SpaceX Contracts
The International Space Station is nearing the end of its usefulness and rather than leave it in orbit in perpetuity, NASA plans to de-orbit the station and send it into the ocean. This is easier said than done, which is why the space agency awarded an 843 million dollar contract to SpaceX to push the ISS out of orbit and back to Earth in five years.
This contract is one of many awarded to SpaceX over the years – and analysts of the burgeoning private space industry are noting that as of late, the lion’s share of NASA contracts are finding their way to the company founded by Elon Musk. This is raising concerns that legacy contractors like Lockheed Martin and Northrup Grumman can’t keep up with the technological development and deep pockets boasted by SpaceX and that a continued path could lead to market monopolization.
Eric Berger is the Senior Space Editor with Ars Technica and author of multiple books about Elon Musk and Space X – including Reentry: SpaceX, Elon Musk, and the Reusable Rockets that Launched a Second Space Age due out in September.
Berger joined ENGAGE to parse out his coverage of SpaceX and its relationship with NASA.
Protein from Pythons
Friday August 9th marks the beginning of an unusual event on the Florida calendar – it is the first day of Burmese python hunting season.
For nine days, snake hunters are challenged by the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to track down and kill feral pythons in the Everglades. Prizes will be awarded to the hunter removing the most pythons, including a ten-thousand dollar grand prize.
The Burmese python is native to Asia – and is a popular pet among snake enthusiasts. And that is how pythons invaded Florida – the non-venomous reptile can easily grow beyond ten feet in captivity – too big for most pet owners who resolve the issue by freeing them into the wild. In this case, the wild was the Florida Everglades and once male and female pythons found each other, the numbers began multiplying exponentially. Now, much of the Everglade ecosystem is under threat from the apex predator – which is why the state encourages these culls.
Dr. Patrick Aust may have a solution to the state’s python invasion – he would like to see more people eating the serpent. Aust is the director of the African Institute of Applied Herpetology. He sees an opportunity to cultivate python farming operations that could provide an inexpensive protein source produced with a minimal carbon footprint, as outlined in a collaborative report published in March in the research journal, NATURE.
Dr. Aust joined Engage from his home in Botswana, Africa to talk about the benefits of eating python – a food source that isn’t uncommon in much of Asia.
The Enzian
America loves big blockbuster films – Jurassic Parks and Missions Impossible – the James Bonds and Barbie-heimers . . . but Americans love cult films just as much. The small-budgets, the shoddy scripts, the no-name actors and directors – these are often the ingredients for films that are so bad they almost borderline good. Sometimes a lousy film can be propelled by an incredible soundtrack – think Repo Man or The Harder They Come. Sometimes it’s a willingness to tackle a taboo subject with earnest – Eraserhead and Eating Raoul come to mind.
The Enzian theater in Maitland never met a cult film it didn’t love. Its fairly large for an independent movie house – the theater resembles an old-school Vegas showroom more than it looks like the typical soulless multiplex with formally set four-top tables and cushy lounge seating. The lobby is reminiscent of the old single screen theaters with a classic deco styling reminiscent of pre-war Hollywood.
The Enzian shows first-run independent films, foreign cinema, cult and nostalgia films and family movies.
It was founded in 1985 by Tina Tiedtke – whose father, John, was a pillar of the Central Florida Community – a retail industrialist whose philanthropic contributions helped build up the region’s arts communities long before the arrival of the Mouse House.
Engage stopped by The Enzian to meet with Deanna Tiedtke – she handles all of the development and marketing for the theater – and she is a member of the Tiedtke clan. After a tour of the Enzian, we sat down to talk about its history and the space it holds in the community.
70 Years of Godzilla
On Saturday, The Enzian theater will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the film GODZILLA. Debuting in October of 1954, the black and white film told the story of a gigantic dinosaur-like sea monster that terrorizes coastal Japan – eventually making its way to Tokyo where it unleashes a torrent of urban destruction.
The effects are campy, the monster unconvincing and the writing was a bit off-kilter. Audiences LOVED it. It spawned more than 30 follow-up films and countless cartoons. Godzilla films still pack the theaters – and run up streaming numbers.
But Godzilla is more than a monster movie. It conveys the anxieties held by much of the Japanese population following World War Two – and the monster is more than something supernatural – it is a metaphor for the effects of the atomic age . . . and the ability of men to behave as monsters.
Michael Hanly is the course director for Full Sail University’s fundamentals of production in the digital cinematography program – and he is a bit of a Godzilla buff.
