Tag: space

Abducted by Aliens

Abducted by Aliens

No, actually, I’m still here. I’ve been working on the next two (yup, 2) books coming out soonjaguar. Another novella, a prequel, and another novel, the second of three beginning with Paradox. Of course, Captain Thomas Jackson leads the adventures, and Quixote makes his appearance in both stories as do a few other memorable characters on the bridge and among the crew.

Novissimus: Space Station One, is Earth’s first space station, a collaboration with three other space faring species, set in motion around the fifth planet of Omicron, an orange star seventeen light years from Earth. The mushroom shaped orbiting facilitynovissimus-cover is known for its magnificent arboretum that acts as a complete biological component of the station, as well as its state of the art medical facilities and top notch space vehicle repair services.

Going from a dark star planet filled with fossils, the Linus Pauling is called to Novissimus to collect medical equipment needed on Silverado Six, which is fighting an outbreak of Altarian Fever, a virulent pneumatic virus that needs not only the equipment, but a live, attenuated vaccine, in stasis. Little did they expect the fossils they collected would be so much trouble, and so much help, in completing their mission.

Symbiosis: Titans of Cassiopeia, is set one year after the end of Paradox, The Alien Genome. Captain Jackson, Rianya, and Zalara return to Earth only to be sent back into space with a new, faster ship, the S S Maria Mitchell. Taking doctors on an errand oyersiniaf mercy to Eta Cassiopeia’s fifth planet, they stop at its fourth planet to collect a unique artifact that can’t be explained by anything other than as proof of time travel! Upon arrival at the fifth planet, and with confirmation that Pegasi are in the area, the artifact begins to shed some light on the centuries-old problem of antibiotic resistance causing an entire population to suffer, and die.

We’re introduced tomriyquito Dr. Jane Ferris, a human with a curious ancestry. The remnants of radical genetic manipulation show in her face that startles most people, at first. When Captain Jackson is taken hostage on the planet, Rianya is taken ill with the bacteria on the Maria Mitchell in orbit, and neither knows the peril of the other. Are Pegasi and Kiians colluding for profit or just innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire? The key is held in the data banks of an abandoned space ship from the future, confirmed by a beautiful stone in the pilot’s pocket, and the information it reveals changes Tom and Rianya’s family forever.

Coming soon on Kindle and in Paperback. Follow me on Twitter @hsrivney or Facebook From the Stratosphere, or Goodreads author HSRivney

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Goodreads Giveaway

Goodreads Giveaway

gilesemooncoverStarts today! runs through the end of January – enter for a chance to win a signed copy of Paradox: The Alien Genome. Share with those who love Hard Science Fiction, this will take you from the vastness of our galaxy to the microcosm of molecules!  Castaway astronauts may never see Earth again, which is a shame since what humanity needs most is all around them.

Enter to Win!

#amwriting #sciencefiction #startrek

Move Over, Hubble

Move Over, Hubble

james-webb-space-telescopeA golden telescope is ready to be tested after twenty years under construction. It will be the largest space telescope humans have ever deployed, and it’s scheduled to assume its final position about a million miles away from Earth in 2018. This magnificent feat of engineering will have seven times the light collecting surface of Hubble in addition to having the ability to collect infrared light.

It’s called the James Webb Space Telescope. If the moon was only the size of a jellybean, this telescope could see it, and any heat that it might emit. From its orbit ‘behind’ the earth at a place in space officially called Lagrange Point 2 (see the info graphic), and by maintaining a temperature near absolute zero, the telescope will, among other tasks, be able to penetrate clouds of dust and analyze the atmospheres of exoplanets that have been discovered around nearby stars.

The cost? Almost 9 billion bucks. That’s a lot of money, but it didn’t simply go up in smoke. The money supported high tech and manufacturing jobs for the betterment of man as opposed to more nuclear weapons, wars for oil, and the interest on the national debt, which by itself is over 230 billion dollars annually. Over the course of 20 years, this single project cost less than a third of a single year’s American science budget. When you look at it that way, it’s downright reasonable given its projected lifespan, the information we will gain, and again, the high tech jobs that go with. We spend that money and we have something to show for it.

NASA leads the project, but has considerable support by the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.  The 21 foot mirror  has to be launched folded and will unfurl once it has endured the launch itself which will take about two weeks! It will be told to open its solar shield, then it must cool down. The last thing ground engineers will do is focus the instrument, and it should begin functioning by Spring of 2019. It carries enough fuel to sustain it for ten years but with typical spacecraft, it will probably function much longer than anyone expects.

I borrowed (stole) this info-graphic from Space dot com that broke the story, and hope if you are interested in more details you’ll go visit them. I’m all about giving credit where it is due, and simply want to bring a little good news to you in light of all the ugly news on the television these recent days. Enjoy, share, and dream.

 

 

 

Free Again by Popular Demand

Free Again by Popular Demand

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Dangerous: Gamma Ray Games had a great debut and dozens of copies are now in the hot little hands of happy science fiction readers. Did you miss out? It’s coming up for FREE again, on October 22nd and 23rd. Take a needed break from the election madness and read about what happens when two alien races fight over the rights to a nuclear reactor – and it’s not even running on either of their own planets!

Remember: an E-Book can be read on ANY device, including your computer.

Gamma Ray Games  udp_kcp


Here’s a short excerpt: 

“I didn’t find any documentation for radiation sickness or illness attributed to the reactor,” Beth explained, opening two books across the table. “I found illustrated books on anatomy, and basic medicine, but it’s all mechanical and organic. No references to antibiotics or advanced surgical techniques like organ transplants or even vaccines, only plant extracts and such. And I hate to think about it: sutures and needles for closing lacerations,” she winced and drew her mouth into a flat line. Captain Thomas Jackson smiled at his field medic’s genteel aversion to the archaic medical technology then turned to his geologist.

“And the thorium?” he directed at Jamul.

“Well…um, Tom…” the young lieutenant began haltingly, glancing at the Cetian company in earshot, “there are a few manuscripts on minerals and elements. I didn’t have time to translate them fully.” He put his hands on a stack of geology books and then opened one. “Monazite sand is abundant here, especially this continent. The sands are mined for thorium, above ground, and the process isn’t difficult, not like uranium. Since thorium isn’t stand-alone ‘radioactive’ the mining it isn’t nearly so hazardous.”

“Well, that’s a start,” Jackson said. “I can’t find anything here on electricity except one book on theory, but nothing that would support Cetian technology on 20th century Earth level. I did some research on the trip out here, though. A thorium reactor produces electricity the same way a uranium fuel reactor does, but because the thorium can’t burn alone like uranium it has to be hit with a constant stream of neutrons. There’s a quick two-step decay process, then fission. If you turn off the neutrons, the process will stop. The fuel stops burning, like cutting off the oxygen to a fire. If for some reason it gets too hot, that heat melts a plug underground, and the molten salts surrounding the core drain off, and the process also stops. You can’t stop a uranium fuel reaction. It has to burn itself out.”

“So it can’t meltdown?” Beth asked.

“Yes,” Jamul answered, “but the failsafe is instant so the radiation damage is nominal. This all works at normal atmospheric pressure. And, most important, thorium can’t, reasonably, be made into nuclear weapons like uranium.”

“But, there is still some radioactive waste. And, now we’re left with a new question,” Jackson said. “If they aren’t making weapons from the thorium, why did Kiians put up a reactor here, in plain sight? And why a fission reactor? The Kiians are far more advanced than that. Why not a fusion reactor or better still a solar facility? And for that matter, why at all? Did the Cetians solicit or sanction it?” Jackson shook his head slowly and no one spoke for a few moments.

“Sir-um-Tom, so, why did Earth use uranium reactors if thorium was safer, easier to mine, less waste?” Beth asked. The two men looked at each other with little expression and then back at her.

“Weapons and politics,” Tom replied. “Uranium was used in weapons first, the Second World War, then as a power source. Testosterone ruled in the 20th century, and governments didn’t put up research money for just anything. War was profitable. Luckily that was short-lived, only a few major accidents over a hundred years and then we jumped to renewables.” He leaned on the table and glanced over the books. “What are Kiians getting from a thorium fission reactor they can’t get any other way? What is so valuable to warrant that…” he waved in the general direction of the reactor, “monstrosity?”

When they finished with the books to the limit of the translation reader they left the library with more questions than they’d answered. Tom took a last look at the map before they left to look for Quinaal.

“I hope you two studied your Cetian. It’s time we start speaking their language.”

“This is a charming town,” Beth said in a pidgin version of Cetian. “It’s like going back centuries in time. Everyone speaks the same language?”

“I imagine isolated populations speak their own language, like on Earth.”

“What are those?” Jamul asked and pointed to an ox-like animal harnessed to a wooden merchandise cart. The group paused to look at it.

“Didn’t see those the last time I was here,” Tom said. Perhaps half a kiloton, the animal appeared to be an awkward griffon but more primordial; it was less a mix of lion and eagle, more a mix of horse and a three horned chameleon-alligator. “Apparently, a Cetian beast of burden,” he stated. The lieutenant and the captain resumed their journey toward the metallurgist’s home when a moment later Beth screamed! The men spun about and saw the ensign sitting in the street, her hand bleeding copiously on the ground and on her garments.

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When October Goes

When October Goes

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All roads point to home in old October. I find this one of my favorite blurbs as October seems to call people home. In the Northern Hemisphere, the summer heat is over, the world gets ready to fold up for the winter and pumpkin spice everything appears on menus all across America.

Books are coming out – Mike Massimino’s new book entitled #Spaceman is out and would be a great holiday gift for any one who likes space travel, courage, and all things NASA. Clayton C. Anderson, another average Joe who went to space, also has a good book out that was published in 2015, The Ordinary Spaceman: From Boyhood Dreams to Astronaut. And of course, the Star Trek Encyclopedia by the Michael and Denise Okuda, released for the 50th anniversary this year.529

And Autumn is the time of year to trade in your swim suits for a good book and travel to another world. If you’re looking for a good fiction read, of course, you can also check out my own books, Paradox: The Alien Genome ($3.99 and $9.99 paperback), and Dangerous: Gamma Ray Games ($0.99 e-book only).

Put away the grill, the flip-flops, and beach towels, and pick up a Kindle, a paperback, or your favorite Go-To book on the shelf, and reacquaint yourself with words and worlds. You won’t be disappointed.

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