[46] Kronos was the king of the Titans in Greek myth - and the Titan II was the rocket that launched the Gemini missions back in the 1960s.

[266] This is similar to what happened to the Soviet N1 rocket that destroyed not only itself, but its launch pad, in July 1969, in the biggest explosion in the history of rocketry.

[296] Well, actually, the Chinese invented rocketry, though it could certainly be argued that Germans invented modern industrial rocketry.

[511] 2001-2005.

[624] DJ's dialogue is partially a response to Gendou's criticism, and partly a response to reader criticism of the previous episode. Not only is anyone who doesn't think teenagers are getting it on in the real world fooling himself, the point ought to be made that these are hardly normal teenagers, and hardly leading normal lives. They had to grow up fast, and now they're taking the flip side of that requirement for their reward - and if Gendou, or some readers, have a problem with that, well, so be it.

[788] Yeah, yeah, Episcopals don't do confession. Sue me.

[899] Yes, the Apollo 13 references in this episode are a little too thick. What can I say? The movie's that good.

[1181] Now there's a line I never thought I'd be able to re-use out of context...

[1392] I've already apologized for this, or at least acknowledged it, right?

[1446] Another of the Space Shuttle Replacements of the Future that never quite came off, the VentureStar (not two words) was canceled in 2001.

[1509] Exactly how she learned that is something she'd rather not ruin the occasion by sharing, but it'll come up next season.

http://holycross-raleigh.org/bcp/447.html

It's not often used, but at least one Episcopal church I attended in the 1970's, in Fayetteville, NC, set aside time on Saturdays for anyone who wanted to avail themselves of that service. It seems to be more of a framework for priest-to-parishioner counseling, though, and I don't think penance is mandatory.

I don't know whether the Church of England itself has such a service; I couldn't find it in the 1662 edition of the BCP reproduced at the above site. As both churches are, of course, members of the Anglican Communion, I shouldn't think DJ would run into any problems if he took part in services more specifically pertaining to the American church. He'd add his own prayers for His Majesty during the "General Prayers of the People" section of the Eucharist, though. (Am I alone in thinking that DJ became rather more active in his churchgoing after the events of NXE than he might have before?)

-Joe-