Happy New Year! Evening planetary viewing this month will be great so let’s jump right to the star of the show, Venus. Found in the SW to WSW part of the sky, Venus will be shining at a spectacular mag. -4-4, it will be hard to miss. Setting 4 hours after sunset, Venus will provide […]
As 2024 came to an end, we learned of the passing of WOAS-FM’s founder and first General Manager Thomas G. Lee (March 9, 1939 – November 26, 2024). Tom and I both began our service for the Ontonagon Area School District in the Fall of 1975 (he as the high school librarian and me […]
In the summer of 1999, author Stephen Ambrose was having dinner with his old friend George McGovern. Having been an acquaintance of the former 1972 presidential candidate, he knew of his previous service in the Army Air Force during World War II. Over dinner, McGovern mentioned he had recently sat for several interviews with […]
Regular readers of these FTVs will no doubt recognize the name Gary Tanin. Having name checked him enough times to enshrine his name in the WOAS FM Hall of Fame (if and when we get around to establishing one), it seemed that a proper introduction was well past due. Gary (and his work with […]
A while ago I dedicated this space to one of the most inspirational teachers I had back in the day, the late Don Aronson (R.I.P.). Digging back in the old memory files dusted off a lot of other memories that made me think, “Okay, what else did you pick up along the way and […]
In Part 1 of Mission Control, we introduced Christopher Columbus Kraft, the man who guided the birth of ‘Mission Control’ for the United States space program. Kraft and his group invented the position that became commonly known as ‘Flight’. This call sign has been used for the director who rules over NASA’s ground control […]
AstroCal – December 2024 Although the shortest daylight of this year falls on the Winter Solstice – December 21, it will only take a few weeks before the daylight hours begin to slowly lengthen again. I won’t go into my usual complaint about ‘how nice it would be to stay on Daylight Saving Time […]
The 1995 movie adaptation of Jim Lovell’s book Lost Moon spawned a catch phrase that took on a life of its own. In Apollo 13, Tom Hanks (who portrayed Lovell) repeated the famous, “Houston, we have a problem” after the explosion on board their Moon bound spacecraft was first called in by his fellow […]
There was a time when one could not escape Bob Welch on FM radio. Hardly an hour would pass without his late 1970s hits Ebony Eyes or Sentimental Lady flowing from the speakers. Welch, who passed away in June of 2012 at the age of 66, was a much more complicated human being than […]
Dave Mason was feeling anything but ‘alright’ in December of 1968. He was summoned to ‘another band meeting of Traffic’, the band he had cofounded with Steve Winwood, Chris Wood, and Jim Capaldi. The meeting was held at the home of their manager Chris Blackwell who was also the head of their record label, […]