Showing results for "Lucky" in Astronomy & Space Science

We have long fantasized about finding life on planets other than our own. Yet even as we become aware of the vast expanses beyond our solar system, it remains clear that Earth is exceptional. The question is: Why? In Lucky Planet, astrobiologist David Waltham argues that Earth’s climate stability is what makes it uniquely able to support life, and it is nothing short of luck that made such conditions possible. The four-billion-year stretch of good weather that our planet has experienced is statistically so unlikely that chances are slim that we will ever encounter intelligent extraterrestrial others.

Tom Garland is a young man in Boston who is sent to learn a trade at an Industrial Farm near the bay. There he meets another young man who's lame, Dick Rogers, and they become lifelong chums. When Tom learns of a couple of dastardly plots against both him and Dick, he plans their escape. Tom and Dick continue to succeed through courage and Providence against many difficult situations, the symbol of which is a lucky penny of Tom's. (Summary by Keith Salis)

On April 11, 1970, astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert were launched into space as the crew of Apollo 13. Their mission, like the missions of Apollo 11 and Apollo 12, was to explore the lunar surface. But that mission was never completed. As they began the procedure for landing on the Moon, the spacecraft was rocked by a violent explosion. Oxygen began pouring out of the Service Module, and the spacecraft began to lose power. Jim Lovell radioed Mission Control with the now-famous words, "Houston, we have a problem."