Earth and Space News: September 2014

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

John Young Flew Apollo 10 CM Charlie Brown and Was Apollo 16 Moonwalker

Summary: American astronaut John Young flew Apollo 10 CM Charlie Brown and was an Apollo 16 moonwalker during his 42-year career at NASA.

NASA astronaut John Watts Young with models of Apollo 10 Command Module Charlie Brown atop namesake Peanuts cartoon character Charlie Brown; NASA ID AP10-KSC-369-167: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Public Domain, via NASA History-Apollo Flight Journal

American astronaut John Young flew Apollo 10 CM Charlie Brown and was an Apollo 16 moonwalker during his storied career of 42 years at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

John Watts Young (born Wednesday, Sept. 24, 1930) publicly began his space career at NASA with the official announcement of his selection for Astronaut Group 2 on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 1962. The roster of the New Nine, also known as Next Nine, was unveiled at the University of Houston’s Cullen Performance Hall. Naval aviator and test pilot John Young shared the stage with four other Navy pilots: Neil Alden Armstrong (born Aug. 5, 1930), Charles “Pete” Conrad Jr. (June 2, 1930-July 8, 1999), James “Jim” Arthur Lovell Jr. (born March 25, 1928) and Elliot McKay See Jr. (July 23, 1927-Feb. 28, 1966). The United States Air Force contributed four test pilots to the New Nine: Frank Frederick Borman II (born March 14, 1928), James Alton McDivitt (born June 10, 1929), Thomas “Tom” Patten Stafford (born Sept. 17, 1930) and Edward “Ed” Higgins White II (Nov. 14, 1930-Jan. 27, 1967).

Over his 42-year NASA career, John Young achieved unique status as the only astronaut to fly in the space agency’s Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle programs. He also garnered a first as flier in six space missions.

He experienced his first spaceflight as pilot of Gemini 3, with Virgil “Gus” Ivan Grisson (April 3, 1926-Jan. 27, 1967) as command pilot. The Gemini program’s first crewed mission logged three low Earth orbits in Gemini spacecraft Molly Brown on Tuesday, March 23, 1965.

Young’s second spaceflight occurred as command pilot of Gemini 10, with Michael Collins (born Oct. 31, 1930) as pilot. The eighth crewed Gemini flight mission launched Monday, July 18, 1966, and landed Thursday, July 21. The mission’s objectives included the Gemini program’s first double rendezvous, conducted with uncrewed spacecrafts Gemini 10’s Gemini-Agena Target Vehicle (GATV)-5005 and aborted Gemini 9 mission’s GATV-5003.

Young performed his third spaceflight as Command Module Charlie Brown Pilot for Apollo 10. The Apollo space program’s fourth crewed and second lunar orbiting mission launched Sunday, May 18, 1969, and splashed down Monday, May 26. Fellow Next Nine selectee Thomas Stafford commanded the mission, successfully designed as a “dress rehearsal,” absent the lunar landing, for lunar landing mission Apollo 11. Naval aviator and Astronaut Group 3 selectee Eugene "Gene" Andrew Cernan (born March 14, 1934) piloted Lunar Module Snoopy.

Young typified the NASA astronauts’ appreciation of and awareness of the extraordinary vistas visible through spacecraft windows. Approximately 104 hours 44 minutes (104:44 Ground Elapsed Time GET) after Apollo 10’s liftoff, John Young contacted Mission Control Center (MCC) in Houston, Texas, with a request: “Houston, Charlie Brown. I’d like to get a sunset time. Over.” But, with the MCC Capsule Communicator‘s (Cap Comm; CC) “Stand by” response, Young observed: “Oh, never mind. It happens so fast around here, I ought to be instantaneously aware of it” (Apollo 10 Onboard Voice Transcription-Command Module, June 1969: page 378).

Young’s fourth spaceflight occurred as commander of Command-Service Module (CSM) 113 for Apollo 16. The Apollo space program’s 10th crewed mission launched Sunday, April 16, 1972, and splashed down Thursday, April 27. Young and Lunar Module Orion Pilot Charles Moss Duke Jr. (born Oct. 3, 1935) became the ninth and 10th moonwalkers, respectively, while Command Module Casper Pilot Thomas Kenneth “Ken” Mattingly II (born March 17, 1936) orbited in Casper.

Young logged his fifth and sixth spaceflights through the Space Shuttle program, NASA’s fourth human spaceflight program. He commanded the program’s first orbital spaceflight, STS-1 (Space Transportation System-1) for his fifth spaceflight. Robert Laurel Crippen (born Sept. 11, 1937) was the mission pilot on Space Shuttle Columbia. STS-1 launched Sunday, April 12, 1981, and touched down Tuesday, April 14.

Young returned to Space Shuttle Columbia to claim his sixth and final spaceflight. STS-9, the ninth Space Shuttle mission, launched Monday, Nov. 28, 1983, and landed Thursday, Dec. 8. The mission garnered first spaceflights for four of Young’s crew: Brewster Hopkinson Shaw Jr. (born May 16, 1945), pilot; Robert Allan Ridley Parker (born Dec. 14, 1936), mission specialist 2; Ulf Dietrich Merbold (born June 20, 1941), payload specialist 1; and Byron Kurt Lichtenberg (born Feb. 19, 1948), payload specialist 2. Skylab 3 mission veteran Owen Kay Garriott (born Nov. 22, 1930), mission specialist 1, logged his second and last spaceflight.

The takeaway for NASA astronaut John Young’s flying Apollo 10 CM Charlie Brown and moonwalking for Apollo 16 is that the U.S. Navy’s aviator and test pilot’s storied NASA career includes first flier in six space missions and unique pilot and command of four different classes of spacecraft.

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

John Watts Young, Apollo 10 lunar orbit mission’s Prime Crew Command Module Charlie Brown Pilot; April 1969; NASA ID S69-32616: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Public Domain, via NASA Human Spaceflight @ https://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/apollo/apollo10/html/s69-32616.html

For further information:

Cernan, Eugene. The Last Man on the Moon: Eugene Cernan and America’s Race in Space. New York NY: St. Martin’s Press, 1999.

Godwin, Robert, comp. and ed. Apollo 10: The NASA Mission Reports. Second edition. Burlington, Canada: Apogee Books, 2000.

Holdsworth, Elizabeth. “Space Oddity: Of London and Apollo 10.” Londonist. Last updated Dec. 18, 2013.
Available @ https://londonist.com/2013/12/space-oddity-of-london-and-apollo-10

Marriner, Derdriu. “Apollo 10 Imaged Near Side’s Schmidt Crater During May 1969 Lunar Orbit.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 21, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/05/apollo-10-imaged-near-sides-schmidt.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Apollo 10 Imaged Near Side’s Triesnecker Crater During Lunar Orbit.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 14, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/05/apollo-10-imaged-near-sides-triesnecker.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Apollo 10 Lunar Module Snoopy Passed 47,400 Feet Above Apollo 11 Site.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 28, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/05/apollo-10s-lunar-module-snoopy-passed.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Apollo 10 Lunar Module Snoopy Was Placed in Solar Orbit May 23, 1969.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, June 18, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/06/apollo-10-lunar-module-snoopy-was.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Apollo 10 Service Module Returned to Earth Instead of Orbiting the Sun.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, June 11, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/06/apollo-10-service-module-returned-to.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Jettisoned LM Snoopy Descent Stage Appeared Near Taruntius Crater.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 11, 2011.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/05/jettisoned-lm-snoopy-descent-stage.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “London Science Museum Displays Apollo 10 Command Module Charlie Brown.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, June 4, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/06/london-science-museum-displays-apollo.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Nick Howes and Faulkes Telescope Project Seek Lost Apollo 10 LM Snoopy.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/09/nick-howes-and-faulkes-telescope.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Nick Howes Considers Possible Orbits for Apollo 10 Lunar Module Snoopy.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/12/nick-howes-considers-possible-orbits_14.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Snoopy and Charlie Brown Are Hugging Each Other in Apollo 10 Docking.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 18, 2011.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/05/snoopy-and-charlie-brown-are-hugging.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Thomas Stafford Commanded Apollo 10 and Flew Last Apollo Spacecraft.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/09/thomas-stafford-commanded-apollo-10-and.html

NASA JSC Web Team. “Apollo: 1963-1972.” NASA JSC (National Aeronautics and Space Administration Johnson Space Center) History Portal. Updated July 16, 2010.
Available @ https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/apollo.htm

NASA JSC Web. “Mission Transcripts: Apollo 10.” NASA JSC (National Aeronautics and Space Administration Johnson Space Center) History Portal. Updated July 16, 2010.
Available @ https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/mission_trans/apollo10.htm

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. “11.3 Photographic Results.” Apollo 10 Mission Report: 11.3-11.5. MSC-00126. Houston TX: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Manned Spacecraft Center, August 1969.
Available @ https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a410/A10_MissionReport.pdf

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Apollo 10 Mission (AS-505) Post Launch Mission Operation Report No. 1. Report No. M-932-69-10. Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, May 26, 1969.
Available @ https://history.nasa.gov/afj/ap10fj/pdf/a10-postlaunch-rep.pdf

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Apollo 10 Mission Report. MSC-00126. Houston TX: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Manned Spacecraft Center, August 1969.
Available @ https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a410/A10_MissionReport.pdf

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Apollo 10 Press Kit. Release no. 69-68. May 7, 1969. Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1969.
Available @ https://www.history.nasa.gov/alsj/a410/A10_PressKit.pdf

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Apollo 10 Technical Air-to-Ground Voice Transcription (Goss Net 1). Prepared for Data Logistics Office Test Division Apollo Spacecraft Program Office. Houston TX: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Manned Spacecraft Center, May 1969.
Available via Johnson Space Center (JSC) History Portal @ https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/mission_trans/AS10_TEC.PDF

Orloff, Richard W. “Apollo 10 The Fourth Mission: Testing the LM in Lunar Orbit.” Apollo by the Numbers: A Statistical Reference: 71-88. NASA History Series. NASA SP 4029. Washington DC: NASA Headquarters Office of Policy and Plans, 2000.
Available @ https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029.pdf

Shepard, Alan; Deke Slayton; Jay Barbree; and Howard Benedict. Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America's Race to the Moon. Atlanta GA: Turner Publishing Inc., 1994.

Slayton, Donald K.; and Michael Cassutt. Deke! U.S. Manned Space: From Mercury to the Shuttle. New York NY: Forge Books, 1994.

Young, John W. (Watts); and James R. Hansen. Forever Young: A Life of Adventure in Air and Space. Gainesville FL: University Press of Florida, 2012.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Thomas Stafford Commanded Apollo 10 and Flew Last Apollo Spacecraft

Summary: American astronaut Thomas Stafford commanded Apollo 10 and flew the last Apollo spacecraft during his 13-year career at NASA.

En route to the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-B, Apollo 10 Commander Thomas “Tom” Stafford pats plush Snoopy, held by Jamye Flowers (Coplin), secretary of Astronaut Group 1 selectee Leroy Gordon “Gordo” Cooper Jr.: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Public Domain, via NASA

American astronaut Thomas Stafford commanded Apollo 10 and flew the last Apollo spacecraft during his 13-year career at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

United States Air Force (USAF) test pilot Thomas Patten Stafford (born Wednesday, Sept. 17, 1930) publicly began his space career at NASA with the official announcement of his selection for Astronaut Group 2 on his 32nd birthday, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 1962. The New Nine, also known as Next Nine, were presented at a press conference, held at University of Houston’s Cullen Performance Hall. Three other USAF test pilots were selected for the Next Nine: Frank Frederick Borman II (born March 14, 1928), James Alton McDivitt (born June 10, 1929) and Edward “Ed” Higgins White II (Nov. 14, 1930-Jan. 27, 1967). Representing the United States Navy (USN) were aviator and test pilot John Watts Young (born Sept. 24, 1930) and naval pilots Neil Alden Armstrong (born Aug. 5, 1930), Charles “Pete” Conrad Jr. (June 2, 1930-July 8, 1999), James “Jim” Arthur Lovell Jr. (born March 25, 1928) and Elliot McKay See Jr. (July 23, 1927-Feb. 28, 1966).

Thomas Stafford made four spaceflights during his 13-year NASA career. He experienced his first spaceflight as pilot in the Gemini VI-A (Gemini 6A) mission. Project Gemini’s fifth crewed flight launched Wednesday, Dec. 15, 1965, and splashed down Thursday, Dec. 16. Astronaut Group 1 selectee Walter “Wally” Marty Schirra Jr. (March 12, 1923-May 3, 2007) was the mission’s command pilot.

Stafford’s second spaceflight occurred as command pilot for Gemini IX-A (Gemini 9A). Project Gemini’s seventh crewed flight launched Friday, June 3, 1966, and splashed down Monday, June 6. Astronaut Group 3 selectee Eugene “Gene” Andrew Cernan (born March 14, 1934) was the mission’s pilot.

The Apollo 10 mission reunited Stafford and Cernan for third and second career spaceflights, respectively. Apollo 10 launched Sunday, May 18, 1969, and splashed down Monday, May 26, as the “dress rehearsal” predecessor, minus a lunar landing, of lunar-landing mission Apollo 11. Stafford commanded the Apollo 10 mission. Cernan piloted Lunar Module Snoopy. Astronaut Group 2 selectee John Young served as Command Module Charlie Brown Pilot.

On Friday, May 23, at 3:11:02 Coordinated Universal Time (Thursday, May 22, at 10:11 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, 11:11 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time), Lunar Module Snoopy’s ascent stage docked with Command Module Charlie Brown after making four lunar orbits. Stafford famously described the successful docking, occurring 106 hours 22 minutes 2 seconds (106:22:02 Ground Elapsed Time GET) after liftoff, to Mission Control Center (MCC) in Houston, Texas: “Snoopy and Charlie Brown are hugging each other.”

Stafford’s command of the Apollo spacecraft, call sign Apollo, for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) marked his fourth and final spaceflight. Apollo launched July 15, 1975, and landed July 24. Astronaut Group 5 selectee Vance DeVoe Brand (born May 9, 1931) and Astronaut Group 1 selectee Donald Kent “Deke” Slayton (March 1, 1924-June 13, 1993) crewed as command module pilot and docking module pilot, respectively.

Stafford marveled at the view, as the Apollo spacecraft headed into the homestretch, 22 hours from touchdown. Wednesday, July 23, at 23:18 UTC (6:18 p.m. Central Daylight Time; 7:18 p.m. EDT; 203:01 GET), Stafford commented: “We’re sitting here observing the whole world from a beautiful vantage point.”

Capsule Communicator (Cap Comm; CC) Richard “Dick” Harrison Truly asked: “Is the East Coast pretty tonight? It’s been kind of cloudy down here.”

“It’s been pretty cloudy in most of the area here, but it comes into a clear area right now,” Stafford replied. “We can see Long Island. In fact, Dick, we just passed over Manhattan” (Mission Commentary, Part 44 MC 666/1).

The takeaways for NASA astronaut Thomas Stafford’s commanding Apollo 10 LM Snoopy and flying the last Apollo spacecraft in the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) are that, during his 13-year NASA career, the Astronaut Group 1 selectee made four spaceflights and that the Apollo 10 “dress rehearsal” lunar orbiting mission marked Stafford’s third spaceflight.

official portrait of Apollo 10 Commander Thomas Stafford in front of the Apollo 10 Saturn V on Launch Pad 39-B at Kennedy Space Center (KSC); NASA ID AP10-KSC-69PC-147HR: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Public Domain, via NASA History-Apollo Flight Journal

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Cernan, Eugene. The Last Man on the Moon: Eugene Cernan and America’s Race in Space. New York NY: St. Martin’s Press, 1999.

Dunbar, Brian; and Kathleen Zona, ed. “Snoopy Soars With NASA at Charles Schulz Museum.” NASA > News & Features > News Topics > NASA History & People. Jan. 5, 2009.
Available @ https://www.nasa.gov/topics/history/features/snoopy.html

Godwin, Robert, comp. and ed. Apollo 10: The NASA Mission Reports. Second edition. Burlington, Canada: Apogee Books, 2000.

Holdsworth, Elizabeth. “Space Oddity: Of London and Apollo 10.” Londonist. Last updated Dec. 18, 2013.
Available @ https://londonist.com/2013/12/space-oddity-of-london-and-apollo-10

Marriner, Derdriu. “Eugene Cernan Flew Apollo 10 LM Snoopy and Was Apollo 17 Moonwalker.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, March 12, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/03/eugene-cernan-flew-apollo-10-lm-snoopy.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “John Young Flew Apollo 10 CM Charlie Brown and Was Apollo 16 Moonwalker.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/09/john-young-flew-apollo-10-cm-charlie.html

McKinnon, Mika. “Snoopy the Astrobeagle, NASA’s Mascot for Safety.” Gizmodo > Animals. April 30, 2014.
Available @ https://gizmodo.com/snoopy-the-astrobeagle-nasas-mascot-for-safety-1570066950

NASA JSC Web Team. “ASTP Documents and Transcripts.” NASA JSC (National Aeronautics and Space Administration Johnson Space Center) History Portal. Updated July 16, 2010.
Available @ https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/apollo.htm

NASA JSC Web. “Mission Transcripts: Gemini VI.” NASA JSC (National Aeronautics and Space Administration Johnson Space Center) History Portal. Updated July 16, 2010.
Available @ https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/mission_trans/gemini6.htm

Shepard, Alan; Deke Slayton; Jay Barbree; and Howard Benedict. Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America's Race to the Moon. Atlanta GA: Turner Publishing Inc., 1994.

Slayton, Donald K.; and Michael Cassutt. Deke! U.S. Manned Space: From Mercury to the Shuttle. New York NY: Forge Books, 1994.

Vantine, William. “Oral History Transcript: Thomas P. Stafford.” NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project. Oct. 15, 1997.
Available @ https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/StaffordTP/staffordtp.htm

Woods, W. David; Robin Wheeler; and Ian Roberts. “Apollo 10 Image Library.” NASA History > Apollo Flight Journal > The Apollo 10 Flight Journal. 2011.
Available @ https://history.nasa.gov/afj/ap10fj/as10-image-library.html

Woods, W. David; Robin Wheeler; and Ian Roberts. “Apollo 10 Mission Documents.” NASA History > Apollo Flight Journal > The Apollo 10 Flight Journal. 2011.
Available @ https://history.nasa.gov/afj/ap10fj/as10-documents.html

Friday, September 12, 2014

Neferuptah Artistic Representations: First Female Royal with Cartouche

Summary: Neferuptah artistic representations get a dynasty founder's great-great-great-great-great-grandchild, father's favorite and first female cartouche-holder.

broad collar necklace of Nefereruptah, older daughter of Amenemhet III, 12th Dynasty Pharoah: Jon Bodsworth, Use for any purpose, via Wikimedia Commons

Neferuptah artistic representations appear among the inscriptions, jewelry, paintings, papyruses and sculptures of ancient Egypt more than 3,800 years ago even though Neferuptah acted as royal daughter, never as pharaoh or queen.

The sometimes oblong, sometimes oval cartouches (from the same-spelled French word for "cartridge") bear the names and titles of kings in pharaonic Egypt and bespeak royalty. Cartouches from the 12th Dynasty (1991-1802 B.C.) communicate the kingly names and titles of seven male Lords of the Two Lands and of one female pharaoh. Another such cartouche (ultimately derived from the Greek χάρτης, khártēs, "sheet of paper") depicts Neferuptah, who drew duties as royal daughter and perhaps as pharaonic successor.

Neferuptah, whose name evokes the "beauty of Ptah," creator god through whose thought and word the world exists, emerges as the first female eliciting a cartouche.

Inscriptions, jewelry, paintings, papyruses and possessions furnish few facts about the elder daughter of Amenemhat III (1860-1814 B.C.) and the elder sister of Sobekneferu (1806-1802 B.C.).

Neferuptah got the same-meaninged name Ptahneferu and the titles beloved king's daughter of his body, great of favor, great of praise and member of the elite. Painted temple walls in Medinet Maadi have Neferuptah with her father whereas the fragment of an Aswan-quarried granite statue from Elephantine Island holds her likeness alone. A papyrus from Lahun, where Neferuptah's great-grandfather Senusret II (1897-1878 B.C.), dynasty founder's great-grandson Horus throne-named Khakheperre, is buried in the El-Lahun pyramid, identified her tomb.

Flood and ground waters, not time-worn cracks, jeopardized artistic representations and references in Neferuptah's red granite, 10.39-foot- (3.06-meter-) long, 4.59-foot- (1.4-meter-) wide, 7.8-foot- (2.31-meter-) high sarcophagus.

The black pyramid at Hawara of her father, Horus throne-named Nimaatre, kept an alabaster, inscribed 24.02-inch- (61-centimeter-) long, 1.97-inch (5-centimeter-) wide, 13.78-inch- (35-centimeter-) high offering table.

Amenemhat III's burial pyramid, located in 1882 by Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie (June 3, 1853-Sep. 28, 1942), lies 1.5 miles (2.41 kilometers) northwest of Neferuptah's. Dr. Labib Habachi (April 18, 1906-Feb. 18, 1984) mentioned in 1936 a brick pyramid where Dr. Naguib Farag excavated a granite look-alike table in April 1956. Offering-table inscriptions noted, "May the king grant a wish to Anubis, Toth, Osiris, the great and small Enneads of the sanctuary of Upper and Lower Egypt."

Inscriptions observed, "(May the offering be) thousands of loaves of bread, jars of beer, oxen, r-geese, tcherp-geese, zeb-geese, ser-geese, menweb-geese, alabaster jars, clothing, incense, and ointments."

Offering-table inscriptions presented last, "all good things upon which a god lives for the ka of the king's daughter, Neferuptah, true of voice, lady of veneration."

A granite-sculpted sphinx, one usekh (from the Egyptian wsḥ, "breadth") necklace and three silver vases with her cartouche queue up among Neferuptah artistic representations and references. The gold-clasped 3.94-inch- (10-centimeter-) high, 14.37-inch- (36.5-centimeter-) long usekh necklace, also referenced as broad collar and wesekh necklace, retains six strings of carnelian and feldspar beads. Clasps shaped into the evil-suppressing, falcon-headed god Horus symbolically safeguard Senusret III's (1878-1839 B.C.) great-granddaughter, Amenemhat II's (1929-1895 B.C.) great-great-great-granddaughter and Senusret I's (1971-1926 B.C.) great-great-great-great-granddaughter.

What thrust Amenemhat I's (1991-1962 B.C.) great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter into flood-threatened entombment with one apron, two anklets, two bracelets, two necklaces, three jars, seven dishes and 59 vessels?

alabaster table of offerings for Ptah-neferu (Neferuptah) in well chamber of pyramid for her father, 12th Dynasty Pharaoh Amenemhat III, at Hawara; English Egyptologist Sir W.M.F. Petrie (June 3, 1853-July 28, 1942) notes the inscriptions’ innovative depiction of birds without legs; W.M.F. Petrie's Kahun, Gurob and Hawara.(1890), Plate V Hawara -- Table of Offerings and Vases From Pyramid: Cornell University Library, via Internet Archive

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

broad collar necklace of Nefereruptah, older daughter of Amenemhet III, 12th Dynasty Pharoah: Jon Bodsworth, Use for any purpose, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nefereruptah_necklace.jpg

Brier, Bob. 1998. Ancient Egyptian Magic: Spells, Incantations, Potions, Stories, and Rituals. New York NY: William Morrow Paperbacks.

"From the archive, 2 May 1956: Princess's Tomb Opened after 4,000 Years." The Guardian > From the Guardian archive > Egyptology.
Available @ https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2011/may/02/archive-princess-s-tomb-opened-1956

Grajetzki, W. 2005. "The Coffin of the 'King's Daughter; Neferuptah and the Sarcophagus of the 'Great King's Wife' Hatshepsut." Göttinger Miszellen: Beitrage zur ägyptologischen Diskussion 205: 55-66.

Grajetzki, Wolfram. 2006. The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt: History, Archaeology and Society. London UK: Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd.

Grajetzki, Wolfram. 2013. Tomb Treasures of the Late Middle Kingdom: The Archaeology of Female Burials. Philadelphia PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Lichtheim, Miriam. 2006. Ancient Egyptian Literature: A Book of Readings. Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms. Berkeley and Los Angeles CA: University of California Press.

Marriner, Derdriu. 29 August 2014. "Nile Crocodile Natural History Illustrations and Photographs." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/08/nile-crocodile-natural-history.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 5 September 2014. "Sobekneferu Artistic Representations: Egyptian Queen, Pharaoh, King." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/09/sobekneferu-artistic-representations.html

Petrie, W.M. (William Matthew) Flinders. 1890. Kahun, Gurob and Hawara. London, England: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner and Co.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/cu31924028675399

"The Pyramid with a Mummy in It, Neferu-ptah." Above Top Secret > Forum > Dec. 14, 2008.
Available @ http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread419469/pg1

Remler, Pat. 2010. Egyptian Mythology A to Z. Third Edition. New York NY: Chelsea House.

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Dislodged Moore F Boulder Left Glowing Wake From Downward Tumbles

Summary: A dislodged Moore F boulder left a glowing wake from downward tumbles on the bright satellite crater’s northeastern wall.

“Bright boulder trail” captured by Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera NAC; NASA ID PIA12917; image addition date 2009-10-21; image credit NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University: May be used for any purpose without prior permission, via NASA JPL Photojournal

A dislodged Moore F boulder left a glowing wake from downward tumbles as it journeyed from the bright satellite crater’s northeastern rim and wall.

In frame M110383422R, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera’s (LROC) two Narrow Angle Cameras (NAC) captures an image of a high-albedo trail left by a small boulder during its tumble downward from the northeastern rim of boulder-rich Moore F. Albedo (Latin: “whiteness”) concerns the relative amount of solar radiation reflected by a surface versus the total amount received. High-albedo surfaces, which are highly reflective, appear bright. As low reflectors, low-albedo surfaces are dark.

Arizona State University (ASU) LROC scientist Samuel Lawrence suggests in his Oct. 31, 2009, post on the ASU LROC website that a small meteorite’s impact could have dislodged the boulder from the rim. The boulder’s downward trek loosened high-albedo material in the bright satellite’s wall that created a glowing wake of its tumbles. He placed the boulder’s diameter at 3 meters.

Planetary scientist Jeff Plescia notes Moore F’s striking terraced rim and central uplift in his Oct. 30, 2009, post on the ASU LROC website. LROC NAC frame M110383422LE captures the frozen impact melt flows and debris that cover the floor around the satellite’s central uplift. The enormous energy release from the impact responsible for satellite F accounted for ensuing melts. During the crater’s equilibration, low spots received melt flows, which then cooled.

Plescia notes that the cause of Moore F’s striking curved cracks is unknown. He hypothesizes that changes in floor topography could fracture the surface of the central melt deposit and create a parallel pattern of tension-induced, curved cracks. Plescia also considers that a volume change during the melt’s cooling and solidification could produce the arcuate, or curved, cracks.

In his Nov. 24, 2010, post, Plescia tackles erosional troughs imaged by LROC NAC frame M128075293R. Numerous erosional troughs occur on the bright satellite’s inner eastern wall.

The frame’s freshest, smooth-floored trough measures approximately 810 meters in length and approximately 140 meters in width near its head. A narrowing to approximately 105 meters in the trough’s middle then expands to approximately 200 meters.

Older, lower-albedo troughs are sited to the north and south of the fresh, high-albedo trough. The dark, older troughs and the surrounding terrain exhibit a similar albedo.

The older troughs appear to trace back to the same wall level. Plescia observes that intervals of outcropping bedrock characterize the area of the older troughs’ starting points.

Plescia finds a resemblance between Martian sapping features and the old troughs. Headward trough erosion by groundwater released from the subsurface onto a cliff face is thought to account for Martian sapping features.

Despite the resemblance, Plescia dismisses groundwater as an agent in Moore F’s old troughs. He links the old troughs to flows of dry, fine-grained, unstable debris. Broadening during mobilization yielded a fan-shaped deposit. The distance of the downslope extension from the mouth of the trough measures more than one kilometer.

Moore F numbers as one of two satellites parented by Moore Crater in the lunar far side’s northeastern highlands. Moore F is positioned independently to the east of its parent whereas Moore L is attached to its parent’s south-southeastern outer rim.

In his April 24, 2014, post on the ASU LROC website, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Hiroyuki Sato notes the reach of Moore F’s fresh (high reflectance) ejecta to approximately 90 kilometers southeast of the satellite. Moore F secondary craters populate the high reflectance area.

The LROC co-investigator suggests that ejecta from Moore F secondary craters may have been responsible for the superb pattern traced by downslope-rushing, ground-hugging ejecta in the highland area’s bumpy topography. Sato explains that the steep walls of the high reflectance area’s craters encourage the ejecta’s downward flows as ground huggers.

The takeaways for dislodged Moore F’s glowing wake are that the small boulder left a bright trail of its descent from Moore F’s northeastern rim, that satellite Moore F’s floor presents a spectacular pattern of parallel curved cracks, that fresh and old erosional troughs occupy Moore F’s inner wall and that ground-hugging flow deposits in a high reflectance area may originate in ejecta from the area’s Moore F’s steep-sloped secondary craters.

“More impact melt!” captured by Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera NAC; NASA ID PIA12921; image addition date 2009-10-30; image credit NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University: May be used for any purpose without prior permission, via NASA JPL Photojournal

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Aitken, Robert G. “Joseph Haines Moore: 1878-1949 A Tribute.” Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, vol. 61, no. 360 (June 1949): 125-128.
Available via Harvard ADSABS (NASA Astrophysics Data System Abstracts) @ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1949PASP...61..125A

Aitken, R. (Robert) G.; C.D. Shane; R.J. Trumpler; and W.H. Wright. “Joseph Haines Moore 1878-1949).” Popular Astronomy, vol. LVII, no. 8, whole no. 588 (October 1949): 372-375.
Available via Harvard ADSABS (NASA Astrophysics Data System Abstracts) @ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1949PA.....57..372.

Consolmagno, Guy; and Dan M. Davis. Turn Left at Orion. Fourth edition. Cambridge UK; New York NY: Cambridge University Press, 2011.

International Astronomical Union. “Moore.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/4026

International Astronomical Union. “Moore F.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/11472

International Astronomical Union. “Moore L.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/11473

Lawrence, Samuel. “Bright Boulder Trail.” NASA/GSFC (Goddard Space Flight Center)/LROC (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera), Arizona State University School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE). Oct. 21, 2009.
Available @ https://www.lroc.asu.edu/posts/79

Levy, David H. Skywatching. Revised and updated. San Francisco CA: Fog City Press, 1994.

Marriner, Derdriu. “Far Side Lunar Crater Moore Honors American Astronomer Joseph Moore.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/09/far-side-lunar-crater-moore-honors.html

Meyer, H. (Heather). “Breaking Down Walls.” NASA/GSFC (Goddard Space Flight Center)/LROC (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera), Arizona State University School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE). June 24, 2014.
Available @ http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/785

Moore, Patrick, Sir. Philip’s Atlas of the Universe. Revised edition. London UK: Philip’s, 2005.

NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission. “Erosional Trough on Crater Wall.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) > Missions > Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter LRO). Nov. 24, 2010.
Available @ https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/lroc-20101124-erosional.html

NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission. “More Impact Melt!” National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) > Missions > Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter LRO). Oct. 29, 2009.
Available @ https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/lroc_20091029_moore.html

NASA Science Earth’s Moon. “Moore F. Crater.” NASA Science Earth’s Moon > Resources.
Available @ https://moon.nasa.gov/resources/349/moore-f-crater/

Plescia, Jeff. “Erosional Trough on Crater Wall.” NASA/GSFC (Goddard Space Flight Center)/LROC (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera), Arizona State University School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE). Nov. 24, 2010.
Available @ http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/268

Plescia, Jeff. “More Impact Melt!” NASA/GSFC (Goddard Space Flight Center)/LROC (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera), Arizona State University School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE). Oct. 30, 2009.
Available @ http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/71

Sato, Hiroyuki. “Angular Ejecta Edge.” NASA/GSFC (Goddard Space Flight Center)/LROC (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera), Arizona State University School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE). April 24, 2014.
Available @ http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/150

Friday, September 5, 2014

Sobekneferu Artistic Representations: Egyptian Queen, Pharaoh, King

Summary: Sobekneferu artistic representations reveal a queen, pharaoh and king who ruled as female Lord of the Two Lands in ancient Lower and Upper Egypt.

bust of Sobekneferu, placed in Berlin Museum in 1899 (inventory number 14475) but disappeared during World War II; image in Hedwig Fechheimer's Die Plastike der Ägypter (1914), plate 57: Not in copyright, via Internet Archive

Sobekneferu artistic representations are associated with the 12th Dynasty alone in ancient Egypt even though assorted inscriptions and papyruses augment the argument of the queen as the first evidentially attested female pharaoh.

Photographs and plaster casts of a statue's severed upper half, a sculpted torso and a statue's severed lower half belong among surviving suspected Sobekneferu artistic representations. Not one of the surviving suspected Sobekneferu artistic representations carries her inscription even though characterizations of other than eternally young-faced ruling elites stylistically convoke her dynasty. The inscribed royal title zemat-tawy, Lord of the Two Lands (of Lower and Upper Egypt), dates the severed statue to the 12th Dynasty's only female pharaoh.

Egyptologists enumerate Neithhotep and Merneith, Hetepheres I and Nitocris, 31st- and 30th-century, 27th- and 22nd-century Queens exercising pharaonic-empowered entitlements in the 1st, 4th and 6th Dynasties.

The torso from the late Middle Kingdom (2050-1710 B.C.), in the Louvre Museum collections in Paris, France, furnishes the fewest facts from the three major finds.

Egyptologists glimpse the grandeur of Sobekneferu artistic representations in photographs and plaster casts of an upper statue half's 5.51-inch- (14-centimeter-) high head, shoulders and upper torso. The bewigged head has no nose or upper lip because of unspecified harm to the greywacke sculpted from earthy feldspar, quartz and rock fragment-sorted gray sandstone. Egyptian Museum of Berlin inventories indicate among items missing from Germany since World War II (Sep. 1, 1939-Sep. 2, 1945) the statue, acquisition 14472 in 1899.

Biri Fay, Egyptologist from New York City, New York, joined the severed upper half's plaster-cast measurements and the severed lower half's actual measurements into one statue.

The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, knows of the lower statue half as acquisition 24.742 from the Nubian fortress temple of Taharqa in Semna.

Museum of Fine Arts inventories online list the slate, steatite sculpture from expeditions with Harvard University led by George Andrew Reisner (Nov. 5, 1867-June 6, 1942). They mention for the 8.25- by 6.875-inch (20.96- by 17.46-centimeter) segment, "The sides of the throne are incised with the arms of Upper and Lower Egypt." Severed halves net the head-to-toe Sobekneferu of the cylinder seal drawn by Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie (June 3, 1853-July 29, 1942) for the British Museum.

Gezer in the Judaean Mountain foothills between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Israel, offers, as inscribed King's Royal Daughter, another one of the obscure Sobekneferu artistic representations.

Kim Steven Bardrum Ryholt, Egyptologist at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, posits that Sobekneferu pursued her pharaohship, 1806-1802 B.C., as King's Daughter, not King's Sister.

The Turin Royal Canon papyrus from the 19th-Dynasty pharaohship of Ramesses II (1303?-July 8, 1213 B.C.) quantifies Sobekneferu's pharaohship at 3 years, 10 months, 24 days. Sobekneferu, beauty of Nile River crocodile god Sobek, realized additions to Amenemhat III's (1860-1814 B.C) funerary complex at Harawa and nothing to Amenemhat IV (1815-1806 B.C.). Unsolved mysteries swirl around Amenemhat III, Amenemhat IV, Neferuptah and northern Mazghuna as respectively suspected father, stepbrother, predeceased older sister and burial pyramid site of Sobekneferu.

Sobekneferu artistic representations never tell what terminated Neferuptah's young life or whether Khutawyre Wegaf or Sekhemre-Khutawy Sobekhotep took over after Sobekneferu, monikered Neferusobek and throne-named Sobekkare.

red sandstone torso of Sobekneferu, with her name recorded in central part of waist decoration; Salle 636, Louvre Museum, Paris, France: Neithsabes (Sebi), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

red sandstone torso of Sobekneferu, with her name recorded in central part of waist decoration; Salle 636, Louvre Museum, Paris, France: Neithsabes (Sebi), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Louvre_0320O7_01.jpg

For further information:

Fechheimer, Hedwig. 1914. Die Plastik der Ägypter. Zweite Auflage. Berlin, Germany: Bruno Cassirer Verlag.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/plastikagypter00fech

Johnson, Kevin L.; and Bill Petty. 2012. The Names of the Kings of Egypt: The Serekhs and Cartouches of Egypt's Pharaohs, Along with Selected Queens. Littleton CO: Museum Tours Press.

"Lower Body Fragment of a Female Statue Seated on a Throne." Museum of Fine Arts > Collections > Artwork.
Available @ https://www.mfa.org/collections/object/lower-body-fragment-of-a-female-statue-seated-on-a-throne-145757

Naville, Édouard. 1887. The Shrine of Saft el Henneh and the Land of Goshen (1885). London, England: Messrs. Trübner & Co.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/shrineofsaftelhe00navi

Petrie, W.M. (William Matthew) Flinders. 1917. Scarabs and Cylinders with Names. Illustrated by the Egyptian Collection in University College London. London,England: School of Archaeology in Egypt, Constable & Co. Ltd and Bernard Quaritch.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/scarabscylinders00petr

Petrie, W.M. (William Matthew) Flinders. 1894. "Sebek'neferu."A History of Egypt From the Earliest Times to the XVIth Dynasty. Vol. I: 197-198. London, England: Methuen & Co.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/stream/historyofegypt01petr#page/197/mode/1up

Tetley, M. Christine. 2014. The Reconstructed Chronology of the Egyptian Kings. Onerahi, Whangarei, New Zealand: Barry W. Tetley.
Available @ http://www.egyptchronology.com/uploads/2/6/9/4/26943741/ch_23_establishing_the_12th_dynasty.pdf

"Torse de la Reine Néferousébek, Dernière Reine de la 12e Dynastie 1789-1786 Avant J.-C." Louvre Museum > Atlas Database of Exhibits.
Available @ http://cartelen.louvre.fr/cartelen/visite?srv=car_not_frame&idNotice=23673&langue=fr

Tyldesley, Joyce. 2006. Chronicle of the Queens of Egypt: From Early Dynastic Times to the Death of Cleopatra. London UK: Thames & Hudson, The Chronicles Series.