Texas Chainsaw 3D Producer Promises "Some Level of Integrity"

Jan. 03, 2013 | 8:30 a.m.

Heather Miller (Alexandra Daddario) on the run from Leatherface (Dan Yeager) in ?Texas Chainsaw 3D.? (Lionsgate)

It might not be as well known to some moviegoers as ?Friday the 13th,? ?Nightmare on Elm Street? or ?Saw,? but ?The Texas Chainsaw Massacre? ranks high among the most revered titles in the horror genre.

The 1974 serial killer story by Tobe Hooper sent five friends into the clutches of the Sawyer family, a clan of rural cannibals. Although the film?s central villain, the power tool-wielding Leatherface, lived on in sequels and a 2003 remake starring Jessica Biel, the series has lain dormant since 2006?s ?The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning,? which was a flop critically and commercially.

Now, director John Luessenhop (?Takers,? ?Lockdown?) and a team of producers are resurrecting Leatherface with ?Texas Chainsaw 3D.? The movie opens Friday and is expected to do strong business of as much as $18 million in its debut weekend.

?From the beginning, it?s been a mismanaged franchise ? a boat that drifted off course,? said Carl Mazzocone, the producer most active in securing rights for and developing the new film.

The fact that there are far more producers ? 15 ? listed in the credits of ?Texas Chainsaw 3D? than there are maimed corpses in the sequel itself, is proof not only of how complicated it can be to relaunch a horror franchise but also of Luessenhop?s desire to dial down the film?s body count.

The new film emphasizes a storyline about the relationship between a woman named Heather (Alexandra Daddario) and Leatherface (Dan Yeager), who share common kin. In the story, Heather inherits a home whose cellar happens to be occupied by a rather antisocial relative.

?What if you discovered the only family left to you was a monster?? Luessenhop said.

In fall 2008, Mazzocone traveled to Austin, Texas, to meet with the representatives controlling the ?Texas Chainsaw? rights. The producer?s pitch was simple: The story of Leatherface should be as popular as the ?Saw? movies, which Mazzocone and producer Mark Burg?s Twisted Pictures had made.

Director John Luessenhop with Alexandra Daddario on the set of ?Texas Chainsaw 3D.? (Justin Lubin/Lionsgate)

?I told them we needed to put some level of integrity into the story,? Mazzocone said.

While the basic terms of the deal were hammered out in about 15 minutes, it took more than a year to finalize the contract and even longer to assemble a script that felt both fresh and reverential.

Mazzocone needed someone to bankroll the production. Lionsgate, which had released the ?Saw? films and felt like a natural home for a new ?Texas Chainsaw? film, was focused at the time on fending off takeover investor Carl Icahn and launching its ?Hunger Games? series.

?They put all their chips on black with ?Hunger Games,?? Luessenhop said.

Eventually, the project made its way to Campbell Grobman Films, a new company formed by Christa Campbell, an actress and former pinup girl, and Lati Grobman, a producer who had a long partnership with Avi Lerner and his Millennium Pictures.

Executive producers of ?Texas Chainsaw 3D? Christa Campbell, left, and Lati Grobman were dogged in getting the film made. (Arkasha Stevenson/Los Angeles Times)

?We were taking meetings with other directors and writers pitching ideas of what could be the next big franchise,? said Campbell, who has acted in a number of horror movies including ?2001 Maniacs,? ?Day of the Dead? and ?The Tomb.?

Added Grobman: ?I know nothing about horror. I?m not a fan of it. But Christa knows the market, she knows the people. She?s the queen of horror.?

All the same, Lerner wasn?t inclined to finance the film, which was budgeted just below $20 million. Millennium specializes in action movies featuring actors with international appeal ? ?The Expendables,? with Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham, a perfect example of his taste ? not horror tales populated with no-name performers.

What?s more, Lerner likes to shoot his movies in places like Bulgaria to keep costs down, no small problem for a movie with Texas in its title (it was ultimately shot in Louisiana).

Campbell and Grobman kept pressing. ?We would not leave Avi alone,? Grobman said. ?I think he made the movie just because he wanted us to stop bugging him.?

With the money in place, Mazzocone turned to Luessenhop, despite the fact that he had never made a horror film before.

Dan Yeager stars as Leatherface in ?Texas Chainsaw 3D.? (Justin Lubin/ Lionsgate)

The movie is credited to screenwriters Adam Marcus, Debra Sullivan, Kirsten Elms and Stephen Susco based on characters created by Kim Henkel and Hooper, and Luessenhop worked closely with Mazzocone in revising their screenplay.

In earlier scripts, Leatherface would deflect bullets with his chain saw; Luessenhop believed those kind of superhuman feats undermined his credibility as a villain. At the same time, by establishing that familial tie and reinforcing Leatherface?s origin story (using 15 minutes of footage from the original film in a prologue), Luessenhop thought the film would feel less gothic.

?It?s all about humanizing this guy that makes the movie,? the director said. ?He?s damaged, abused, stunted ? but lethal.?

Yet not too deadly. Several characters meet particularly gruesome ends, but the carnage is remarkably modest given the title.

?I kept the body count low on purpose,? Luessenhop said. ?It desensitizes you if you do it too much.?

Along the same lines, the stereoscopic effects, mandated by the global success of 2010?s ?Saw 3D: The Final Chapter,? were kept to a minimum.

Nikki (Tania Raymonde) and Ryan (Tremaine ?Trey Songz? Neverson) in ?Texas Chainsaw 3D.? (Justin Lubin/ Lionsgate)

The movie, which Millennium sold to Lionsgate for domestic distribution, was originally set to open Oct. 26 of last year, but its proceeds would have been hurt by Superstorm Sandy, which reached its peak intensity a day earlier.

The new date gives the sequel a quick but open berth, as it is the only new film in wide release this weekend ? although it?s still opening in the aftermath of a national tragedy, the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., which has rekindled debate about violence in films and other popular entertainment.

Although it?s too early to say if there?s another ?Texas Chainsaw? movie in the immediate future, Mazzocone and his producing partners are confident.

?I believe we made a classic monster movie,? Mazzocone said. ?Many ?Texas Chainsaw Massacre? films have exploited more of the slasher aspects of the genre. This one doesn?t.?

? John Horn

Follow us on Twitter: @LATHeroComplex

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1926586/news/1926586/

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Movea gesture control coming to Orange's Livebox Play TV system, launches next month

In a bid to spruce up its hardware, European mobile operator Orange has drafted in Movea to bring gesture controls to its new set-top box. Running the SmartMotion server, movements will be picked up by Movea's MEMS motion-sensing remote, with gestures for volume control, web browsing and even gamepad and joystick commands. The new Livebox Play will pick up ten "contextually aware" movements, with a 'check' gesture aimed to avoid the frustration at selecting items on a distant screen, while there's also a close function embedded into the TV remote. Alongside gestures, the LiveBox Play service will offer the obligatory internet, social network and VOD bells and whistles, as well as access to games and apps on your big screen. Sick of buttons? The device is available on pre-order (for now, in France) and launches next month -- we've embedded a quick demo of the remote's precision after the break as a quick refresher.

Continue reading Movea gesture control coming to Orange's Livebox Play TV system, launches next month

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Christ Before the Cause: The New Evangelical Politics

Peter Wehner?s recent guest post here at Philosophical Fragments ? ?The Callous Theology of James Dobson?? was shared on Facebook and Twitter over 40,000 times. It helped to provoke an important conversation about the Christian response to the Sandy Hook school massacre and the responsibilities of those who represent evangelical opinion in the public marketplace of ideas. Mr Wehner is a friend and an influential political thought-leader who is both a principled conservative and a committed evangelical. A central part of the vision of Patheos? Evangelical Channel has always been the cultivation and promotion of new generations of evangelical public intellectuals ? so I?m honored now?to publish this follow-up reflection.

*

By Peter Wehner

In a piece?I wrote for Patheos a few weeks ago, I referred to the ?callous theology? of James Dobson, whom I correctly identified as the founder of Focus on the Family. What I didn?t say then, but I believe is worth saying now, is that several years ago Dr. Dobson severed his ties with Focus on the Family. The organization is therefore quite different now ? and I would argue a good deal more winsome and effective ? than it was.

The reason has to do with institutional leadership. Jim Daly is now president and CEO of Focus on the Family. It still devotes a huge amount of its work to strengthening marriages and offering parental counseling ? something at which Dobson was quite accomplished and for which he deserves credit. But there has been a fairly dramatic shift in style, away from the ?culture war? mentality to a more irenic approach. Mr. Daly has shown a much greater willingness than Dobson to engage in dialogue with those who disagree with him. And it?s fair to say, I think, that Daly ? while theologically orthodox and socially conservative ? is a person who is cut from a different temperamental cloth from Dobson. Mr. Daly is less abrasive and combative than his predecessor.

Beneath their stylistic differences, however, lies something important. One of the things I?ve noticed over the years is that some of the most prominent Christian figures in politics radiate a sense that their work is essential if the Lord is to accomplish His goals on earth. Because they believe so much depends on them, they develop an aggressive, anxious, even desperate spirit. They seem to believe that only they and a few others are strong enough to resist compromising with evil. And over the years they have demonstrated a barely contained disdain toward those who do not share their zeal for their cause. This can create its own set of problems.

I?m reminded here of the cautionary tale of Sheldon Vanauken, who in A Severe Mercy wrote about his days in the anti-Vietnam war movement. ?I was one of those caught up in the mood and action oft the 1960s,? Vanauken wrote:

Christ, I thought, would surely have me oppose what appeared an unjust war. But the Movement, whatever its ideals, did a good deal of hating. And Christ, gradually, was pushed to the rear: Movement goals, not God, became first, in fact ? not only for me but for other Christians involved, including priests. I now think that making God secondary (which in the end is to make Him nothing) is, quite simply, the mortal danger in social action, especially in view of the marked intimations of virtue ? even arrogant virtue ? that often perilously accompany it. Some may avoid this danger, perhaps. But I was not obeying the first and greatest commandment ? to love God first ? nor it is clear that I was obeying the second ? to love my neighbour. Hating the oppressors of my neighbor isn?t perhaps quite what Christ had in mind.

Over the years, some politically active Christian leaders seem to believe that at stake in their work is nothing less than the influence of Christianity in America, as if Christ depends on them instead of the other way around. There are multiple effects to such a mindset, including apocalyptic rhetoric and absolutism. At some point, though, characterizing every election and every important piece of social legislation as a moral tipping point for America begins to wear thin.

My own sense of things is that an increasing ?number of evangelicals, particularly younger evangelicals, want their brand of politics to be less partisan and bitter than in the past, as well as more high-minded and more firmly rooted in principles. They want their leaders to display a lighter touch, a less distraught and angry spirit, a more gracious tone. In short, they seem to be looking for a politics that is both moral and civil. And they are thirsting for more serious Christian reflection on human society and the human person ? on first principles.

Which brings me back to Jim Daly and his impressive efforts to Re-Focus on the Family in a manner that strikes me, at least, as principled and effective. He carries himself and his institution in a way that seeks the welfare of the city to which we have been exiled ? and understands that while the City of Man is our residence for now, the City of God is our ultimate home.

Peter Wehner co-authored?City of Man: Religion and Politics in a New Era?with Michael Gerson, and?Wealth and Justice: The Morality of Democratic Capitalism?with Arthur C. Brooks. Presently he is a Senior Fellow at the?Ethics and Public Policy Center?and writes frequently for?Commentary.

Source: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/philosophicalfragments/2013/01/02/christ-before-the-cause/

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Oklahoma City's Ibaka, Durant headline All-Improvement Team

Serge Ibaka?s improved jumper has made a potent Thunder team even more dangerous. (Layne Murdoch Jr./NBAE via Getty Images)

By Rob Mahoney

With the biggest disappointments in the NBA this season?already packaged and delivered, it?s time that we reflect on a topic more fitting of the new calendar year: self-improvement. Here?s a look at the 12 players with the most pronounced improvements in their games this year:

FIRST TEAM

Serge Ibaka, Oklahoma City Thunder: If Kendrick Perkins is to blame for the Thunder?s overly conventional lineups with two court-clogging big men, Serge Ibaka could rightly be credited for some of the Thunder?s pushback solvency. If nothing else, Perkins? very presence has forced Ibaka to stretch his game over the past few seasons, and this year we?ve begun to see the considerable payoff from that evolution.

Such dividends begin with Ibaka?s vast improvement as a spot-up shooter ? an area in which he has quietly done solid work for the last few seasons. But the difference between Ibaka?s meek effectiveness last year (46 percent on 2.6 long two-point attempts per game, per Hoopdata) and this season?s confident hoisting (50 percent on 4.5 attempts) is stark; those mid-range looks have become shots that both Ibaka and his Thunder teammates fully expect him to take and make, to the point that he receives an earful from Russell Westbrook if he shows even the slightest hesitation in pulling the trigger. That consistent vote of confidence has helped Ibaka to become a more dynamic player.

There?s nothing sexy about converting long twos, and with how often the Thunder score at the rim, get to the line and convert their three-point tries, Ibaka?s intermediate looks might not seem preferable by comparison. That said, his mid-range attempts ? born of ball reversals and dribble-drive playmaking ? represent the Thunder?s capitalization of a slim but useful moment in time. Oklahoma City can?t get every shot from the most efficient zones on the floor, just as it can?t conclude every possession with a quality attempt for Kevin Durant. But OKC continues to build on its already brilliant offense by turning every advantage into a point of profit. The room offered to Ibaka on the perimeter has become one such advantage, and, given an offense rich with shot-creation, an added bit of flexibility.

(Plus, Ibaka has periodically put the ball on the floor after making a mid-range catch in order to draw a foul or finish emphatically at the rim. That?s an entirely new wrinkle to his game, and one that?s altogether frightening; can you imagine what it might ultimately mean for the Thunder offense if those burst drives were to become a more dependable part Ibaka?s repertoire?)

George Hill, Indiana Pacers: On a superficial level, it would be easy to call Hill?s improvements this season (+1.9 points, +1.1 assists per-36 minutes relative to last year) modest. But the fifth-year guard has matured into a calming influence after years of inconsistent play both on and off the ball. Hill has become a lifeline for a Pacers team that?s otherwise starved for competent point guard play, and brought the league?s 29th-ranked offense to league-average scoring levels whenever he?s on the floor. Bolster those credentials with Hill?s always solid defense, and he begins to resemble a primordial Chauncey Billups ? flexible defensively, characteristically unafraid and coming into his own as both a spot scorer and low-risk caretaker.

Kemba Walker, Charlotte Bobcats: Young NBA players are expected to improve, but I wasn?t totally convinced that Walker was capable of his current level of performance at all, much less in Year 2. Where many saw a natural leader and a former college standout, I saw only a quick guard who would likely struggle with the size and speed of NBA defenders, and an offense-first player reliant on pull-up jumpers. To me, that seemed to be the r?sum? of a decent backup, but hardly the kind of description befitting a lead guard.

Yet Walker has redefined his NBA potential in my mind by improving in so many phases of the game so quickly, a development that can only be attributed to his willingness to work on better understanding this caliber of opponent and the nuances of the game in general. Many have praised Walker?s composure in years past, but the way he now approaches his role and his skill set are fundamentally more intelligent; his quickness is deployed with more control, his shot selection is far more measured and he?s already displaying an impressive ability to manipulate defenders in order to create offense. Walker seems likely to always skew toward the score-first mold, but that itself isn?t a demerit so much as a stylistic footnote; so long as the Bobcats account for the style of Walker?s play in their team construction, his passing limitations needn?t hold back the development of their overall offense.

Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder: I?ve already discussed Durant?s growth at length in this space, but somehow KD has only been better since the time of that piece?s writing. Self-actualization was clearly on Durant?s to-do list, and his progress as a defender and ball-handler make that goal seem like a summer project rather than a lifelong endeavor. He was great as a focused scorer, but Durant?s dedication to basketball completion has elevated him as a candidate to be the league?s finest.

Chandler Parsons, Houston Rockets: A boost in playing time has helped Parsons? per-game numbers, but beyond those statistical boosts is a fantastic role player who has bettered himself on a per-minute and per-possession level. He passes wonderfully, his cutting instincts are uncanny and he?s been a solid defender on and off the ball. He has a complete package of complementary skills, and this season has added a concentrated dose of scoring to his already valuable profile.

Parsons was a particularly shaky shooter in his rookie season, and though he?s only increased his accuracy from beyond the three-point line by about three percentage points, his consistency from that range is markedly improved. Whereas last season?his feast-or-famine jumper sent many misses crashing on the far side of the backboard or whiffing the basket entirely, Parsons? more controlled stroke now holds the potential for even further improvement. One can see a similar refinement across Parsons? entire offensive game, a development which has enabled the Rockets to thrive behind his dynamic complement to James Harden?s pick-and-roll genius and Jeremy Lin?s frenzied dribble-driving.

Jimmer Fredette is boasting impressive per-36 minute averages in his second season (22 points, 3.8 assists). (Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

RESERVES

Jason Kidd, New York Knicks: To say that Kidd was washed up a season ago wasn?t some premature eulogy for a player in decline ? it was the undeniable truth to any who watched him play. Kidd?s playmaking style has always been a bit risky, but the return on his passing investments grew increasingly meager as the mental errors piled up.

But Mike Woodson was able to turn one of the greatest point guards of all time into a fascinating standstill shooting guard. As a functional 2, Kidd could benefit from open three-pointers (of which he?s making 43 percent) while also using his natural creativity to jazz up New York?s swing-passing game. Kidd still participates in the standard side-to-side passing that occurs whenever an opposing defense overstretches itself, but in a split-second, Kidd can also read the floor for more interesting alternatives. He might fake the pass and take the shot himself after reading the close-out patterns of the defense. He might thread a feed inside to an inexplicably open Tyson Chandler. He might even put the ball on the floor once in awhile, just for kicks. Kidd has been put in a position where he can read the floor without having the pressure that comes with being a team?s primary creator, and that redistribution of his individual skills has breathed new life into a career that was looking downright funereal.

Jimmer Fredette, Sacramento Kings: SB Nation?s Tom Ziller was all over the Jimmer-as-MIP angle on Monday, and the second-year guard deserves to be in the conversation for the award. Improvement may be assumed for young players, but Fredette has jumped from rookie incompetence into a showing as one of the league?s most potent bench scorers ? a rare bright spot in Sacramento?s most recent flop of a season, and a leap that was completely unexpected given all that we saw of Jimmer the first time around. Who knows what the future holds for Fredette in terms of his optimal role and consistent defensive concessions, but he?s succeeding as an offensive player in ways thought to be impossible given his rookie-year precedent.

Blake Griffin, Los Angeles Clippers: Most NBA fans seem to regard Griffin?s current season with pessimism, but I see an all-around superior player who is improving upon each of his greatest weaknesses. Defensive positioning was a big issue for Griffin in his first two NBA seasons, but he and DeAndre Jordan have both been in the right place at the right time more reliably this year. Free throw shooting is still a bit of an issue, but Griffin has at least jumped to 62 percent from the line from 52 percent a season ago. The expansion of Griffin?s mid-range game is a work in progress, but a smoother form and a greater willingness to shoot jumpers has led Griffin to shoot a career-high 41 percent (nearing David West and Zach Randolph territory) on long two-pointers, per Hoopdata.

And that?s coupled with Griffin?s still-impressive scoring on a deeper Clippers team, his quality defensive rebounding, elite passing skills for his position and effective-as-ever face-up game. Where?s the alleged regression?

Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers: A 34-year-old guard is having the best offensive season of his career because of a conscious change in his possession usage. What a wonderful coda for an already outstanding career.

Corey Brewer, Denver Nuggets: Brewer has always had value as a high-energy cutter and defender, but had such an inconsistent shot that opponents could completely disregard him whenever he retreated to the corners. That doesn?t theoretically matter much to a high-motor player like Brewer, but it does inconvenience his team?s offense; as much as we praise those who move without the ball, there are times when wing players need to space the floor from the weak side or at least not muddle up the strong side action with a random baseline cut, and it?s in that area of the game that Brewer had previously struggled. His effort and value were obvious, but offenses can only afford so many range-less players while still preserving the necessary driving lanes and post-up space.

Brewer is still no marksman, but by converting long-range shots at a league-average rate he has dramatically improved his utility. As a result, the Nuggets are able to take full advantage of Brewer?s scrambling, long-armed defense and open-court sprinting without much concern for what happens when he catches the ball in the corners.

Eric Bledsoe, Los Angeles Clippers: We knew of the torment that Bledsoe could cause opposing ball-handlers, and we even had a glimpse of his incredible off-ball potential while playing with Chris Paul in the 2012 playoffs. But Bledsoe has played the part of a fully functional reserve point guard for the most exciting second unit in the league this season, complete with an improving set shot and some slick pick-and-roll play. At some point the Clippers will need to consider whether Bledsoe is a luxury they can really afford, but for now he?s a fantastic change-of-pace player with emerging skills as a playmaker.

J.J. Hickson, Portland Trail Blazers: Hickson doesn?t make all that much sense as a part of Portland?s rebuilding core, but that hasn?t stopped him from having a career year as a center placeholder. Though playing alongside LaMarcus Aldridge apparently yields the opportunity for any eager center to get their fill of rebounds, Hickson has surpassed any reasonable expectation by doing elite-level work on the glass this season. Reggie Evans and Anderson Varejao are the only players in the league to post a higher total rebounding percentage than Hickson, and it?s by his efforts alone that Portland is even remotely passable in any rebounding regard. We?ve seen flashes of this kind of productivity from Hickson before (most notably in 2010-11, in his last season as a Cavalier), but the consistency of this rebounding surge offers his game a new credibility.

Statistical support for this post provided by NBA.com.

Source: http://nba.si.com/2013/01/02/oklahoma-citys-ibaka-durant-headline-all-improvement-team/

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13 new space missions to watch in 2013

This year has been a busy one for space missions, and it looks as if next year will ramp things up even more.

Though NASA has retired its space shuttles, astronauts and cosmonauts are still launching regularly on Russian rockets to the International Space Station, and will continue to do so. Plus, China is planning another manned docking mission for 2013, and many more countries, such as South Korea, India, Canada and a coalition of European nations, are due to launch robotic science probes.

Here's a look at 13 notable launches to look out for in the coming year:

1. Space news from NBCNews.com

   1. How Neil Armstrong planned his moon speech

      Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: Neil Armstrong's brother tells the BBC that he gave the late astronaut feedback on his history-making speech months before it was uttered on the moon.

   2. First meteor shower of 2013 peaks this week
   3. 13 new space missions to watch in 2013
   4. Space may accelerate Alzheimer's in astronauts

1. Suborbital test flights: With luck, 2013 will see a host of significant test flights for the private space companies developing manned suborbital vehicles to take paying passengers on brief joyrides to the edge of space. Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo has flown numerous glide tests, but it's due to make its first powered flight using its rocket engine sometime in 2013. Another company called XCOR Aerospace plans to test-fly its Lynx suborbital vehicle in 2013. Both firms aim to carry their first passengers in 2014.

2. South Korea's third launch: South Korea will try for a third time to loft its Korea Space Launch Vehicle (KSLV 1) booster successfully to orbit. Previous launch attempts in August 2009 and June 2010, which lifted off from a site in southern South Korea, both failed. The third time might be a charm for South Korea, which will attempt to blast off a test satellite called the Science and Technology Satellite 2C (STSAT 2C). Launch is expected sometime in January 2013.

3. Indian/French SARAL/AltiKa: This satellite, a collaboration between India and France, is intended to study the surface height of Earth's seas from space. Called ocean altimetry, the research has many applications for environmental science and oceanography. The spacecraft is due to be launched Jan. 28 by an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), which will also carry NEOSSat, an instrument designed to search for near-Earth asteroids that could pose a risk to our planet, and a Canadian space surveillance satellite called Sapphire. The mission will lift off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in India.

4. First Cygnus flights: The private space company Orbital Sciences Corp. is one of two firms with a NASA contract to deliver cargo to the International Space Station on unmanned spacecraft (the other is SpaceX). In February, Orbital Sciences plans to launch its Antares rocket on its first test flight, which will carry a model of its robotic Cygnus spacecraft. The launch will blast off from the company's complex on Wallops Island in Virginia.

If the Antares test flight goes well, the first functional Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to fly on its initial test flight to the International Space Station on April 5.

5. SpaceX Dragon flights: SpaceX, also known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., is the other commercial space company hired by NASA to carry supplies to the space station. SpaceX launched its Dragon cargo ship maiden test flight to the orbital laboratory last May. That successful flight was followed by SpaceX's first routine cargo delivery mission to the station in October.

The company, founded by billionaire Elon Musk, will continue to fly cargo delivery missions to the space station in 2013, with launches scheduled for March 1 and Sept. 30 out of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. These flights are vital for keeping the space station fully stocked, and also help pave the way for the manned missions SpaceX hopes to launch aboard Dragon in coming years.

6. Space station crew launches: Three launches of crew members to the International Space Station are planned for 2013, with liftoffs from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan scheduled for March 28, May 28 and Sept. 25. Each launch will carry three spacefliers from the space station partner agencies ? the United States, Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe ? aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Crew members typically stay for five or six months each, and a rotating crew of three to six people is always onboard the orbiting laboratory.

7. Canada's Cassiope: The Canadian Space Agency's Cassiope (short for Cascade Smallsat and Ionospheric Polar Explorer) spacecraft is due to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base sometime in April. The satellite will carry a suite of science instruments to study how solar storms interact with charged particles in Earth's ionosphere. The vehicle will also test out new communications technology. The flight is significant not just for Canada, but for SpaceX, which has never before launched from Vandenberg. Additionally, the launch will mark the first time a Falcon 9 will use the company's new Merlin 1D engines.

8. Space station cargo launches: The next year will likely see numerous launches of cargo to the International Space Station aboard a suite of vehicles from Japan, Europe and Russia, in addition to the private cargo launches from SpaceX and Orbital Sciences. Russian Progress launches are scheduled for Feb. 12, April 24 and July 24, while Japan's HTV freighter will lift off July 15, and the European Space Agency's ATV is scheduled for a liftoff April 18. Each of these tried-and-true robotic spacecraft will deliver food, hardware and science experiments for the crew of the orbital outpost. [Photos: Space Station's Robotic Cargo Ship Fleet]

9. ESA's Space Swarm: The Swarm spacecraft, built by the European Space Agency, is due to launch into a polar orbit in April on a Eurockot Rockot rocket from Russia. The satellite will carry three instruments to study how Earth's geomagnetic field changes over time. The mission aims to offer insight into Earth's climate and interior composition.

10. NASA's Iris: NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (Iris) satellite is a sun-studying mission to analyze the flow of energy through our star's atmosphere and heliosphere. Iris is due to launch aboard an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket, which takes off in midair after being lofted by a carrier plane from Vandenberg Air Force Base. The flight is scheduled for April 28 or 29.

11. China's Shenzhou 10: Scheduled for June, China's Shenzhou 10 mission will be the fifth manned spaceflight for China. The mission will take launch three Chinese astronauts, including a female spaceflier, to dock with the nation's Tiangong 1 module in orbit. The flight is a follow-up to the historic Shenzhou 9 mission of June 2012, which marked the country's first manned space docking. The next launch will bring China a step closer to establishing a manned space station and potentially landing people on the moon. Shenzhou 10, like Shenzhou 9 before it, will lift off from China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on a Long March 2F rocket. [Photos of China's Shenzhou 9 Mission]

12. NASA's Ladee: The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Experiment (Ladee) from NASA is a moon orbiter intended to study the moon's transient atmosphere and the ubiquitous particles of dust blanketing its surface that are often seen levitating due to electrostatic forces. Ladee is due to launch aboard a U.S. Air Force Minotaur 5 rocket from Wallops Island on Aug. 12.

13. NASA's Mars Maven: NASA's next Mars orbiter is due to launch sometime in a 20-day window between Nov. 18 and Dec. 7 to enable it to enter orbit around the Red Planet in September 2014. The Mars Atmosphere And Volatile EvolutioN spacecraft, or Maven for short, will study how Mars loses atmospheric gases to space. The mission will launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

You can follow Space.com assistant managing editor Clara Moskowitz on Twitter @ClaraMoskowitz.Follow Space.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook and Google+.

? 2012 Space.com. All rights reserved. More from Space.com.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50334639/ns/technology_and_science-space/

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South Africa: Mandela convalesces, legacy secure

A giant portrait of former president Nelson Mandela adorns a cooling tower of a now defunct power station in Soweto, South Africa, Monday, Dec 31, 2012. Mandela is recovering at his Johannesburg home since being hopitalized for a lung infection and undergoing gallstone surgery. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

A giant portrait of former president Nelson Mandela adorns a cooling tower of a now defunct power station in Soweto, South Africa, Monday, Dec 31, 2012. Mandela is recovering at his Johannesburg home since being hopitalized for a lung infection and undergoing gallstone surgery. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

FILE - In this June 17, 2010 file photo, former South African President, Nelson Mandela leaves the chapel after attending the funeral of his great-granddaughter Zenani Mandela in Johannesburg, South Africa. Mandela was released Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012 from the hospital after being treated for a lung infection and having gallstones removed, a government spokesman said. (AP Photo/Siphiwe Sibeko, Pool, File)

People walk their dogs outside the home of former president Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg, Thursday, Dec. 27 2012. President Jacob Zuma made critical remarks about pet care that touch on sensitive race relations in South Africa, which was dominated by whites until apartheid was dismantled almost two decades ago, The Star newspaper reported Thursday. The newspaper cited Zuma as saying in a speech Wednesday that the idea of having a pet is part of "white culture" and that people should focus on family welfare. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

A pebble with a message to former President Nelson Mandela lays outside his Johannesburg home Thursday, Dec. 27 2012. Mandela was released Wednesday from the hospital after being treated for a lung infection and having gallstones removed, a government spokesman said. (AP Photo/Denis farrell)

A giant portrait of former president Nelson Mandela adorns a cooling tower of a now defunct power station in Soweto, South Africa, Monday, Dec 31, 2012. Mandela is recovering at his Johannesburg home since being hopitalized for a lung infection and undergoing gallstone surgery. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? South Africa's agonizing past swept over Alex McLaren, who stepped into sunlight with tears in his eyes after a tour of the Apartheid Museum, an unsparing study of white minority rule and the costly fight against it.

Yet South Africa-born McLaren, an American citizen, also found inspiration in the museum's exhibition about Nelson Mandela, former prisoner, South Africa's first black head of state and one of the great, unifying figures of the 20th century.

Mandela, now 94 years old and ailing, was a special figure in the anti-apartheid struggle because of "his perseverance, his ability to forgive and to reconcile, and the fact that he appeared when he did, him and others. But mainly him," said McLaren, a retired engineer.

"There will be a lot of wailing, gnashing of teeth, when he goes," he said, anticipating the grief of South Africa and the world.

The delicate health of Mandela, now convalescing behind the high walls of his Johannesburg home, came under scrutiny and speculation during a 19-day stay in a hospital in December. He was treated for a lung infection and had gallstones removed. Regardless of when the end comes, his burnished legacy was written years ago, even if the country he led from the long night of apartheid still struggles with poverty and other social ills.

Mandela's place as South Africa's premier hero is so secure that the central bank released new banknotes in 2012 showing his face, a robust, smiling image of the icon who walked out of a prison's gates on Feb. 11, 1990 after 27 years in captivity. He is a Nobel laureate, the recipient of many other international awards, the subject of books, films and songs and, when he was active, a magnet for celebrities.

In part, what elevated Mandela was his charisma, his ability to charm through humor and grace, and an extraordinary capacity to find strength in adversity.

"People tend to measure themselves by external accomplishments, but jail allows a person to focus on internal ones; such as honesty, sincerity, simplicity, humility, generosity and an absence of variety," Mandela says in one of the many quotations on display at the Apartheid Museum. "You learn to look into yourself."

Just four years after being released from prison, Mandela became South Africa's first black president in 1994. His successes include the introduction of one of the world's most progressive constitutions and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a panel that heard testimony about apartheid-era violations of human rights as a kind of national therapy session.

McLaren, the visitor to the Apartheid Museum, grew up in South Africa and recalled witnessing injustices of apartheid: blacks being arrested or stopped in the street, a black woman being pushed off a bus and a view among many whites that blacks were "somehow inferior."

Now a resident of Scottsdale, Arizona, 66-year-old McLaren said: "South Africa is such a mixed place now. Some of it is falling apart, some of it is really good, some of it is really bad. But you know, it's much better than it was, much better than it was."

An imperfect country, but one that Mandela, whose clan name, Madiba, means "reconciler," guided elegantly through a painful transition.

In "Mandela: The Authorized Portrait," a collection of accounts about Mandela, lawyer and human rights advocate George Bizos described how Mandela joked about his age (he was 86 at the time) and said he would join "the nearest branch of the ANC in heaven."

Bizos related in the book how he once told Mandela about Socrates, the ancient Greek philosopher who was sentenced to death and said he hoped to meet Homer, Sophocles and other giants for eternal discussions in the afterlife.

According to Bizos, Mandela replied:

"But assume that there is no such thing. Have you ever had a night's sleep when you were not disturbed at all ? no dreams, no fears ? you just slept throughout the night? Didn't you feel very much happier? Can you imagine if there is this eternal sleep it's also all right? So what's there to be afraid of?"

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-12-31-South%20Africa-Mandela/id-064623c98fe443dca0d3b3390d7837f6

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Tentative ?fiscal cliff? deal reached in Senate

President Barack Obama discusses the negotiations with Capitol Hill on the looming fiscal cliff in front of middle??With 2013 barely hours old, the U.S. Senate voted Tuesday on an 11th-hour deal to avert income tax hikes on all but the richest Americans and stall painful spending cuts as part of a compromise to avoid the economically toxic "fiscal cliff."

But after months of squabbling in the polarized Congress, even a last-minute charm offensive by Vice President Joe Biden to sell wary Democratic senators on the compromise could not keep the country from technically tumbling over the so-called cliff. The House of Representatives was not due to return to work to take up the measure until midday on Tuesday. But with financial markets closed for New Year's Day, quick action by lawmakers was expected to limit the economic damage.

Senators started voting shortly before 1:45 a.m. in Washington.

Biden, evidently in good spirits after playing a central role in crafting the deal, said little on his way into or out of a roughly one hour and 45 minute meeting behind closed doors with his party's senators. "Happy New Year," he said on the way in. Asked on the way out what his selling point had been, the vice president reportedly replied: "Me."

Hours earlier, a Democratic Senate aide told Yahoo News that "the White House and Republicans have a deal," while a source familiar with the negotiations said President Barack Obama had discussed the compromise with Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and "they both signed off."

But the House?s Republican leaders including Speaker John Boehner hinted in an unusual joint statement that they might amend anything that clears the Senate ? a step that could kill the deal.

?Decisions about whether the House will seek to accept or promptly amend the measure will not be made until House members -- and the American people -- have been able to review the legislation,? they said.

Under the compromise arrangement, taxes would rise on income above $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for households, while exemptions and deductions the wealthiest Americans use to reduce their tax bill would face new limits. The accord would also raise the taxes paid on large inheritances from 35% to 40% for estates over $5 million. And it would extend by one year unemployment benefits for some two million Americans.

Biden, a 36-year Senate veteran, worked out the agreement with McConnell after talks between Obama and Boehner collapsed and a similar effort between McConnell and Reid followed suit shortly thereafter. With the deal mostly done, Obama made a final push at the White House.

?Today, it appears that an agreement to prevent this New Year's tax hike is within sight, but it's not done,? Obama said in hastily announced midday remarks at the White House. ?There are still issues left to resolve, but we're hopeful that Congress can get it done ? but it?s not done.?

"One thing we can count on with respect to this Congress is that if there is even one second left before you have to do what you?re supposed to do, they will use that last second," he said.

Obama?s remarks ? by turns scolding, triumphant, and mocking of Congress ? came after talks between McConnell and Biden appeared to seal the breakthrough deal.

The middle class will still see its taxes go up: The final deal did not include an extension of the payroll tax holiday. And the overall package will deepen the deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars by extending the overwhelming majority of the Bush tax cuts. Many Democrats had opposed those measures in 2001 and 2003. Obama agreed to extend them in 2010.

Efforts to modify the first installment of $1.2 trillion in cuts to domestic and defense programs over 10 years -- the other portion of the ?fiscal cliff,? known as sequestration -- had proved a sticking point late in the game. Democrats had sought a year-long freeze but appeared to have caved to Republican pressure and signed on to just a two-month delay.

That would put the next major battle over spending cuts right around the time that the White House and its Republican foes are battling it out over whether to raise the country's debt limit. Republicans have vowed to push for more spending cuts, equivalent to the amount of new borrowing. Obama has vowed not to negotiate as he did in 2011, when a bruising fight threatened the first-ever default on America's obligations and resulted in the first-ever downgrade of the country's credit rating. Biden sent that message to Democrats in Congress, two senators said.

Experts had warned that the fiscal cliff's tax increases and spending cuts, taken together, could plunge the still-fragile economy into a new recession.

?I can report that we?ve reached an agreement on all of the tax issues,? McConnell said on the Senate floor. ?We are very, very close to an agreement.?

The Kentucky Republican later briefed Republicans on the details of the deal. Lawmakers emerged from that closed-door session offered hopeful appraisals that, after clearing a few last-minute hurdles, they could vote on New Year?s Eve or with 2013 just hours old.

?Tonight, I hope,? Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee told reporters. ?It may be at 1, 2, 3, 4 in the morning. Oh, I guess that?s technically tomorrow.?

Republican Senators said negotiators were still working on a way to forestall two months of the ?sequester? spending cuts, about $20 billion worth. And some expressed disquiet that the tentative compromise ran high on tax increases and low on spending cuts -- while warning that failure to act, triggering some $600 billion in income tax increases on all Americans who pay it and draconian spending cuts, was the worse option.

McConnell earlier had called for a vote on the tax component of the deal.

?Let me be clear: We?ll continue to work on finding smarter ways to cut spending, but let?s not let that hold up protecting Americans from the tax hike,? McConnell urged. ?Let?s pass the tax relief portion now. Let?s take what?s been agreed to and get moving.?Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., followed by Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., second from right, leaves??

The final compromise needed to clear the Democratic-led Senate and Republican-held House. Aides in both chambers doubted that could happen by midnight ? but emphasized that there was no need to move the family into the Doomsday bunker in the back yard. Yet.

Unlike a college student who writes an end-of-semester paper overnight before a morning deadline, then drops the assignment off hours after it was due, Congress can write its own rules to minimize the damage ? and Americans whose taxes are staying the same won?t see a change in their bottom line.

?It?s basically a matter of saying it?s effective January 1,? one senior Republican aide shrugged.

But passage was not a sure thing: Both the AFL-CIO labor union and the conservative Heritage Action organization argued against the package.

The breakthrough came after McConnell announced Sunday that he had started to negotiate with Biden in a bid to "jump-start" stalled talks to avoid the fiscal cliff.

Under their tentative deal, the top tax rate on household income above $450,000 would rise from 35 percent to 39.6 percent -- where it was under Bill Clinton, before the reductions enacted under George W. Bush in 2001 and 2003.

Some congressional liberals had expressed objections to extending tax cuts above the $250,000 income threshold Obama cited throughout the 2012 campaign. Democrats were huddling in private as well to work out whether they could support the arrangement.

Possibly with balking progressives in mind, Obama trumpeted victories dear to the left of his party. "The potential agreement that?s being talked about would not only make sure the taxes don?t go up on middle-class families, it also would extend tax credits for families with children. It would extend our tuition tax credit that?s helped millions of families pay for college. It would extend tax credits for clean energy companies that are creating jobs and reducing our dependence on foreign oil. It would extend unemployment insurance to 2 million Americans who are out there still actively looking for a job."

Obama said he had hoped for "a larger agreement, a bigger deal, a grand bargain," to stem the tide of red ink swamping the country?s finances ? but shelved that goal.

"With this Congress, that was obviously a little too much to hope for at this time," he said. "It may be we can do it in stages. We?re going to solve this problem instead in several steps."

The president also looked ahead to his next budgetary battle with Republicans, warning that ?any future deficit agreement? will have to couple spending cuts with tax increases. He expressed a willingness to reduce spending on popular programs like Medicare, but said entitlement reform would have to go hand in hand with new tax revenues.

?If Republicans think that I will finish the job of deficit reduction through spending cuts alone ? then they?ve another thing coming,? Obama said defiantly. ?That?s not how it?s going to work.?

?If we?re serious about deficit reduction and debt reduction, then it?s going to have to be a matter of shared sacrifice. At least as long as I?m president. And I?m going to be president for the next four years, I hope,? he said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/last-minute-fiscal-cliff-deal-outlines-emerging-181845501--politics.html

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