring going from hearing him sing to hearing him talk (and vice versa). Towards the end of the concert, Bruce stopped the show to give a speech to the audience about an alleged attack by several venue security guards on a fan in the audience. Bruce followed the speech up with a performance of "The Evil That Men Do", a title he called "appropriate" considering the alleged attack.

Iron Maiden closed the concert with "Hallowed Be Thy Name" and "Run To The Hills," both classic cuts from their 1982 LP "The Number of the Beast." Overall, Iron Maiden put on a great show, and I wish them good luck on the rest of their tour (preferably without security guards assaulting a guest in the crowd).

Christian and CJ attended the show. They had decent seats, about midway back from the stage in the Tacoma Dome, and just a couple rows up off the floor. But early on, CJ decided he wanted to be in the mix, down on the floor, so Christian and CJ ventured into the mass of humanity down there. There are some good photos, but those will have to wait until Christian shares them with me. Stay tuned.

SPACE IS HARD, CONTINUED:  More not-so-good news from a non-NASA space program. On Tuesday, we were set to watch an unmanned Japanese re-supply mission to the ISS launch. Here it is on the pad, just moments before its scheduled take off.

Credit: MHI

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. The launch was aborted when a fire broke out on the launch pad. That's never a good thing. 

I found this video on YouTube. The fire erupts about the 17 minute mark. You can see fire suppression systems kick in shortly after the flames begin.


Fortunately, no one was injured, and there weren't any huge explosions. According to a press release from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), which is conducting the mission on behalf of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), a fire at the base of the of the launch pad on Japan’s Tanegashima island broke out near a vent designed to carry engine exhaust away from the heavy-lift H2B rocket. 

From what I've read, the incident is relatively minor, and it's hoped the mission is launched in the next day or so, but I can't find any new launch date in my Googling efforts as of this moment.