Some recollections inspired by COSMOS: The Voyager spacecraft television cameras sent back much better images of Jupiter and Saturn than the photopolarimeters on the Pioneer spacecraft. My good friend Timothy Kyger told me back then that on the Carl Sagan flyby, the difference was also notable and with Voyager you could actually see the individual ribs on his corduroy jacket...! ****** At the Planetary Societys Planetfest in Pasadena during the Voyager/Saturn encounter, I was the one who pointed out to Gene Roddenberry that the live feed from Voyager 2 was labeled VGR 2 in the upper left corner of the screen, similarly to the fictional Voyager 6 in STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE. Ill be damned! he said when he saw it himself. ****** On the original version of COSMOS, I remember Dr. Sagan taking the Starship of the Imagination too close to a supernova, and there was an insert shot of his hand on the control panel pressing a button which clearly read Deflector Shields. This led to somebody drawing a DOONESBURY-style fannish comic strip which featured Dr. Sagan at the helm as the Starship was fired upon by an alien ship (*Btoom!* *Btoom!*) and his ordering phasers to full power and be ready to jump to warp at his command. Commander Sagan! Theyre comin around again! (*Btoom!* *Btoom!*) (So, yes, Michael Marek, there was nothing wrong with making a bowl of popcorn to watch with!) ****** At a convention masquerade in L. A., there was a young man who resembled Dr. Sagan, down to the haircut, jacket, and voice. He invited questions from the audience. There were immediate cries of Dr. Sagan! Dr. Sagan! How many stars are there in the universe? He replied in the perfect voice imitation There are more than twelve. This got laughs, and as THE HITCHHIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY was still new, the questioners followed up with Dr. Sagan! Dr. Sagan! How many *digital_watches* are there in the universe? *Then* Billions and billions came back the answer. (The kid later said there was no conscious thought to his replies, the words just pushed their way out past my tongue.) ****** The late Adams Douglas invited several people to see the first episode on the color t.v. of his mother, the late actress Jan Sterling, in her home. I wasnt yet familiar with her body of work -- I would have had so many questions to ask her about her career. #LostOpportunity Susan Sackett, Don Davis, Frank Eric Rathbone, Michael Okuda, Denise Okuda, Rick Sternbach, Steven Barnes, Paula Lieberman, Michael Mackowski, Karen Malcor-Chapman, Mike Glyer, Jay Smith, Karen Schnaubelt, J Neil Schulman
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 08:23:45 +0000
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