| Submit your comments on this article |
| -PC Follies |
| Mars Rover Landing Site Named After Sci-Fi Legend Octavia Butler |
| 2021-03-09 |
| [Gizmodo] That magical spot in Jezero crater where NASA’s Perseverance rover made its historic landing last month has been named "Octavia E. Butler Landing" in honor of the late sci-fi author. "I can think of no better person to mark this historic landing site than Octavia E. Butler, who not only grew up next door to JPL [NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory] in Pasadena, but she also inspired millions with her visions of a science-based future," Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA associate administrator for science, said in a NASA release. Indeed, NASA got it right with this one, as Butler is a worthy choice for such a prestigious honor. Butler, who died in 2006 at the age of 58, was the first African American woman to win the Hugo and Nebula awards and the first sci-fi writer to be honored with a MacArthur Fellowship. The acclaimed author is known for such works as the Xenogenesis trilogy and the Parable and Patternist series, in which she critiqued humanity’s hierarchical and prejudicial tendencies, especially those based on race, sex, and class. "Butler’s protagonists embody determination and inventiveness, making her a perfect fit for the Perseverance rover mission and its theme of overcoming challenges," explained Kathryn Stack Morgan, deputy project scientist for Perseverance, in the NASA press release. "Butler inspired and influenced the planetary science community and many beyond, including those typically under-represented in STEM fields." |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #23 MZB always was kind of weird. I think I grew out of her books when I was 15 or so... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2021-03-09 19:21 |
| #22 Why, yes, looking at bookcase, I have three of her earliest paperbacks. She started becoming weirder and more strident so I lost any interest in her works.... Kind of like Marion Zimmer Bradley... |
| Posted by: magpie 2021-03-09 17:11 |
| #21 yes, and we'll finally be able to give'm the reparations promised, 40 acres and a mule. Reperations, never specified, when or where. |
| Posted by: Nero Hatfield3627 2021-03-09 16:02 |
| #20 If we're naming things after Wakandan authors, can we send all our the Wakandans to Mars and give them a colony there? |
| Posted by: Herb Untervehr4448 2021-03-09 15:55 |
| #19 #18 I had no idea you were a Philistine. I just meant my vote goes to E.R.B (John Carter of Mars) or Leigh Brackett (The Road to Sinharat) before Bradbury. Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is what I'd chose for the current Earth situation. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2021-03-09 15:21 |
| #18 RAY BRADBURY, G(r)om! I had no idea you were a Philistine. |
| Posted by: Mercutio 2021-03-09 15:03 |
| #17 #12 Male. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2021-03-09 10:49 |
| #16 If she’s dead, she won’t be writing anything new, is that right? I can live with that. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2021-03-09 10:32 |
| #15 Now, now, it's not easy to find an African-American SF author. Guess Samuel Delany wouldn't take the call. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2021-03-09 10:14 |
| #14 Octavia Estelle Butler (June 22, 1947 – February 24, 2006) was an American science fiction author. A multiple recipient of both the Hugo and Nebula awards, she became in 1995 the first, and only, as of 2021, science-fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship. Patternist series Patternmaster (Doubleday, 1976) Mind of My Mind (Doubleday, 1977) Survivor (Doubleday, 1978) Wild Seed (Doubleday, 1980) Clay's Ark (St. Martin's Press, 1984) Seed to Harvest (Grand Central Publishing 2007; omnibus excluding Survivor) Xenogenesis series Dawn (Warner, 1987) Adulthood Rites (Warner, 1988) Imago (Warner, 1989) Xenogenesis (Guild America Books, 1989) (an omnibus edition of Dawn, Adulthood Rites, & Imago) Lilith's Brood (Warner, 2000) (another omnibus edition of Dawn, Adulthood Rites, & Imago) Parable series (also called the Earthseed series) Parable of the Sower (Four Walls, Eight Windows, 1993) Parable of the Talents (Seven Stories Press, 1998) Standalone novels Kindred (Doubleday, 1979) Fledgling (Seven Stories Press, 2005) Short story collections Bloodchild and Other Stories (Four Walls, Eight Windows, 1995; Seven Stories Press, 2005 including "Amnesty" and "The Book of Martha") Unexpected Stories (2014, including "A Necessary Being" and "Childfinder") |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2021-03-09 10:02 |
| #13 Kind of like Lawrence Dunbar? |
| Posted by: Vespasian Ebboting9735 2021-03-09 09:02 |
| #12 Never heard of her... |
| Posted by: Vespasian Ebboting9735 2021-03-09 09:01 |
| #11 ^E.R.B? Leigh Brackett? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2021-03-09 08:39 |
| #10 If you're naming anything on Mars for SF authors, there damn well better be a Bradbury Landing. |
| Posted by: Mercutio 2021-03-09 08:37 |
| #9 ^Than it should be "Mike's landing" |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2021-03-09 07:45 |
| #8 Not a manned landing. OK, not a LIVE landing of people. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2021-03-09 07:41 |
| #7 ^Next landing on the Moon will be Chinese. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2021-03-09 07:26 |
| #6 Next landing site on the Moon should be the Hazel Meade Stone Spaceport. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2021-03-09 07:17 |
| #5 #3 And it's ain't sexist or transphobic either.🤣 |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2021-03-09 05:55 |
| #4 Get that THING out of my rock garden, Alien! |
| Posted by: Galactic Coordinator Clunk4123 2021-03-09 04:49 |
| #3 So, math and science are inherently racist, but science fiction is not. Uh, yeah, o.k., got it. |
| Posted by: Clem 2021-03-09 04:37 |
| #2 ^Now, now, it's not easy to find an African-American SF author. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2021-03-09 02:51 |
| #1 I found her stories unreadable. More fantasy than sci-fi. |
| Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 2021-03-09 02:31 |