The following is based on Caxton's The Game and Playe of Chesse from the 1470s, a translation of the late 13th c. Liber de moribus hominum et officiis nobilium super ludo scacchorum of Jacobus de Cessolis, probably primarily a translation of a French translation of the original. The book uses chess as the starting point for an elaborate allegory about medieval society.
So, I edited out most of the allegory to get to the chess rules. But the work also uses the allegory as positional notation: each of the eight pawns on each side represents a specific type of commoner. So I needed to add some explanation of the movement rules in italics that doesn't depend on the allegory.
This is a slower game than modern chess. Queens and bishops (alphyns or judges in Caxton) are much slower and weaker than in the modern game. Their powering up for the modern game started around this time in Iberia, Italy and France, but took time to spread .
The Game and Playe of Chesse
And in this playe we ought to knowe by the nature of hit how the kynge meueth hym and yssueth oute of his place/ For y'e shall vnderstande that he is sette in the fourth quadrante or poynt of theschequer. And whan he is black/ he standeth in the white/ and the knyght on his ryght side in white/ And the Alphyn and the rooke in black/ And on the lifte side the foure holden the places opposite/
For whan he wele meue hym/ he ought not to passe at the first draught the nombre of .iii. poynts/ And whan he begynneth thus to meue from his whyt point/ He may move ii ponts either right or cornerly/ And hit happen that the aduersarie be not couered in ony poynt in the seconde ligne/ All these yssues hath y'e kyng out of his propre place of his owen vertue whan he begynneth to meue. But whan he is ones meuyd fro his propre place/ He may not meue but in to one space or poynt/ and so from one to an other/After that the kynge begynneth to meue he may lede wyth hym the quene/ after the maner of his yffue
Whan the Quene whiche is accompanyed vnto the kynge begynneth to meue from her propre place/ She goth in dowble manere/ that is to wete as an Alphyn on her first draught she may jump two points cornerwise. And whan she is meuyd ones oute of her place she may not goo but fro oon poynt to an other and yet cornerly whether hit be foreward or backward takynge or to be taken/
The manere and nature of the draught of the Alphyn is suche/ that he that is black in his propre fiege is sette on the right side of the kynge/ And he that is whyt is sette on the lifte side/ And ben callyd and named black and white/ But for no cause that they be so in subftance of her propre colour/ But for the colour of the places in whiche they ben sette/ And alleway be they black or white/ whan they ben sette in theyr places/ the alphyn goynge oute of his place comyth two spaces cornerly.
After the yssue of the Alphyns we shall deuyse to yow the yssue & the moeuynge of the knyghtes/ And we saye that the knyght on the right syde is whyt/ And on the lifte syde black/ And the yssue and moeuynge of hem bothe is in one maner whan so is that the knyght on the ryght syde Is whyt/ The lyfte knyght is black/ The moeuynge of hem is suche/that they may jump three poynts, one ryght forth going and the last at an angle.
The moeuynge and yssue of the rooks whiche ben vicairs of the kynge is suche/ that the ryght rook is black and the lifte rook is whyte/ And whan the chesse ben sette as well the nobles as the comyn peple first in their propre places/ The rooks by their propre vertue haue no wey to yssue but yf hyt be made to them by the nobles or comyn peple/ For they ben enclosed in their propre sieges/ And as fer may they renne as they fynde the tablier voyde whether hit be of his aduersaryes as of his owen felowship/ And whan the rook is in the myddell of the tablier/ he may goo whiche way he wyll in to foure right lignes on euery side/ and hit is to wete that he may in no wyse goo cornerwyse/ but allway ryght forth goynge.
One yffue and one mouynge apperteyneth vnto alle the peple/ For they may goo fro the poynt they stande in at the first meuynge vnto the thirde poynt right forth to fore them/ & whan they haue so don they may afterward meue no more but fro one poynt ryght forth in to an other/ And they may neuer retorne backward And thus goynge forth fro poynt to poynt They may gete by vertue and strengthe/ that thynge that the other noble fynde by dignyte/ And yf the knyghtes and other nobles helpe hem that they come to the ferthest lygne to fore them where theyr aduersaryes were sette. They acquyre the dignyte that the quene hath graunted to her by grace/ And y'e shall vnderftande/ whan thyse comyn peple meue right forth in her ligne/ and fynde ony noble persone or of the peple of their aduersaries sette in the poynt at on ony side to fore hym/ In that corner poynt he may take his aduersarye wherther hit be on the right side or on the lifte.
Jacobus, de Cessolis, William Caxton, and William E. A. Axon. 1883. Caxton's Game and playe of the chesse, 1474. London: E. Stock.
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Passage, Hazard and Raffle
Of PASSAGE.
Passage is a Game at Dice to be plaid at but by two, and it is perform'd with three Dice. The Caster throws continually till he hath thrown Doublets under ten, and then he is out, and loseth, or Doublets above ten, and then he passeth and wins.
HAZZARD.
Hazzard is a proper Name for this Game; for it speedily makes a Man or undoes him, in the twinkling of an Eye either a Man or a Mouse. This Game is play'd but with two Dice, but there may play at it as many as as can stand round the largest round Table.
There are two Things chiefly to be observed, that.is Main and Chance; the Chance is the Caster's, and the Main theirs who are concerned in Play with him. There can be no Main thrown above nine and under five, so that five, six, seven, eight, and nine, are the only Mains, and no more which are flung at Hazzard; Chances and Nicks are from four to ten, thus four is a Chance to nine, five to eight, six to seven, seven to fix, eight to five; and nine and ten a Chance to five, six, seven and eight; in short, four five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten, are Chances to any Main, if any of these Nick it not: Now Nicks are either when the Chance is the same with the Main, as five and five, six and six, seven and seven, and so on, or six and twelve, seven and eleven, eight and twelvej where note, that twelve is out to nine, seven and five; and eleven is out to nine, eight, six and five; Ames-Ace and Deuce-Ace (2 or 3) are out to all Mains whatever.
That I may the better illustrate this this Game, it will not be amiss to give one Examble for your better Information; Seven's the Main, the Caster throws five, and that's his Chance, and so hath five to seven; if the Caster throw his own Chance, he wins all the Money was set him, but if he throw seven, which was the Main, he must pay as much Money as is on the Board, if again seven be the Main, and the Caster throws eleven, that is a Nick, and sweeps away all the Money on the Table; but if he throws a Chance, he must wait which will come first. Lastly, if seven be the Main, and the Caster throws Ames-Ace, Deuce-Ace or twelve, he is out, but if he throw from four to ten, he hath a Chance, though they are accounted the worst Chances on the Dice, as seven is reputed the best and easiest Main to be flung thus it is in eight or six, if either of them be the Main, and the Caster throws either four, five, seven, nine or ten, this is is Chance, which if he throw first, he wins, otherwise loseth, if he throw twelve to eight, or six to the same Cast with the Main, he wins; but if Ames-Ace or Deuce-Ace to all he loseth or if twelve, when the Main is either five or nine. Here note, that nothing nicks five but five, nor nothing nine but nine.
THIS IS THE GAME OF RIFFA (raffle?)
There is another kind of game which they call riffa that is played in this way: he who first rolls the dice should roll them as many times until he rolls a pair on two, then he should roll the other one. Then the pips of this third die are to be counted with the pips of the other first two dice. And if the other who is playing with him, in rolling the dice in this same way rolls more points he wins, and if as many he ties, and if less he loses.
Cotton, Charles. 1725. The compleat gamester: or, Full and easy instructions for playing at above twenty several games upon the cards with variety of diverting fancies and tricks upon the same now first added ; as likewise at all the games on the tables, together with the royal game of chess and billiards. London: J. Wilford.
Musser Golladay, Sonja. 2007. Los libros de acedrex dados e tablas: historical, artistic and metaphysical dimensions of Alfonso X's Book of Games. Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA: UMI Dissertation Services, from ProQuest Co.
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
The Grey Lady and Charlie
The New York Times has chosen not to reprint controversial cartoons from Charlie Hebdo. Some have condemned this decision.
I think they gravely misunderstand the kind of paper the NYT is. It is the kind of paper, as my father would say, that considers itself a guest in the family home, and acts accordingly.
That means, for example, no cussing in front of the children. Or quoting cussing, unless the story absolutely, positively demands it.
If you offend your readers, you don't get invited back. Which is bad for business, but also make it impossible to tell the stories you want to tell to that family.
Similarly, the Times is fairly reticent about photographs of full frontal nudity or gore, or showing the faces of murder victims, unless absolutely essential to telling the story properly. Even though many of their readers would not be offended by this, or by quoted profanity.
The choice not to reprint the controversial cartoons is, I think, an appropriate one for the Times. given the kind of newspaper they are. They have conveyed the essence of the story adequately by describing the cartoons in words.
I think they gravely misunderstand the kind of paper the NYT is. It is the kind of paper, as my father would say, that considers itself a guest in the family home, and acts accordingly.
That means, for example, no cussing in front of the children. Or quoting cussing, unless the story absolutely, positively demands it.
If you offend your readers, you don't get invited back. Which is bad for business, but also make it impossible to tell the stories you want to tell to that family.
Similarly, the Times is fairly reticent about photographs of full frontal nudity or gore, or showing the faces of murder victims, unless absolutely essential to telling the story properly. Even though many of their readers would not be offended by this, or by quoted profanity.
The choice not to reprint the controversial cartoons is, I think, an appropriate one for the Times. given the kind of newspaper they are. They have conveyed the essence of the story adequately by describing the cartoons in words.
Monday, January 12, 2015
Calais under English Rule: 1347-1558
The town of Calais, while ruled by England, was very much an English town. Most of the original French inhabitants were expelled when Edward III took the town, and English settlers brought in. The names of streets and inns were all English.
This was less true of the Pale of Calais, the territory under English control outside Calais proper, including the outlying forts at Hammes and Guisnes (now Guînes). While some English settled in the Pale, the population outside the town remained predominantly French or Flemish. The Pale covered about 20 square miles, and Guînes is about 6.5 miles from Calais by road.
Even though Edward III expelled most of the original population of the town, a few were allowed to remain: a priest, "and other auncyent personages such as knewe the customes, lawes and ordynaunces of the towne and to signe out the herytages howe they were devyded", and some others by special leave of the king. Foreigners could not become a burgess, hold freehold property or keep an inn. Over time these regulations became less well enforced, and in 1364 there was a complaint of foreigners owning hostelries in Calais. In 1413, Henry V renewed the prohibition on foreigners becoming burgesses or keeping an inn, and required foreigners settling in Calais to be taxed at 1/15th of their wealth.
Lodging keepers were required to make a report of what strangers were lodging with them each night.
During herring time, between the feasts of Michaelmas and St. Andrew, when many foreign fishermen brought their catch to Calais, there were extra precautions: only one of the town gates was open, there was an additional watch, and foreign fishermen were not allowed in town overnight.
The Calais Staple was an important institution under English Rule. From 1348 until the French retook Calais, with brief lapses in the 14th century, most wool, woolfells, tin and lead exported from England was required to pass through the Staple, a marketplace governed by the Company of the Staple, where it could be conveniently taxed. The Staple was an important source of revenue for the Crown, and the Staplers an important source of financing.
After the garrison mutinied over unpaid wages, in 1407 Henry IV assigned half of the wool duties to pay the garrison. This was insufficient, and Henry borrowed the remainder from the Staplers, repaying them by excusing them from wool customs for a time.
While most of the Staplers and members of the garrison expected to eventually return to England, some of the burgesses, descendants of the original English settlers, expected Calais to be their home for life.
From 1365 on, the town was ruled by a mayor and 12 aldermen, but there was also a Mayor of the Staple, leading to repeated conflicts as to who had precedence, the Mayor of the Town or the Mayor of the Staple. This bickering would continue into the reign of Edward IV, to be resolved for a time in favor of the Mayor of the Staple, only to be revived in the early 16th c.
The town is estimated to have had a population of 4,500 in the 15th c.
When Henry VIII visited in 1532, the town was reckoned capable of providing 2,400 beds and stables for 2,000 horses.
Brewing beer was a major local industry. There were at least 7 brewhouses in the 16th c., including a large one owned by the crown.
A 16th century English report on Calais spells the name of its inhabitants "Calisian"
Sandeman, George Amelius Crawshay. 1908. Calais under English rule. Oxford: B.H. Blackwell; [etc., etc.].
This was less true of the Pale of Calais, the territory under English control outside Calais proper, including the outlying forts at Hammes and Guisnes (now Guînes). While some English settled in the Pale, the population outside the town remained predominantly French or Flemish. The Pale covered about 20 square miles, and Guînes is about 6.5 miles from Calais by road.
Even though Edward III expelled most of the original population of the town, a few were allowed to remain: a priest, "and other auncyent personages such as knewe the customes, lawes and ordynaunces of the towne and to signe out the herytages howe they were devyded", and some others by special leave of the king. Foreigners could not become a burgess, hold freehold property or keep an inn. Over time these regulations became less well enforced, and in 1364 there was a complaint of foreigners owning hostelries in Calais. In 1413, Henry V renewed the prohibition on foreigners becoming burgesses or keeping an inn, and required foreigners settling in Calais to be taxed at 1/15th of their wealth.
Lodging keepers were required to make a report of what strangers were lodging with them each night.
During herring time, between the feasts of Michaelmas and St. Andrew, when many foreign fishermen brought their catch to Calais, there were extra precautions: only one of the town gates was open, there was an additional watch, and foreign fishermen were not allowed in town overnight.
The Calais Staple was an important institution under English Rule. From 1348 until the French retook Calais, with brief lapses in the 14th century, most wool, woolfells, tin and lead exported from England was required to pass through the Staple, a marketplace governed by the Company of the Staple, where it could be conveniently taxed. The Staple was an important source of revenue for the Crown, and the Staplers an important source of financing.
After the garrison mutinied over unpaid wages, in 1407 Henry IV assigned half of the wool duties to pay the garrison. This was insufficient, and Henry borrowed the remainder from the Staplers, repaying them by excusing them from wool customs for a time.
While most of the Staplers and members of the garrison expected to eventually return to England, some of the burgesses, descendants of the original English settlers, expected Calais to be their home for life.
From 1365 on, the town was ruled by a mayor and 12 aldermen, but there was also a Mayor of the Staple, leading to repeated conflicts as to who had precedence, the Mayor of the Town or the Mayor of the Staple. This bickering would continue into the reign of Edward IV, to be resolved for a time in favor of the Mayor of the Staple, only to be revived in the early 16th c.
The town is estimated to have had a population of 4,500 in the 15th c.
When Henry VIII visited in 1532, the town was reckoned capable of providing 2,400 beds and stables for 2,000 horses.
Brewing beer was a major local industry. There were at least 7 brewhouses in the 16th c., including a large one owned by the crown.
A 16th century English report on Calais spells the name of its inhabitants "Calisian"
Sandeman, George Amelius Crawshay. 1908. Calais under English rule. Oxford: B.H. Blackwell; [etc., etc.].
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Name a Crater on Mercury
Immortalize an important person in the Arts and Humanities from any nation or cultural group by having a crater on the planet Mercury named in their honor! The MESSENGER Team is seeking help from all Earthlings to suggest names for five impact craters on Mercury. We will accept submissions beginning midnight (00:00 UTC) December 15, 2014 until January 15, 2015 (23:59 UTC). All entries will be reviewed by Team representatives and expert panels. Then, 15 finalist names will be submitted to the International Astronomical Union (IAU) for selection of the 5 winners. Winning submissions will be announced by the IAU to coincide with MESSENGER’s End of Mission Operations in late March/April 2015.Details here.
According to the IAU rules for Mercury, impact craters are named in honor of people who have made outstanding or fundamental contributions to the Arts and Humanities (visual artists, writers, poets, dancers, architects, musicians, composers and so on). The person must have been recognized as an art-historically significant figure for more than 50 years and must have been dead for at least three years.I have submitted Christine de Pizan and Cab Calloway.
When I make a submission using a Mac with Safari as a browser, the second page appears blank until I scroll up. I then see the relevant requests for additional reference documentation.
Tuesday, January 06, 2015
Cab Calloway (1907-1994)
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was a jazz singer and bandleader, well known for his performances at Harlem's Cotton Club and scat singing.
His music was worked into several of Fleischer Studios' Betty Boop cartoons, including "Minnie the Moocher", in which Calloway provided the voice for a spectral walrus.
That's right, a spectral walrus. You can't make this up. At least, I can't.
He created music that people loved, and that is worthy of some appropriate memorial. Like a crater on Mercury, where they name craters after artists.
His music was worked into several of Fleischer Studios' Betty Boop cartoons, including "Minnie the Moocher", in which Calloway provided the voice for a spectral walrus.
That's right, a spectral walrus. You can't make this up. At least, I can't.
He created music that people loved, and that is worthy of some appropriate memorial. Like a crater on Mercury, where they name craters after artists.
Friday, January 02, 2015
Most Read Posts of 2014
Most read posts of 2014:
Boucicaut's Training Regime.
Scabbard Making in Diderot's Encyclopedia.
Pitfalls in Understanding the Middle Ages: Archaism
Did Neil deGrasse Tyson Lie About President Bush?
Recreating Medieval Combat
Rectangular Tents in Swiss Illuminations: 1478-1513
Rectangular Medieval Tents
When May a Medieval Gentleman Display Their Breeches?
Breeches and a Breech-belt.
Armor: 1375:1387
Hanging Up Armor in the 14th Century.
Robin Hood Hats: 1380-1415
Hose: 1350-1500
Wax Tablets
Reproduction Early 15th c. Bascinet
You Know Nothing About Feudalism. Nothing.
Boucicaut's Training Regime.
Scabbard Making in Diderot's Encyclopedia.
Pitfalls in Understanding the Middle Ages: Archaism
Did Neil deGrasse Tyson Lie About President Bush?
Recreating Medieval Combat
Rectangular Tents in Swiss Illuminations: 1478-1513
Rectangular Medieval Tents
When May a Medieval Gentleman Display Their Breeches?
Breeches and a Breech-belt.
Armor: 1375:1387
Hanging Up Armor in the 14th Century.
Robin Hood Hats: 1380-1415
Hose: 1350-1500
Wax Tablets
Reproduction Early 15th c. Bascinet
You Know Nothing About Feudalism. Nothing.
Christine de Pizan.
Christine de Pizan was an admirable author of the late 14th and early 15th c. Born in Venice in 1364, her father moved his family to Paris in 1368 where he served as royal astrologer. She wrote in French, as a French patriot. Widowed when her husband died in 1390, she was the sole support of her mother, niece and two children. She turned to writing to support them, a remarkable choice in an age when Geoffrey Chaucer was careful to retain his day job as a govenrment bureaucrat. She was probably the first woman to make a living as a professional author.
She was industrious, prolific and influential. She wrote poems about love and deeds of arms, works on the proper role of women in society, and a cruel but fair criticism of Jean de Meun’s misogyny in the Romance of the Rose. She also wrote on politics, wrote a biography of Charles V and a profoundly unromantic and subversive romance, The Book of the Duke of True Lovers, presenting the argument that most of what male courtly lovers say about serving their ladies is self serving "since the honor and profit remains with them and not at all with the lady!"
She also wrote an influential treatise on war, Les faits d'armes et de chevalerie, in part based on the late Roman author Vegetius, in part on the slightly earlier Honoré Bonet, and the rest based on contemporary advice from experienced soldiers on how to carry out or repel a siege or carry out a campaign.
One measure of her influence is that one of the earliest books printed in English is a translation of her work: The Book of the Order of Chivalry, and her The Epistle of Othea was also translated into English in the middle of the 15th century.
Although she signed herself Christine de Pizan, later authors and editions of her work overwhelmingly gave her name as Christine de Pisan, The original spelling of her name only returned to predominance in the 1980s in English in the 1990s in French. It seems likely that there was a wide assumption that her family originally came from Pisa, rather than the town of Pizzano near Bologna.
She was industrious, prolific and influential. She wrote poems about love and deeds of arms, works on the proper role of women in society, and a cruel but fair criticism of Jean de Meun’s misogyny in the Romance of the Rose. She also wrote on politics, wrote a biography of Charles V and a profoundly unromantic and subversive romance, The Book of the Duke of True Lovers, presenting the argument that most of what male courtly lovers say about serving their ladies is self serving "since the honor and profit remains with them and not at all with the lady!"
She also wrote an influential treatise on war, Les faits d'armes et de chevalerie, in part based on the late Roman author Vegetius, in part on the slightly earlier Honoré Bonet, and the rest based on contemporary advice from experienced soldiers on how to carry out or repel a siege or carry out a campaign.
One measure of her influence is that one of the earliest books printed in English is a translation of her work: The Book of the Order of Chivalry, and her The Epistle of Othea was also translated into English in the middle of the 15th century.
Although she signed herself Christine de Pizan, later authors and editions of her work overwhelmingly gave her name as Christine de Pisan, The original spelling of her name only returned to predominance in the 1980s in English in the 1990s in French. It seems likely that there was a wide assumption that her family originally came from Pisa, rather than the town of Pizzano near Bologna.
2015 in Space
It should be interesting.
In January, SpaceX will attempt to land the first stage of an orbital launcher on a barge. If they fail, they'll try again.
In April, Dawn should enter Ceres orbit.
In May, the Planetary Society should launch a solar sail spacecraft.
In July, New Horizons should fly by Pluto.
In November, Japan will make another attempt to put their Akatsuki spacecraft in Venus orbit.
The flotilla of Mars orbiters and surviving rovers will continue to probe Mars. Cassini continues to explore the Saturn system.
In January, SpaceX will attempt to land the first stage of an orbital launcher on a barge. If they fail, they'll try again.
In April, Dawn should enter Ceres orbit.
In May, the Planetary Society should launch a solar sail spacecraft.
In July, New Horizons should fly by Pluto.
In November, Japan will make another attempt to put their Akatsuki spacecraft in Venus orbit.
The flotilla of Mars orbiters and surviving rovers will continue to probe Mars. Cassini continues to explore the Saturn system.
Thursday, January 01, 2015
2014 in Space
China put their Chang'E lander and Yutu rover on the the Lunar surface late in 2013, and they continued to send back data in 2014. It was the first soft landing on the Lunar surface since the Soviet Luna 24 in 1976.
In July, the Opportunity rover surpassed the record of Lunokhod 2 for the greatest distance driven on a world other than Earth. By then, Opportunity had spent more than ten years exploring Mars.
On September 24, India put their Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft into Martian orbit, a few days after NASA's MAVEN spacecraft also arrived in orbit around Mars. India becomes the fourth space agency to reach Mars orbit, and the first to do so on their first try.
This brought the international flotilla of Mars orbiters to five, plus two rovers on the surface.
In November, the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft, orbiting the rubber-duck shaped comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, dropped the little Philae lander to the surface, where it bounced across the unexpectedly crunchy crust of the comet nucleus.
In December, NASA's Dawn spacecraft began to capture images of Ceres, Japan launched their Hayabusa 2 spacecraft to visit an asteroid and bring back samples, NASA launched an unmanned test flight of their Orion capsule, and NASA's New Horizons spacecraft woke from hibernation approaching Pluto. Also, three potential Kuiper Belt targets have been identified for New Horizons after Pluto.
Also, the Curiosity rover reports that something is intermittently pumping methane into the Martian atmosphere. It could be something non-biological, but still, very interesting.
All in all, a good year in space.
For getting to space, it was rockier. On August 22, the usually reliable Soyuz launcher put two Galileo satellites in the wrong orbit. On October, 28, an Antares launcher failed shortly after liftoff, fell back to the ground and exploded. On October 31 , a SpaceShipTwo suborbital rocket plane broke up in flight, killing one of the crew, 39 year old Michael Tyner Alsbury.
Space is hard. All the more reason to appreciate the successes.
In July, the Opportunity rover surpassed the record of Lunokhod 2 for the greatest distance driven on a world other than Earth. By then, Opportunity had spent more than ten years exploring Mars.
On September 24, India put their Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft into Martian orbit, a few days after NASA's MAVEN spacecraft also arrived in orbit around Mars. India becomes the fourth space agency to reach Mars orbit, and the first to do so on their first try.
This brought the international flotilla of Mars orbiters to five, plus two rovers on the surface.
In November, the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft, orbiting the rubber-duck shaped comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, dropped the little Philae lander to the surface, where it bounced across the unexpectedly crunchy crust of the comet nucleus.
In December, NASA's Dawn spacecraft began to capture images of Ceres, Japan launched their Hayabusa 2 spacecraft to visit an asteroid and bring back samples, NASA launched an unmanned test flight of their Orion capsule, and NASA's New Horizons spacecraft woke from hibernation approaching Pluto. Also, three potential Kuiper Belt targets have been identified for New Horizons after Pluto.
Also, the Curiosity rover reports that something is intermittently pumping methane into the Martian atmosphere. It could be something non-biological, but still, very interesting.
All in all, a good year in space.
For getting to space, it was rockier. On August 22, the usually reliable Soyuz launcher put two Galileo satellites in the wrong orbit. On October, 28, an Antares launcher failed shortly after liftoff, fell back to the ground and exploded. On October 31 , a SpaceShipTwo suborbital rocket plane broke up in flight, killing one of the crew, 39 year old Michael Tyner Alsbury.
Space is hard. All the more reason to appreciate the successes.
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