Category Archives: Solar Sci-Fi

Mars, Solar Sci-Fi

“Pioneer” – A space science-fiction novel from Robert Zimmerman

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Space historian and journalist Bob Zimmerman has released a science fiction book called Pioneer, which he actually wrote in 1982 but it portrays a future of space settlement very relevant to what is happening in the space world today: Pioneer | Behind The Black. Here is a press release about Pioneer:

Riveting First Alien Contact Novel By Award-winning Space Historian Portrays an Exciting Future
The body of a man who disappeared 46 years earlier on an asteroid near Jupiter is found on Mars,
with proof of alien life. How did he get there, and who were the aliens?
To find out will require a journey that skims the Sun and flies beyond Saturn.

TUCSON, Ariz. – Oct. 3, 2017 – PRLog — Before he became an award-winning space historian and science journalist, Robert Zimmerman wrote a riveting science fiction novel, PIONEER, about humanity’s first contact with aliens, set two hundred years in the future. Though it was written more than three decades ago, the book remains amazingly authentic in its portrayal of the future settlement of the solar system, based on what has happened the last decades of 20th century as well as the exciting emergence of a private commercial space industry now in the early 21st century.

That book has now at last been published.

The year is 2183. Fifty-six-year-old Saunders Maxwell is a stubborn old space-farer who has spent his entire life in space. He has commanded the Moon-Mars shuttle and led exploration missions beyond Mars. Later he turned to asteroid mining, captaining a small ship and crew on repeated trips to the asteroid belt, bringing back minerals or even small asteroids to sell so that the Mars colony could harvest them for the needed resources.

As he and his pilot Harry Nickerson fly over the vast slopes of the giant volcano Olympus Mons on their way home from one such mining mission, Maxwell spots a strange glint below, a glint that is not natural and should not be there.

When they land they discover something entirely unexpected and impossible, the body of man who had disappeared on a distant asteroid almost a half century before. Sanford Addiono had been on one of the first manned missions to the asteroid belt when he and a partner had vanished. Nothing was ever heard from them again. Even more baffling, two later missions to that asteroid found that it had disappeared as well, no longer in orbit where it was supposed to be.

Now, 46 years later, Maxwell finds Addiono’s body on the surface of Mars. How Addiono had gotten to Mars from a distant lost asteroid–without a spaceship–was baffling.

That riddle was magnified by what Addiono had brought back with him. Among his effects was a six-fingered robot hand that had clearly been made by some alien civilization, along with a recorder and memo book describing what Addiono had seen.

Here was a mystery that would rock humanity, the first alien contact. And at that moment Saunders Maxwell decides that he is going to be the person to solve that mystery, even if it takes him through hell and back.

Unfortunately, that is exactly where that journey takes him.

The vision that Zimmerman paints of vibrant human colonies on the Moon, Mars, the asteroids, and beyond, indomitably fighting the harsh lifeless environment of space to build new societies, captures perfectly the emerging space race we see today.

He also captures in Pioneer the heart of the human spirit, willing to push forward no matter the odds, no matter the cost. It is that spirit that will make the exploration of the heavens possible, forever, into the never-ending future.

About: Robert Zimmerman is an award-winning science journalist and historian who has written five books and innumerable articles on science, engineering, and the history of space exploration and technology for ASTRONOMY, AIR & SPACE, SCIENCE, NATURAL HISTORY, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, USA TODAY, WIRED, INVENTION & TECHNOLOGY and a host of other publications. He also reports on space and science news at his website, BehindtheBlack.com (http://behindtheblack.com). His classic book, GENESIS, THE STORY OF APOLLO 8 (Mountain Lake Press: http://behindtheblack.com/books/genesis-the-story-of-apollo-8/), describes the epic family and political tale behind the first manned mission to another world. It remains a steady bestseller twenty years after its first publication.

In addition to his writing, Mr. Zimmerman is also a cave explorer and cartographer, and has participated in numerous projects exploring and mapping previously unknown caves across the United States. It is this activity that has allowed him to actually “go where no one has gone before,” thus providing him a better understanding of the perspective of the future space explorers on Mars and beyond as they struggle to push the limits of human existence.

About eBookIt.com: Since 2010, eBookIt.com (based in Sudbury, Massachusetts) has helped thousands of authors and publishers get their books converted to ebook format, and distributed to all the major ebook retailers, including Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, Apple iBookstore, Kobo, Sony Readerstore, Ingram Digital, and Google eBookstore.

 

 

Solar Sci-Fi, Space films and videos

Videos: Four Sci-fi shorts films

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A selection of sci-fi film shorts:

  • “The Secret Number” by Colin Levy – “A psychiatrist is compelled by his patient, an institutionalized mathematician, to consider the existence of a secret integer between three and four. Doctor Simon Tomlin, a psychiatrist in a mental hospital, has a disturbing conversation with one of his patients– a brilliant mathematician named Ersheim, who intends to prove the existence of a secret integer between three and four. Tomlin is compelled to dig deeper, but he only uncovers more questions. When Ersheim mysteriously disappears from the hospital, Tomlin realizes that their fates are deeply entwined.”

  • “Rocketman” by Nicholas Colla – “Harry, a troubled young boy with a vivid imagination wants to fight the forces of evil like his television hero, the Star Ship Captain. When he meets the athletic but slightly awkward Jordan, the two boys set a plan in motion to defeat the forces of evil and save the day. Set in Melbourne in the late 1970‘s, this is the story of a suburban Space Captain, his Lieutenant, the Rocket they built and the heroes they become.”

  • “97%” by Ben Brand – “Via an app on his phone, Bert discovers that a 97% love match is near. Will he find her before the subway reaches the end of the line?”

  • “The Space Between Us VFX Short Film” by The Space Between Us Team – “1983: an atomic war has polluted the air and raised the sea level to such a height that it reaches the mountaintops. Mankind tries to survive with the help of oxygen masks; breathing from tanks on their backs. High up in the mountains they have built a research centre in search of gills suited for mankind, so they can breathe freely once again and start a new life under water. However, they soon found out that they needed a gill different from the species known to man. They had to find the most human-like creature of the sea: a merman, which they called, a sea ape. The Scientific theories about these sea-apes were not much different from the fantasies or the fairytales about the mermen. In the end, it was accepted that this sort of beast could never be found. So the research continued, without any directions, without any real hope. They just kept “researching”, cutting into every species they could find. Trying to make it work while knowing its impossibility. But then, one day, when all hope seemed to be lost, the ‘Adam’ is brought inside: the savior of mankind.”

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Solar Sci-Fi, Space films and videos

Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Festival – NYC, May 25-30, 2017

The Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival
Announces Fifth Anniversary Event
Over 100 Film Screenings, Premieres and Events Will Be Held
May 25-30, 2017 
— Festival Launches New Special Guest Panel Series PKD Talks: 
Conversations with Luminaries, Visionaries and Mavericks —

(New York City, N.Y.) April 13, 2017 — The Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival has announced the full lineup for its fifth annual event from May 25-30, 2017. This year’s anniversary program will spotlight over 100 films, exclusive premieres, discussions, virtual reality demonstrations and celebratory gatherings as the festival continues its everlasting tribute to the master of science fiction, Philip K. Dick.

For the past five years, The Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival has exhibited quality independent sci-fi for audiences who crave new innovative pathways of expression. The festival supports freethinking filmmakers equipped with the knowledge of our world, brave enough to see beyond the barriers of existence and who give to an art form that unites the masses.

Daniel Abella, the founder and director of the festival, enthused about this year’s milestone event and the high-caliber official selections.

“I am very excited to present this year’s fifth annual festival in our home of New York City. The lineup includes films from throughout the world and represents talent across all backgrounds and beliefs.” Abella added, “Science fiction continues to entertain but also inform us about current and future trends and it is our mission to bring together likeminded people tied by a common purpose to remain human in a world of progressive dehumanization.”

While praising the works and prophecies of the festival’s namesake, Abella said,

“Philip K. Dick’s message is that in spite of forces marshaled against the human spirit, both political and technological, humanity can prevail if we find the will and determination to pave a better future. This festival represents his voice.”

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Solar Sci-Fi, Space films and videos

Videos: Four Sci-Fi short films

A selection of sci-fi short films:

** Caleb by Amanda Mesaikos & Susanne Aichele

To contend with the bullies at school, 9-year-old Caleb decides to 3D print himself. Back home there’s confusion, discord and reshuffled schedules…But maybe this is just what his family needs? With humor at its heart, CALEB is a fundamentally human story about family dynamics and the inevitability of moral dilemmas in the face of advancing technology.

** World War by Vincent Chai

A war between 2 robots fight for the fate of the world while a bomb ticks away ready to explode.

** 43,000 Feet by Campbell Hooper

When statistician John Wilkins is sucked out of a plane at 43000 feet, he calculates that he has exactly 3 minutes and 48 seconds before he hits the ground.

** The Narrow World by Brent Bonacorso

THE NARROW WORLD is the story of a gigantic alien that crashes to Earth and takes up residence in Los Angeles. Contrary to expectations, when the alien is neither hostile towards the tiny humans around it, nor communicative in any way, it falls on the populace to decipher what, exactly, this visitor wants and what it means for them. One man sees more to it- a message, perhaps, that may tell us less about the alien, and more about our deepest inner selves, about the mysteries of the soul.

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