4 posts tagged “nasa”
I got my Astronomy textbook this week! I got mine used from an Amazon seller for cheap-cheap, so I didn't expect to get the software with it, but I did - and the EULA sticker is even still intact. The professor doesn't require it, but planetarium software is always cool to have...
Looking through the pages I found a disturbing little blurb in the sidebar, though. The book says that many people have trouble with the difference between the terms "galaxy" and "solar system." Really? Though, I guess that follows from the mindset where the U.S. is the only important part of the earth and the earth is the only important part of the galaxy. Forget heliocentric, we may never get past self-centric...
On a slightly-but-not-really related note, the family went to Kennedy Space Center again this past Monday. My beloved and I took my younger sister there for her first visit to Florida. We took the Up Close tour again, and got to see some very nifty stuff. As we approached the VAB the tour guide noticed that they were starting to move the shuttle's external fuel tank across the road from storage to the VAB. The doors of the building were open and we could see and snap pictures of the pale orange giant. It was lying horizontally and we could just see the end of it as they prepared to move it. Then, later, as we were returning from the launch pads to actually stop at the VAB we got there just in time to see them pulling the last half of the tank into the VAB itself. We got some great pictures of the nose cone and about half of it sticking out of the wide open VAB doors. Most cool! The driver parked as quickly as he could and we all dashed off of the bus and down the grass strip to get as close as the fencing would allow to watch the tank disappear into the darkness... Hopefully my beloved will transfer the vacation photos to me soon so that I may post some of those here.
At the end of the Up Close tour they drop everyone off at the Saturn V center, which I highly recommend seeing - I think that the free bus tour goes there as well. The Saturn V museum is probably one of the best things at KSC. Then, from there you can take a short bus ride to the facility where they assemble the pieces of the International Space Station for a ride up on the shuttles. (This was the first time we were able to go there... when we went at Christmas time, the place was empty and all the workers had gone for Christmas break.) Anyway, you can tour some mock-ups of the ISS modules and then go up to an overlook and watch the real peoples working on the real things. There were about 6 to 8 of the modules in view and a few people in clean suits running around some of them. It was just amazing to think that you were getting a look at something that would soon be orbiting our planet.
The Discovery launch was fantastic! I've watched launches from my yard and workplaces for almost 20 years now but nothing compares to being seven miles away, just across the water and seeing it lift off. I was awestruck. It made me cry... Here's a very nice image of the lift off from NASA. Once we get the video off of the camera I will post it here. The day couldn't have turned out better for a launch. The skies were clear, only wisps of clouds. It was bloody hot, but we brought chairs and sunscreen and lots of water.
The observation site isn't as bad as I had feared. Porto-potties are never great, but at least there was something and they did have hand washing stations, which I didn't expect. They had also set up some tents with seating underneath, but obviously not enough for everyone. Then they had several drink carts and tents with hamburgers, hotdogs, drinks and snacks. We weren't interested in braving the food, though. The hamburgers we got from one of the carts back at the visitor's center was so revolting that I'll never be able to eat one again.
The new IMAX movie they're showing at the visitor's center is very good as well, though, you know, it's a little disconcerting to listen to Tom Cruise narrate about the joys of three men crammed into a small cockpit together... ah, nevermind. Anyway, the new movie is about the building of the International Space Station, filmed largely by the astronauts aboard the station and out on their spacewalks. It was just beautiful. We just had a really great day.
Tomorrow we're heading back down to Kennedy Space Center to watch another shuttle launch, STS-124 with Discovery. Here's hoping for good weather all the day, as these late afternoon launches are often subject to Florida's regular as clockwork afternoon thunderstorms. Also, here's hoping we don't return home with another bizarre illness!
This time we are taking the tour bus out to one of the viewing sites nearer to the launch pad, so we should have a much better chance of actually seeing something this time... Woot! We'll probably try to take some video again with our crappy little camera, which I will dutifully post despite the crappiness which may ensue.
And, just for fun, here is some nifty information about Discovery's history.
Enjoy!
We're just about to head off to the space center for the middle of the bloody night launch of Endeavour. I'm very excited. Despite living in Central Florida for 30 years, I have not yet been to a shuttle launch. Well, we tried to go to one last summer, but it was canceled for lightning. Please don't scrub! Well, you know, unless there's a reason to.... But, the weather is supposed to be perfect tonight. Woot!
Update: Here's our video of the launch - not much to see, thanks to some late night cloud cover. Drat... More info later.
