On Saturday - November 27^th, 2004 - Hour 25 recorded the show in front of a live audience at Loscon, a long running science fiction convention that happens in Southern California over the U.S. Thanksgiving weekend.

Our guests on the show included; Ed Green (the convention's Chairman), Tim Powers (the Author Guest of Honor), Wendy Pini (the Artist Guest of Honor), David Gerrold (the LASFS Special Guest) and James Daugherty (who along with his wife was the Fan Guest of Honor).

We had a great time chatting with these folks about science fiction, fantasy, horror, writing, elves and lots of other topics. All in all, it was a most enjoyable way to spend an hour or so on a chilly Southern California afternoon.

Warren W. James

Tim Powers

David Gerrold

Wendy Pini

Ed Green

James Daugherty

Listen to this show

Click here to listen to the entire show. {1:08:08}
Or

Click here for the show's intro music.{0:41}

Click here for the show's opening. {5:52}

Click here for our interview with Ed Green. {3:30}

Click here for our interview with Tim Powers. {14:23}

Click here for our interview with David Gerrold. {20:57}

Click here for our interview with Wendy Pini. {15:11}

Click here for our interview with James Daugherty. {6:08}

Click here for the show's closing.{1:26}

Click here to listen to our previous shows recorded at Loscon in 2003, 2002, 2001 and 2000.

Click here for our current show.

Click here for links to all of our previous Shows that you can listen to on the Hour 25 Web Site.

If you enjoyed this show and would like to know when other interviews are uploaded to the Hour 25 Web Site, then send an email to me at wwjames@earthlink.net and I will add your name to the free Hour 25 Newsletter mailing list. That way you'll get a brief notice in your email every time a new show gets uploaded to the web.

Links for more information relating to this show

Loscon

For information about the annual Loscon science fiction convention click here.

For information about Loscon's Author Guest of Honor, Tim Powers, be sure to check out this fan created Web Site which has links to many more related Web Sites.

For information about Loscon's Artist Guest of Honor, Wendy Pini, be sure to check out this Web Page.

For information about Loscon's Special Guest, David Gerrold, be sure to check out his official Web Site.

If you live in the Los Angeles area, or will be passing through town, you really should drop by LASFS (Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society). Their weekly meetings are filled with folks who have wide ranging interests and various writers and other science fiction pros drop in on a regular basis. Check out their Web Site for more information about them and to view their schedule of activities.

Space Related Organizations
If you are interested in learning more about current space activities there are many local and national organizations you might want to know about. Joining these organizations and taking part in their activities is a good way to stay abreast of things going on in space as well as a way to show your support for those activities. Listed below are some of those organizations.

The Organization for the Advancement of Space Industrialization and Settlement has long been place for persons living in the Los Angeles area to gather and discuss the promise of space. Be sure to check out their Web Site for information about their meetings and other activities.

The Orange County Space Society is another Los Angeles area organization that provides a focal point for persons who are interested in space developments to get together and share their ideas. They have created a number of displays explaining the history and importance of space exploration that have appeared at various public events. Be sure to check their Web Site for information about their meetings and other events.

The National Space Society has a long history of being an advocate for a vigorous space program and provides much information to its members through their magazine and Web Site.

The Space Frontier Foundation is a strong advocate for a non-governmental space program and serves as a focal point for much activity in that arena. Their annual conference in Los Angeles during the Fall is a great way to find out what is happening in the non-government space arena.

The Space Access Society is focused on reducing the cost of going into space by promoting non-governmental launch vehicle programs. Their annual conference in the spring is a major source of information on non-traditional launch vehicle activities.

The Planetary Society is focused on the exploration and has a wealth of information for its members and others.

Space News - Mars

For more information about the Mars Exploration Rovers be sure to check out the MER Web Site at JPL or this Mars Rover site at Cornell University.

To learn more about the Mars Express mission you can go to this ESA Mars Express Web Site, this Mars Express Web Page from JPL, this NSSDC Mars Express Web Page, or this Web Page from Mars News.Com.

For more information about the Exploration of Mars be sure to go to the JPL Mars Exploration Site, the Center for Mars Exploration at NASA Ames, or the Mars Missions Web Site at the Planetary Society.

Information about the data returned by previous Mars missions can be found at this Mars Web Page at the NSSDC.

Information about the Phoenix Mission to Mars can be found at this Press Release from the University of Arizona. You can view a 3D picture of the Mars Phoenix spacecraft here.

For more Mars news be sure to check out the Mars News.Com Web Site.

Percival Lowell did much to shape our ideas about Mars in the early years of the 20th Century. You can learn more about his work by reading this on-line copy of his 1895 book Mars.

Space News - The Cassini Mission to Saturn

Much information about the Cassini mission can be found at the Project's Official Web Site at JPL.

JPL is constantly releasing pictures from Cassini. You can find them by going to this JPL Web Page.

Additional information about the Cassini mission can be found at this ESA Web Site.

For On-Going Updates on Space News

Links relating to the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia can be found here.

The Reusable Launch & Space Vehicle News Web Site Web Page that is part of the Hobby Space Web Site is a really good place to watch for news about, well... Reusable Launch Vehicles and related subjects. I check it out just about every day and often find news there that doesn't show up anywhere else. Give it a look. {And while you're there be sure to check out some of the site's other pages. Wow! Is there a lot of information there.}

The Space Today Web Site is a great place to find space news from all over the 'net.

The Spaceflight Now Web Site carries real time information about current space missions and presents a lot of space and astronomy news. This is the place I go to when I want up to the minute information about current space missions. Do I need to say more?

The NASA Watch Web Site is another great place for getting information about current space missions. Check there also for news about other 'goings on' within NASA. Highly recommended.

ISS News

The Florida Today Web Site has a very interesting report about the causes of the ISS budget problems and their impact on the space program. It makes very interesting reading.

Click here to view the press kits for various ISS missions.

Check out the NASA International Space Station Web Page or the Boeing Web Page to learn more about this project.

A great source of news about Russian space activities, including their work on the ISS, can be found at the Russian Space Web.

Do you wonder where the Space Station is right now? You can use your browser to view real time maps showing the location of the ISS by going to this link at the NASA Space Link Web Site or here at the Johnson Spacecraft Center. Please note that your browser must support Java to make use of this satellite tracking software.

You can find out when the ISS - or many other spacecraft - can be seen from your location by going to this NASA Web Page. Please note; your browser must support Java for this application to work.

Click here for information about the audio files used for Hour 25 and for information about configuring your browser and downloading audio players.

Please note Web Pages from external sites will open in a separate browser window and that Hour 25 Productions are not responsible for the content of any external Web Sites.

Return to the Index for this month's shows

Ed Green and Terry Fitton Listen to this show

On Thursday - November 18^th, 2004 - our guests were Ed Green chatting with us about this year's Loscon and Terry Fitton from Monsters in Motion chatting with us about science fiction modeling.

Each year during the American Thanksgiving holiday the good folks from LASFS put on a science fiction convention that draws together a diverse group of people who are interested in just about everything under the Sun. And each year Hour 25 goes to Loscon and does a show from the convention. If you can't get to the con, then our next show will give you a taste of what goes on at Loscon.

This week our first guest will be Ed Green, this year's Loscon chairman, who will be giving us a preview of what will be found at this year's convention.

Our other guest this week will be Terry Fitton from Monsters in Motion. Terry is one of those lucky persons who has managed to take something he loves, in this case science fiction modeling, and turn it into a career. His shop, Monsters in Motion, specializes in all things that apply to the field of science fiction modeling. They sell kits and supplies, books, CDs, DVDs and they even make their own line of outstanding kits of science fiction subjects. It is always fun to drop by his shop and chat with him about science fiction and modeling. And so tonight we'll be bringing you an interview with Terry chatting about those subjects and more.

Ed Green
Photo Copyright © Suzanne Gibson, 2004.
All Rights Reserved.

Terry Fitton
Photo Copyright © Warren W. James, 2004.
All Rights Reserved.

Dateline: Mars

NASA is releasing all of the images from the two Mars Exploration Rovers almost as soon as they arrive at JPL. The raw images for the Spirit rover can be found at this Web Page and raw images for Opportunity can be found here. The images that have been released to the press, along with animations and explanatory text, can be found here. You can find larger versions of the images shown below at that last NASA Web Site.

Opportunity

Image Credit: NASA/JPL

This false color image shows a large rock that has textures that are unlike those seen on other Martian rocks. What stories can this rock tell us?

Image Credit: NASA/JPL

Grab your red-green glasses to enjoy this stereo anaglyph of that mysterious rock.

Spirit

Image Credit: NASA/JPL

The above image is the 50,000^th picture returned by the two Mars Exploration Rovers. It seems like just yesterday that these spacecraft landed on Mars and started to send pictures back to the Earth. What a year it has been.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL

Here is a true color picture of that eroded and layered rock that was shown - in false color - on our last show. This picture shows you what you would see if you were standing on Mars looking at the scene with your own eyes. If only.....

Image Credit: NASA/JPL

Put your red-green glasses back on for this stereo anaglyph. Here you see a couple of holes that were drilled by the Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT).

Image Credit: NASA/JPL

Don't put those red-green glasses away yet. Here is a portion of stereo panorama showing sand and rocks in the foreground with enticing hills in the background.

Mars Express

While Spirit and Opportunity have been roving on the Martian surface the European Mars Express spacecraft has been orbiting the planet and returning a wealth of images and other scientific data. You can learn more about this mission at the Project's Web Site or by following the links that can be found further down this page.

Image Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Here is a spectacular image of the Martian moon Phobos. Although only a captured asteroid this object may be the key to on-going Martian exploration.

There is reason to believe that water can be found combined with the rocks that make up Phobos. If that is true then we could harvest that water and use it to provide life-support consumables for astronauts visiting Mars as well as breaking it into hydrogen and oxygen for use as rocket propellant. This would make it significantly easier to go to Mars and would dramatically reduce the cost of on-going Martian exploration.

Image Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

It's time to get out your red-green glasses again so you can enjoy this stereo anaglyph of Phobos. Someday people will see with their own eyes what we can now only see through the eyes of our robot explorers. What a day that will be.

Listen to this show

Click here to listen to the entire show. {1:07:08}
Or

Click here for the show's intro music.{0:41}

Click here for the show's opening. {16:50}

Click here for our interview with Ed Green. {19:17}

Click here for our interview with Terry Fitton. {28:37}

Click here for the show's closing.{1:43}

Click here to listen to our previous shows recorded at Loscon in 2003, 2002, 2001 and 2000.

Click here for our current show.

Click here for links to all of our previous Shows that you can listen to on the Hour 25 Web Site.

Links for more information relating to this show

Monsters in Motion and Loscon

Click here to go visit the Monsters in Motion Web Site.

For information about this year's Loscon click here.

For information about Loscon's Author Guest of Honor, Tim Powers, be sure to check out this fan created Web Site which has links to many more related Web Sites.

For information about Loscon's Artist Guest of Honor, Wendy Pini, be sure to check out this Web Page.

For information about Loscon's Special Guest, David Gerrold, be sure to check out his official Web Site.

You can get more information about the SMART-1 mission at this ESA Web Site. Additional information about this mission can be found at this NSSDC SMART-1 Web Page.

More information about the X-43A can be found at this NASA Web Site and pictures of the X-43A can be found at this NASA Dryden Image Archive.

Space Related Organizations
If you are interested in learning more about current space activities there are many local and national organizations you might want to know about. Joining these organizations and taking part in their activities is a good way to stay abreast of things going on in space as well as a way to show your support for those activities. Listed below are some of those organizations.