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Blog

Remembering Challenger

January 28, 2014 By Aaron Johnston

photo_shuttle_Challenger_STS-51-L_launch_original_800x600I spent most of my childhood in Huntsville, Alabama, just a few miles away from the Space and Rocket Center. We went as a family once, but I never went to Space Camp there, where kids pretended to be astronauts in training for a week. The cost at the time, if I’m remembering correctly, was upwards of $400 to $500, way more than my family could afford. Asking my parents to send me to Space Camp would be like asking them to launch me to the moon. It just wasn’t going to happen.

And yet I dreamed that it would.  I used to lie in bed and picture myself wearing the blue NASA jumpsuit every kid was issued. I could see myself sitting in the shuttle simulator, staring out the window at the breathtaking view of Earth far below. 

But alas it was not meant to be. I was like the kid who lived smack dab in Orlando but who never got a ticket to Disneyworld.

STS-51-L-patch-TDRSBAll of this isn’t to evoke pity on my childhood; I had a wonderful childhood. I only mention it to emphasize that when I was a kid, I wanted nothing more than to grow up and become an astronaut. I had posters on my wall. I checked out books from the library. I got magazines on space. It was my future. I even had my career path outlined. Knowing that a lot of shuttle pilots were former pilots for the military, I intended to join the Navy and fly F-14 Tomcats.

Before the Challenger disaster my family moved north of Huntsville to a tiny community called Elkmont, in the middle of cotton country. My school was K-12. There was one hall for elementary school students and another hall for high school students. People drove four wheelers to school. It was boonies.

Every week I was bussed to a special school for “gifted” children, which really meant “children who could take standardized tests really well.” In any event, I loved this special school. My teacher was fun and brilliant and energized about learning. We made solar-powered hot-dog cookers and learned about writing and the universe and elementary psychics. One of the kids in my class, who was bussed in from another school, and who had gone to Space Camp, occasionally wore his blue NASA jumpsuit, and I’d stare at it in wonder, hoping that he’d grow out of it and give it to me.

On January 28, 1986 my class of geeks and space nerds was scheduled to watch the Challenger liftoff. I had been following the Challenger preparation in the news for weeks, and was nearly jumping out of my skin with excitement. A teacher was going up. A teacher! Someone who didn’t have to be a scientist or a Navy pilot, but a teacher, just like the one I had, bright-eyed and incredibly brave.

We gathered around the TV set in the classroom. My teacher turned on the TV, but nothing happened. She jiggled the wires and turned the knobs, and eventually we learned that the cable connection wasn’t working. We weren’t going to watch the launch after all. I was crushed. 

300x240_01281834_750px-challenger_flight_51-l_crew(2)Later my parents  told me what had happened. It was like a hammer blow. Everything I had dreamed about was gone in a literal cloud of smoke. I had never dealt with death before, and suddenly the idea took on new meaning. I had watched the crew train on the news. I had seen their press conferences and their smiling faces. They had waved at the crowd. They had been so alive and happy and ecstatic about the mission ahead. I had imagined them in space, floating weightless, conducting their experiments, doing somersaults, laughing, moving about in the cramped space. And now they were gone.

What’s most tragic about the disaster is that the crew was likely still alive after the explosion. The crew cabin was made of reinforced aluminum and especially robust. It detached in a single piece after the explosion and fell in a ballistic arc. When the cabin was recovered, it was learned that several electrical switches on pilot Mike Smith’s panel had been pulled, suggesting that he had tried to restore power as the cabin fell. From Wikipedia:

Fellow Astronaut Richard Mullane wrote, “These switches were protected with lever locks that required them to be pulled outward against a spring force before they could be moved to a new position.” Later tests established that neither force of the explosion nor the impact with the ocean could have moved them, indicating that Smith made the switch changes, presumably in a futile attempt to restore electrical power to the cockpit after the crew cabin detached from the rest of the orbiter.

Whether the astronauts remained conscious long after the breakup is unknown, and largely depends on whether the detached crew cabin maintained pressure integrity. If it did not, the time of useful consciousness at that altitude is just a few seconds; the PEAPs supplied only unpressurized air, and hence would not have helped the crew to retain consciousness. If, on the other hand, the cabin was not depressurized or only slowly depressurizing, the astronauts may have been conscious and cognizant for the entire fall until impact.

Tragic. And awful to imagine.

I would like to think that the crew was unconscious seconds after the detonation. That they mercifully went to sleep and simply never awakened. But we’ll never know.

Regardless, these people are heroes to me. They were when I was a kid, and they are now. They knew the risk, they knew the danger. And yet they zipped up and got on board.

challenger-explosionThe image taken at the moment of explosion is forever burned into my memory. It represents a defining moment in my childhood, a single event that flipped a switch in my brain and made me realize how fragile life really can be. People die. Accidents happen. Systems fail. Plans go tragically wrong. Dreams aren’t always realized. Good people suffer.

And yet, despite that, despite the hard, ugly reality of those facts, shuttle flights continued. Eventually crews stepped into suits and strapped themselves in tight. We continued to look skyward. We continued to reach up. We were heartbroken but not broken. Giving up was never in the cards.

As for me, I never joined the Navy. Growth spurts continued, and I realized that I was far too tall to squeeze into a Tomcat. Which is probably for the best. I don’t really have the coordination or the stomach for that kind of flying. My love of space never dimmed, however, and I consider myself fortunate that I can still dabble in the universe, even if only in my mind.

As for the Challenger crew, I say thank you. Thank you for inspiring us all. May you forever rest in peace, and may we never forget.

Francis R. Scobee (Commander)
Michael J. Smith (Pilot)
Ronald McNair (Mission Specialist)
Ellison Onizuka (Mission Specialist)
Judith Resnik (Mission Specialist)
Greg Jarvis (Payload Specialist)
Christa McAuliffe (Payload Specialist)

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Filed Under: FEATURED, Blog

My Schedule at Life, the Universe, & Everything

January 28, 2014 By Aaron Johnston

LTUE2014BannerThis year I’m honored and thrilled to be a participant at Life, the Universe, & Everything, a longstanding SF and fantasy symposium in Provo, Utah, being held Thursday February 13 through Saturday February 15.

Why is a science fiction and fantasy symposium taking place over Valentine’s Day, you ask? I’m not sure, but since my wife and I don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day, I won’t be getting into trouble for going.

This year the guest of honor is Orson Scott Card, and I’m looking forward to attending his panels. I’ll also be moderating two panels with Scott, and I’m excited about that as well. My panel schedule is below, but please visit the site to see the symposium’s full schedule. A lot of incredibly talented writers and editors and scholars will be there, so it should be very informative.

There’s also a mass book signing at Barnes & Noble on Friday evening. Currently seventy-seven authors are scheduled to be there, which, to be honest, strikes me as insane. Let me repeat that number. Seventy-seven. I doubt there are ever that many customers in a B&N at any given time, much less authors.

And when there are more authors at a book signing then people buying books, one can’t help but wonder if this is a good idea. There’s an unwritten rule in theater, for example, that if the audience is smaller than the size of the cast, we give the audience their money back and pack up and head home. (You diehard theater nuts will argue that point, I’m sure. “The show must go on! Even if there’s only ONE person in the theater.” Yes, well, actors doing a show eight times a week over and over again would probably disagree with you.)

Anyway, the signing will be an odd event, and that’s reason enough to come and see what happens. I wonder if I could start a food fight? Or, better yet, a book fight? Hmm.

Here’s my schedule. The “M” beside the name indicates who is moderating the panel. Please come say hello if you’ll be in Utah.

[hr]

THURSDAY 13
1:00 PM
Writing Children
As adults, convincingly writing a child character can be tricky. This panel addresses ways to make sure your characters act their age.

  • (M) Aaron Johnston
  • J Scott Savage
  • K.L. Morgan
  • Lehua Parker
  • Sandra Tayler
  • Tristi Pinkston

5:00 PM
How to Write a Villain
What do you need to do to write a compelling villain?

  • Aaron Johnston
  • Charlie Pulsipher
  • Heather Ostler
  • (M) Helge Moulding
  • Robert J Defendi

FRIDAY 14
11:00 AM
Religion in Disguise and in the Open: Tolkien the Catholic, Lewis the Anglican, (Card the Mormon)

  • Orson Scott Card
  • Dr. Michael R. Collings
  • (M) Aaron Johnston

4:00 PM
Action Sequences
How to make a good action sequence fast paced while still explaining things in vivid detail to the readers.

  • Aaron Johnston
  • Adrienne Monson
  • (M) Dan Willis
  • J.R. Johansson
  • S. A. Butler
  • Valerie Mechling

Mass book signing at Barnes & Nobel at 8:00 PM. (330 East 1300 South, Orem, UT 84058, 801-229-1611)

SATURDAY 15
1:00 PM
Ender’s Books: The Author, the Adapter, and the Analyzer
Orson Scott Card wrote them originally. Aaron Johnston adapted them to other media. And Michael Collings tells us what it all means.

  • Orson Scott Card
  • Michael Collings
  • (M) Aaron Johnston

2:00 PM
Writing for Comics
Collaborating with artists is its own skill set complete with conventions and constraints that are very different than conventional prose. Learn from the best how to write stories that will knock the reader’s socks off.

  • (M) Aaron Johnston
  • Blake Casselman
  • C.K. Edwards
  • David Baxter

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Filed Under: Books, FEATURED, Blog, Writing Tagged With: Fantasy, LTUE, Life the Universe and Everything, Orson Scott Card, Provo, SF, Writing

French cover of Earth Unaware

January 17, 2014 By Aaron Johnston

I recently learned about the French cover of Earth Unaware. I love the illustration by Benjamin Carré. The publisher is L´ATALANTE. I wish I could read the thing. But alas, me no speak-a da Frances.

When Scott was in France recently he picked up a copy for me. I think it looks killer.

avertir-la-terre,-prequelle-a-la-strategie-ender-354443

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Filed Under: FEATURED, Blog, Earth Unaware

My costume in Ender’s Game

January 15, 2014 By Aaron Johnston

Ender'sGame.costumeI make a brief appearance in the movie adaptation of Ender’s Game. I’m in the climatic scene toward the end. If you haven’t read the book or seen the movie stop reading now as I’m about to describe my scene.

Seriously. Spoilers ahead.

OK, so I’m in the final battle scene, when Ender takes on the Formic home world and victory for the human race suddenly seems impossible. We’re terribly outnumbered, and there’s no chance of us even reaching the planet much less destroying it. I play one of the officers of the International Fleet up in the observation room above Ender’s simulator watching him conduct his “final test.” I’m on the far left. If you’re not looking for me you’re not going to see me because your eye will very naturally go to the stars of the film in the observation room with me, namely Harrison Ford and Sir Ben Kingsley. They’re in the center of the shot where they belong, and I’m in at the fringes where I belong. Well, technically I don’t belong there at all since I’m not a actor, or at least not an actor deserving of a legitimate film role. But hey, I was offered the chance to do it, and you can bet your buttons I jumped on it.

What’s cool about my costume is the brilliant costume designer for the film gave my character her last name. So I’m Captain Clark. Or maybe I’m a colonel. I don’t remember anyone ever telling me what my rank was, and maybe my uniform doesn’t indicate rank at all. (The wings over my left breast might be rank insignia. Or there might be insignia on my arm. I don’t recall.) In any case, it was a blast. The hair department cut my hair short short short for the film, which was especially exciting because it required me to “report to hair and makeup.” I felt like a star. I wanted to ask a PA where my trailer was, but I’d probably only get a blank stare.

The movie comes out on Blu-Ray on February 11, and I hope all of you plan on purchasing a copy. Because, hey, it’s Ender’s Game. Aaron.Johnston.in.Ender's.Game

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Filed Under: FEATURED, Blog Tagged With: Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card, costuming

From the Ender’s Game Movie Set

February 22, 2013 By Aaron Johnston

lunchroomA new still from the upcoming film featuring Petra and Ender. Are you as excited about this movie as I am?

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Filed Under: FEATURED, Blog

The All-New Adventures of Superman

February 6, 2013 By Aaron Johnston

All-new adventures of SupermanDC Comics just made the announcement, so I can, too. I recently finished work on two issues of the All-New Adventures of Superman, a new digital series coming April 29. Story is by me and Orson Scott Card. Art is by the amazing Chris Sprouse, with inks by Karl Story. Our two issues will be the first of the series.

I’ve been reading Superman since I was kid, so this is a thrill for me. This is DC’s second all-digital series, after last year’s Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, which has been fantastic. With the Man of Steel film being released this year, DC decided to give Superman the same treatment.

And if that wasn’t cool enough, check out the list of super talented people who will also be contributing to the series.

  • Jeff Parker
  • Chris Samnee
  • Dan Abnett
  • Ed Benes
  • Mitch Breitweiser
  • Giuseppe Camuncoli
  • Nathan Edmondson
  • Joshua Hale Fialkov
  • Christos N. Gage
  • Marc Guggenheim
  • Justin Jordan
  • Matt Kindt
  • JT Krul
  • Max Landis
  • Andy Lanning
  • David Lapham
  • Jeff Lemire
  • Michael Avon Oeming
  • Riley Rossmo
  • Stephen Segovia
  • Bruce Timm
  • Marcus To
  • Marv Wolfman

Quite the list. Look for more info coming soon.

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Filed Under: Comics, Blog, Writing Tagged With: Clark Kent, DC Comics, Digital comics, Man of Steel, Orson Scott Card, Superman, comic books

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