NASA’s Artemis program

December 13, 2024 HPSH Plaid Line Leave a comment

By: Karl Salkowski

NASA is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA was created on October 1st, 1958 after president Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act. NASA is a government agency of the United States, and it is responsible for U.S. space exploration, space technology, Earth and space science, and aeronautics research.

In total, 24 astronauts have made the journey from earth to the moon. Half of those astronauts only orbited the moon while the other half landed on it. Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin were the first two people to walk on the moon. It’s been over 50 years since anyone has walked on the moon, but why is that?

The main reason is money. Building these rockets was incredibly expensive and NASA relied heavily on funding from the government. Once the Apollo 11 mission in 1969 was a success and the U.S. had won the space race, NASA faced major funding cuts. Originally, there were 20 Apollo missions, but due to a lack of funds the last 3 were canceled.

Since then NASA has focused on other projects. One notable example being the International Space Station. However, one of NASA’s new projects aims to land humans back on the moon.

NASA’s Artemis program consists of 4 main parts: an uncrewed flight test around the moon, a crewed flight test around the moon, sending humans to explore the region near the lunar south pole, and finally establishing a scientific base on the moon. These missions will aptly be named Artemis I, II, III, and IV respectively. With these missions, NASA’s goal is both to “explore the moon for scientific discovery and to inspire a new generation of explorers” according to Nasa.gov.

Artemis I launched 2 years ago and was a huge success for NASA and its partners. However, the crewed mission (Artemis II) which was slated to launch in late 2025 has now been delayed to April 2026. Artemis III also suffered delays and is currently being projected to launch no-earlier than mid 2027.

If you want to learn more about the Artemis missions, please go to:

Movies/TV/Theaters

‘Avatar: The Way of Water’

December 13, 2024 HPSH Plaid Line Leave a comment

By: Seng Yang

The movie ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’, released in 2022, and directed by James Cameron, is a film with 60% of CGI imagery and the other 40% of the film utilizes the traditional techniques of live-action imagery. It is a film produced by Jon Landau, Peter M. Tobyansen, and James Cameron. It is set in Pandora, a habitable exomoon, and primarily in the tropical-inspired underwater region of the Metkayina clan.

The film tells us about the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids Lo’ak, Neteyam, Tuktirey, and Kiri), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.

Lo’ak te Suli Tsyeyk’itan the second son of Jake Sully is a major character in the film serving as one of two main protagonists in ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’. The movie heavily explores Lo’ak’s struggles with identity and his relationships with his family, particularly his older brother Neteyam. His impulsive actions and desire to prove himself often creates conflicts and drives the story forward.

In my opinion, I love ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’. It was the first movie I saw in theaters and I think it was a magical experience. Everything about the movie was perfect and I rate this movie a 5/5 because I love how it explores the themes of environmentalism, family, and the conflict between human greed and the natural world. I think it’s also a pretty emotional movie as it shows motherhood not only for the Na’vi but also the Tulkun which is a species of whale-like creatures native to the oceans of Pandora.

Overall, I love how it makes you feel deeply connected to nature especially with the environment and where it takes place. Like I said before, watching the movie in theaters was magical and a once in a lifetime experience, it’s one of those moments where you just had to be there to experience the feeling.

You can watch ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ on Disney+ or you can rent it on other platforms.

Tech/Games

Explaining ‘Life Series’ curses

December 13, 2024 HPSH Plaid Line 1 Comment

By: Julia Yang

Yet again, another ‘Life Series’ article, but this one should be interesting! In the ‘Life Series’, some members are given what fans call “curses”. Curses are what fans discover are repeating to a member in each season, like how Jimmy is always the first one out (putting aside the past 2 seasons).

These curses can get complicated and may sometimes make no sense, so I’m here to save the day and explain them all to you to the best of my abilities!

This one was explained in a past article about “fan designs”, but it’s back again for this article too: the Canary Curse. Jimmy, as spoken about above, has somehow been on a streak of being the first member out for 4 seasons in a row! It’s impressive, really.

The Canary Curse is in reference to when coal miners would bring canaries into caves to warn them of gas/oil leaks (danger) as canaries are very sensitive to gas/oil leaks and would die first before the coal miners. Jimmy, the canary, would die before all of the other members, warning them that things are soon to be in utter chaos.

In connection with the Canary Curse, Mumbo has something called the Coal Miner Curse.

Mumbo is the coal miner to Jimmy’s canary, as in every season Mumbo has been in— minus the most recent one, Mumbo has managed to die minutes after Jimmy. I really hope that makes sense because I’m not sure how else to explain this one.

Grian has the Widow’s Curse. This curse was assigned to him because Grian has always ended up betraying his close teammates or being the direct cause of their death. For example: in ‘3rd Life’, Grian and Scar, who had been allied and teaming together throughout the entire season, had a fight to the death, where Grian won, making him the winner of ‘3rd Life’. In ‘Last Life’, Grian and Mumbo had a dispute, sparking a fight. Grian, knowing full well that Mumbo was the one that he had the strongest connection to in all of his alliances, goes on to take Mumbo’s last life.

These next few ones aren’t really well known throughout the ‘Life Series’ community, as they’re not as “official” as the others, but I thought it’d be fun to include them too.

Impulse has the Winners Ticket Curse. Impulse, in more than half of the seasons, has managed to get his last life taken by the soon to be winner of the season. In ‘Last Life’, Impulse gets shot by Scott at his base, losing his last life and forcing him out of the season. Scott will then later on that same episode go on to win the whole thing. In ‘Limited Life’, Impulse, Scott, and Martyn were discussing a way to have an even deathmatch. Martyn would then go on a killing spree, killing Scott first, and Impulse second. Making Martyn the official winner of ‘Limited Life’, and rendering Impulse as second place.

“Winners Ticket Curse” as in whoever takes his last life, is almost a guaranteed season win. If I’m being totally honest, if my curse was basically the saying “so close, yet so far” I think I’d lose my mind.

Ren has the Blinded Curse. He often dies to things that he doesn’t see. This can mean a trap, an arrow to the back, an axe to the head, or a stone to the skull. Whatever it is, it’s something that he hadn’t seen.

There are many more curses to be given out to the members, some of them blessings. Of course these curses “aren’t real” but they are fun, aren’t they? They’re just things fans came up with to keep themselves entertained and keep a creative mind.

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