I was reading an article earlier today about Elon Musk's plan for a "whole new architecture" of space craft, and I saw a photo of his prototype for the Space-X Starship reusable launch vehicle intended for eventual Mars missions, seen here beside an existing Falcon-1 booster.
I was instantly reminded of the eponymous spaceship from the early 1960s classic Rocketship XL5 Supermarionation series. All you need are bigger fins, Elon, a touch of colour, and you're there!
I opened my eyes upon a strange and weird landscape. I knew that I was on Mars; not once did I question either my sanity or my wakefulness. I was not asleep, no need for pinching here; my inner consciousness told me as plainly that I was upon Mars as your conscious mind tells you that you are upon Earth. You do not question the fact; neither did I.
Edgar Rice Burroughs, A Princess of Mars
When I first purchased my VR headset, I viewed it as primarily an advanced gaming system. Now that I'm using it on a regular basis, it's obvious that it's really more of an alternative computing platform that's capable of delivering a wide range of services and experiences*.
As an example, there's an extensive selection of virtual reality experiences in the Oculus download library: an immersive tour of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone; a 3D view of Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo's busiest intersection; visits to the world's great cities; and trips to the Arctic, the Pyramids, the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, and a myriad of other opportunities. Most recently, they've added a VR view of Mars from the perspective of the Perseverance rover - and it's breathtaking.
Assembled by CreatorUp
video services founder Hugh Hou from 142 HD pictures taken by the probe's Z-Mast
camera, the virtual view of the Martian surface is incredible in its realism.
Screen grabs really don't do justice to the experience, it was startling to have that strong an impression of standing on the surface of another planet - or, more accurately, on Perseverance's chassis, probably someplace quite close to the chip with Karli and my names on it. I thought I was joking, but it turns out that we actually do have seats with a good view.
A few years ago, I signed up for a membership with the Heritage Auctions web site - not because I wanted to start bidding on things, but because their site was an excellent source of high resolution scans of comic book covers and artwork, book and pulp magazine covers, and movie posters and memorabilia.
However, over time I've started casually following their auctions - they do dedicated comic book and movie sessions every week, and I've always thought that it would be nice to own original comic book art. Admittedly, anything I've ever been interested in has been far out of my price range - yes, this is the auction house that auctioned off a Frank Frazetta cover painting for 5.4 million dollars in 2019 and the first comic book appearance of the Batman for 1.3 million at the start of this year - but it's a harmless dream to enjoy while I browse.
However, there are more modestly priced lots available, and every now and then I place a bid, just for fun. Recently, this resulted in the successful purchase of a set of eight lobby cards from Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which debuted in December of 1979.
It's generally agreed that the first attempt at transferring the original crew to the big screen was not a great success, but it's still a significant moment in Star Trek history, and I like the idea of lobby cards - they don't seem to attract the same amount of bidding as the posters, and and at 11x14 inches they're a convenient size to frame, whereas a 28x40 inch movie poster almost requires you to design the room around it. (Although, gosh, if I had the wall space and the money...).
To my surprise, I won the items with what I considered to be a relatively low bid of $38 USD.* This bid marked my first successful purchase in this area - I had tentatively
placed a bid on lobby cards from the 1956 science fiction classic Forbidden Planet
at some point last year, but it quickly got too rich for my blood (I strongly feel that the secret to managing auction participation is to not fall prey to bidding fever).
My purchases arrived today, and now that I'm able to examine them in person, I'm definitely pleased. Oh, there's a slightly compressed corner here and there, and a hint of yellowing on one or two of the cards, but overall they're in excellent shape for printed items that are over 42 years old.
Now that I think about it, I'm not sure I've watched this movie since I saw it in commercial release in '79. Hmmm...it must be streaming somewhere, right?
