Almost there

Here I sit at General Mitchell International airport, waiting to board my plane to Orlando. I can't wait to get down there and meet all the fellow Tweetuppers.

Last I saw on Monday, the weather on Thursday was at 60% for a good launch. While I'd certainly wish to see that number higher, I'll take what I can get. The Tweetup event is going to be so amazing, if I don't get to see a launch, it will be okay, but I'm definitely keeping my fingers crossed.

Today, after I fly into Orlando, I'll drive to Kennedy Space Center to check in and get my badge, then go to the house I'm staying at (dubbed Discovery House), and meeting the people I'll be staying with for four days. Then, dinner with a huge number of space geeks for a traditional pre-Tweetup dinner.

I can't believe that this day is finally here. I've been planning, chatting, packing, and generally obsessing about this trip for about a month. It's just amazing that NASA allows people this opportunity, and I'm so glad I got this chance.

I think we hit the mother lode

After much waiting, with some combination of patience and impatience, those of us selected to be a part of the GRAIL NASATweetup received the itinerary of events and speakers tonight.  I just have one thing to say: WOW!

I'm not sure how our group of speakers stack up against previous Tweetups, but I'm pretty darn impressed with the collection NASA is going to roll out for us.  The speakers are:

• Jim Adams, deputy director of Planetary Division, Science Mission Directorate
• Charles Boldin, head administrator of NASA
• Sally Ride Science Team (I know it's greedy of me, but I'm kind of sad it won't be Sally Ride herself)
• Sami Asmar, GRAIL deputy project scientist
• Maria Zuber, GRAIL principal investigator
• Doug Ellison, NASA Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) visualization producer
• Vern Thorp, manager of NASA Programs, United Launch Alliance (ULA)
• Stu Spath, chief spacecraft engineer at Lockheed Martin
• Neil deGrasse Tyson and Frederick P. Rose from the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History

In addition to the speakers, we'll get taken on a tour of Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, including stops at:

• Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), and I'm praying there's still a shuttle inside being decommissioned
• Press site launch countdown clock
• Launch Complex 17, from where the GRAIL Delta II rocket will be launched
• Launch Complex 41, from where the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity will be launched in November

And as if that wasn't already enough, also at the Visitor Complex while we're there:

• Apollo astronaut Charlie Duke will be talking about his experience on the moon and doing a book signing
• Neil deGrasse Tyson and Frederick P. Rose will be giving a talk about the latest "other world" discoveries
• Actress Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura) will be signing autographs and taking pictures with fans to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the original Star Trek television show.  The pictures/autographs may be taking place on a replica of the ST:TOS bridge.

There is so much awesome packed into this Tweetup, it's not even funny.  I cannot believe how lucky I am to have been chosen to attend this event, let alone get presentations and talks from the group that will be there.  While I hope to get the chance to attend another Tweetup at some point in the future, I think it's safe to say that each one is so unique that it's a once-in-a-lifetime event.

September 7th just can't come fast enough for me.