Activist Frank Kameny recognized at the White House

Activist (and astronomer) Frank Kameny was honored at a White House ceremony as part of Pride month.

The U.S. government officially apologized to Dr. Kameny, who was fired by the United States Civil Service Commission 52 years ago because of his sexual orientation.

"With the fervent passion of a true patriot, you did not resign yourself to your fate or quietly endure this wrong," said John Berry, director of the Office of Personnel Management. "With courage and strength, you fought back. And so today, I am writing to advise you that this policy, which was at odds with the bedrock principles underlying the merit-based civil service, has been repudiated by the United States Government, due in large part to your determination and life's work, and to the thousands of Americans whose advocacy your words have inspired."

Dr. Kameny was instrumental in getting homosexuality dropped from the manual of mental disorders used by American psychiatrists. He also fought a long battle with the US government over the denial of security clearances to gay people, a battle finally won under the Clinton administration.

He was also a professional astronomer, until he was thrown out of the Army Map Service. Here's his publication list on ADS. As a professional astronomer and a lesbian, I'm grateful to Dr. Kameny and the other pioneers for making it possible for folks like me to live openly.

Death of a Sailor

Just wrote my US Rep. to demand a full inquiry into the murder of sailor August Provost at Camp Pendleton, CA last week.

Seaman Provost was murdered while on guard duty. He was 29, gay, partnered, and 3 years into a college education as an engineer.

At present, the Navy does not consider this a hate crime. Several members of Congress are calling for a Congressional inquiry into his death, or are calling on the Pentagon to investigate the murder as a possible hate crime. Please ask your US Rep to join them.

Comic: what we send the universe

From Astruse Goose.

DOMA

Knitting circle

I attended a new knitting group last night. Age range was 20--80, projects ranged from first-ever scarf to intricate baby clothes. Discussion topics discussed included: quark-gluon plasmas, whether gauge swatches are necessary, the northern lights, felting techniques, scenic camping sites, pronunciation of Portuguese island names, whether the Azores are too touristy (compared to 1950), the game Oregon Trail, the new Star Trek Movie (the older ladies have seen it, and I haven't!). Oh, and whether a galaxy of sufficiently high mass and redshift could ever be discovered that would make theorists cry.

This group's a keeper.

Sonic Booms

My wife and I climbed a tallish building before Atlantis landed Sunday. Didn't see it, but we clearly heard the double sonic booms (a few seconds after NASA TV reported them heard at Edwards.) Exactly what it's supposed to sound like. So, in a small way, we welcomed the Hubble repair astronauts home. As, apparently, did pickuptrucks.com (stumbled across the link from Cars.com.) Everyone does love Hubble.

Also in the news, Prop 8 decision was announced Tuesday. Exactly what we all guessed based on the oral argument: Prop 8 stands, but my wife and I stay married, and laws that discriminate on sexual orientation are still subject to "heightened judicial scrutiny".

Afterward, as always, there was a rally. Small group (where the hell are you, pissed-off straight and gay people?), including many parents with kids (I was given a lovely kid-made sign, which made up for in sincerity what it lacked in legibility). Not sure how much the rally accomplished, but the wife said it was cathartic. We wrote letters to the editor this morning, too, not that people read newspapers anymore.

CA Supreme Court to rule on Prop 8

The California Supreme Court will announce its ruling on the constitutionality of Proposition 8 on Tuesday at 10am PDT.

Thank you, astronauts

A snapshot of Drew Feustel (on the robotic arm) and John Grunsfeld (deep inside Hubble's guts). Thank you, Atlantis astronauts, for splendid work refurbishing Hubble, and for risking your lives to advance science.

Lots of space telescope news!

Lots of space telescope news this week:

The Shuttle launched safely on Monday, captured the Hubble Space Telescope on Tuesday, and now astronauts are repairing Hubble. John Grunsfeld and Drew Feustel have already removed WFPC2 and installed WFC3 - YAY! They are currently removing the faulty Data Handling Unit.

You can watch the repairs on NASA TV.



Also, Herschel and Planck launched successfully on Thurdsay morning. Herschel is an infrared/submillimeter space telescope, and Planck is a cosmic microwave background experiment.

Finally, No word yet on whether the Spitzer Space Telescope has run out of cryogenic coolant yet -- an event predicted for this week.. Thank, you Spitzer, for 5 years of wonderful science.

Waiting for two launches

Servicing Mission 4 to repair the Hubble Space Telescope is due to launch Monday, May 11 at 2:01pm. The official estimate of the risk from space debris has been lowered to 1-in-221, but the shuttle will still fly tail-first to better shield the spacewalking astronauts, led by astronaut/astronomer John Grunsfeld.

Also, European space telescopes Herschel and Planck are set to launch on Thursday, 14 May from French Guiana. Planck is a Cosmic Microwave Background explorer (meaning it looks at the leftover light from the Big Bang), and Herschel is a far-infrared general-purpose telescope that looks mainly at baby stars in our galaxy, as well as galaxies that are rapidly forming stars.

Fingers crossed and atheist prayers delivered for two clean launches, good spacewalks, and a safe return for Atlantis.