Memories of KSC

I'm not one to believe in numerology - that our lives are dictated by certain numbers - but the number 3 does factor into my life significantly.  I won't go into all the sordid details, but here are some easily coincidental facts about the number 3 and this year:

• I will fly into Orlando three times this year (visited Universal in May, GRAIL tweetup in September, and then Disney World in December)
• This will be the third year in a row that I've come to Orlando:
• Disney World and Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in October 2009
• STS-132 launch in May 2010 and Disney World in October 2010
• The above-mentioned trips

Because I'll be heading down for the launch in a mere four weeks (side note: WOO-HOO!  28 days until I leave for the GRAIL Tweetup!  WOO-HOO!), I thought I would throw together a brief reminiscence of the other trips I made there.

The first visit
In October 2009, my wife, myself, and a good friend of ours went down to Disney World to check out their Halloween party.  I, having never been and not (at the time) a huge Disney fan, was okay with the trip, but I told my wife that if we were going down there, I had to see Kennedy.  I'm not sure when I get bit by the space bug, but I have been interested in NASA and the space program for quite some time.

We drove out to KSC and did the tour of the Visitor Center and also took the Cape Canaveral: Then and Now tour.  I was so glad that we took the tour, because I loved being able to go see the blockhouse from where Alan Shepard's flight was controlled.  To see the sites and locations of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs was just amazing.  For me, the culmination of the tour was being able to see Pad 34, where the Apollo 1 tragedy occurred.

Me at Pad 34

As amazing as the space shuttle, the International Space Station, the Hubble, Juno, JWST, and all the other more recent achievements are, I am inherently drawn to the moon missions.  Whether it's nostalgia for the space obsession that gripped this country in the 60s, the unthinkable technological breakthroughs that got us there, or the sheer testicular fortitude that it took to say "this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth."  And for obvious reasons, I always equate the Apollo 1 fire with the struggles, sacrifices, and willpower that got us to the Sea of Tranquility.

Apollo 1 memorial plaque at Pad 34

The second visit
As the space shuttle program wound down, demand for tickets to view the launches (as well as these new-fangled thingamajigs called "tweetups") were hard to come by.  Early in 2010 my father and I decided that we would try to get tickets for the last launch of the shuttle Atlantis [at the time, STS-135 was a mere rumor and dream].  The process for getting the tickets were to go online into a "waiting room" and then people would be randomly selected to buy tickets.  We were hoping for causeway tickets, but were willing to settle for Visitor Center.  When the day to buy tickets arrived, we were very lucky.  And by lucky, I mean that so many people tried to get into to buy tickets, it crashed the servers.  When they announced the new date tickets went on sale, we tried again, and managed to get tickets for the Visitor Center.

We decided to drive instead of fly, so we packed up and drove all the way from about Chicago to Orlando over the course of one day.  It is a haul, no doubt about that, but we made it safe and sound.  We went and toured KSC the day before the launch, and it was great to be able to share that with my dad, who is also a space geek (he even attended a space camp for teachers back in the 90s).

Me with Atlantis in the far background

It was a bright and super hot day in Florida, and I really should have put some sunscreen on my legs (I can still barely make out the burn line on my legs over a year later).  We got there as early as we could to make sure we could stake out our spots.  I wish I could have been a part of the tweetup or gotten causeway tickets, but I am so very thankful that not only did I get to experience a shuttle launch in person, but I got to share it with my father.

Me and my dad

The third visit
Coming September 7, 2011

The holy GRAIL of tweetups

This week I had the good fortune of being selected to attend the 24^th NASA Tweetup event for the GRAIL mission which is scheduled to launch from the Kennedy Space Center aboard a Delta II rocket on September 8, 2011.  This is scheduled to be the final Delta II rocket launched by NASA.

For those unfamiliar with what a NASA Tweetup is or what the GRAIL mission entails, here is some background.

NASA Tweetup

In January 2009, NASA hosted the first tweetup event at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.  It is an opportunity for followers of NASA Twitter accounts to gather together and get a behind-the-scenes look at missions, talk with scientists, engineers, administrators, and astronauts, and get an up close and personal look at NASA.  It’s also a great place for space geeks to gather and get to know each other.  There are two types of tweetups: one centered on the launch of a vehicle (rocket or space shuttle) and one without a scheduled launch.  A launch tweetup is a two-day event, while the other tweetups are typically only one day.

While it may vary by tweetup, there is typically a maximum of 150 attendees randomly selected from the group of registered Twitter users.  Obviously, depending on the nature of the tweetup, there are many more people who tried to get a spot.  For the final space shuttle mission, I read that there was over 6500 people who registered, while for this GRAIL launch, it was only around 825.  Registration is free to any Twitter user, but you’re on your own for travel, lodging, and food costs (although you do get a pass to get into the location it’s being held, in the case of the GRAIL tweetup, it’s Kennedy Space Center).

With each NASA Tweetup being different, especially with a launch event, it really is a unique and once in a lifetime event.  Of course, assuming NASA continues to host tweetup events, I hope to have a few more “once in a lifetimes” in my lifetime.  If only all the NASA locations weren’t so far from Milwaukee.

GRAIL Mission

Unless you are a super hard-core space geek or are related to someone working on it, it’s very doubt that you’ve heard of the GRAIL mission.  GRAIL stands for Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory, and it is two spacecrafts that will orbit the moon to precisely measure and map the moon’s gravitational field.

Using this information, scientists will be able to determine the interior structure and composition of the moon, which will lead to being able to better understand the moon’s origin and development.  It will also be able to help with navigation of any future moon landings.

This mission has two very important firsts associated with it: this will be the first time anyone has tried the difficult task of putting two different spacecrafts in the same precise orbit around another planetary object (necessary for the devices measuring the gravitational field).  Second, this mission will carry cameras (MoonKAM) whose targets will be chosen by middle school students.

While it may not sound as sexy as the Juno mission to Jupiter or the Mars Science Laboratory, GRAIL will go a long way to help scientists understand how planetary objects were formed and what was happening at the creation of our solar system.

External Links

NASA Tweetup twitter account

GRAIL mission site

GRAIL MoonKAM site

Wikipedia entry on NASA Tweetups

Wiki site for those attending a NASA Tweetup

Wikipedia entry on Delta II rockets

A Pirate's Life for Me

This past weekend I went back to Bristol to be a part of the Cutlass Cooking kids show. They were down a Bob, and I offered my services. It was certainly a change from what I have been used to (Queen's court and military), but I great time.

The weather was okay, but not great - high 80s with humidity - but at least it was dry. The crowd on Saturday was fairly large (due to weather, attendance has been very poor the first third of the season) and Sunday was okay. And from what I could tell, they were willing to play along, too.

The first show we did was the Pantry Panic cooking show. On both days, it was a three-person show. Sarah (sister Bob) helped on Saturday and Andy (the original Bob) was there on Sunday. This is the original Cutlass Cooking show, and it's a big hit with the kids. Honestly, I felt Saturday was a little better because Sarah and I have better chemistry/familiarty and were able to play off each other more. It ended up being two mischevious siblings trying to get big brother John to eat some crazy stew.

The second show of the day is Tenderized Tales aka crazy story time. Saturday went well with good kids and crowds, but Sunday was a bit chaotic. The kids weren't bad, they just wanted to be extremely helpful or really wanted to be a part of the show. Each story being requires two helpers, but on Sunday, we had three for both of them. It was interesting to say the least, and unrestrained chaos to say the most.

The last show of the day is the Party Panic show, which is always a bit difficult because: a) hard to get an audience and b) the sun is melting the stage at that point in the day. Saturday we actually had a good crowd who really enjoyed the show. Sunday, we had two boys probably 12-13 who we think were just too polite to walk out in the middle of it.

I also got to do some shanty singing with Bob, Ansel, Tabitha and a couple others. I'm not a great singer, but I thought we did pretty good out there...but don't be looking for our CD any time soon.

All in all it was an outstanding weekend. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to help out a good friend, entertain some children, and enjoy myself. I was a little suprised how much performing took out of me during the day, but it was worth every drop of sweat and ache and pain I have today.

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.

That's all there is

"And I realized, when you go through any endeavor, any journey - whether across town or to the moon and back - all that matters is that you share the experience with people that you love. That's what makes life special. Because ultimately, that's all there is. That's really all there is."

- Astronaut Alan Bean (played by Dave Foley) in the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon.

I have no way of knowing whether Alan Bean ever said that, or some clever Hollywood writer came up with it as a good monologue to end that episode. Regardless, the simplicity of that quote has always struck me as being so profound. That simple yet elegant message, whether authentic or contrived, is a reminder of what we should all keep in mind as we go through life.

Because ultimately, that's all there is. That's really all there is.