Next up, Discovery in October, if NASA is feeling all fuzzy about a fix for the foam problem by then.
UPDATE:
For those who were concerned, my toy shuttle landed just fine as well.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Whew - Updated
The shuttle landed safely, and as Super Mom put it, right on time. The airlines could learn something from that! Greg was a little concerned it might get shot down flying over Cuba, but apparently they missed due to the glare from the sun or something. I was a little disappointed in the the fact that all I could get was the NASA feed, since the networks' video and commentary tends to be a bit better, but I did get my favorite shot of the shuttle coming over the camera and touching down right in front of it. I love that part.
Next up, Discovery in October, if NASA is feeling all fuzzy about a fix for the foam problem by then.
UPDATE:
For those who were concerned, my toy shuttle landed just fine as well.
Next up, Discovery in October, if NASA is feeling all fuzzy about a fix for the foam problem by then.
UPDATE:
For those who were concerned, my toy shuttle landed just fine as well.
11:32AM CDT
The shuttle Endeavour is coming home. Landing is scheduled for 11:32 AM CDT at Kennedy Space Center, and I hope to be somewhere where I can watch it. Oh, what I wouldn't give to be there for that! Would really love to see a launch, but they are so hard to catch because they'll have like a 2 week window. Can't really hang out in Florida for two weeks waiting to see if it's going to go up. And they don't usually land in Florida, so seeing that isn't likely either. But you can bet I'll do my best to watch on TV!
One of my favorite trips was to the Johnson Space Center outside of Houston. No, I wasn't in school, it was a few years ago when Sharonda was temporarily living in Houston. I went to visit for 4th of July and we spent half a day at JSC. It was AWESOME and I can't wait to go back. So many things stick out about that trip, the actual Mission Control room that was staffed during the Apollo 13 mission, the observatory over the actually training area for the astronauts (which was not in use at the time, it was during the time right after the Columbia disaster when the program was on hold), I got my picture made in front of actual giant rockets (gotta try to find those and scan them...) and of course the grove of trees, one planted for each astronaut lost during a mission. There were all kinds of things to do, and they had a huge kid-friendly exhibit up with all kinds of hands-on stuff (yeah, I did some of it!). I was surprised at how neat it was. I'm facinated with the space program but didn't expect JSC to have so much to do. Greg and I want to go back and I'd love to tour Kennedy as well.
A couple of years ago, when I was walking around the bank as a zombie after getting up at 4:30am two different days to watch the first shuttle launch after Columbia, which kept getting delayed and ended up taking off during the day when I couldn't watch it, I was talking to somebody about the whole space program thing. Don't remember exactly who it was, but as I recall they didn't realize the shuttle was set to launch. Most people didn't. It's sad, the only time the general public seems to care is when a shuttle is destroyed. I remember watching that scene in Apollo 13 when the televised live transmission from space was cancelled and they didn't want to tell the astronauts. We're there again. Nobody cares what the projects are on the missions, or when they go up, or when they come down, other than to see if something tragic will happen.
I don't want to see anything tragic happen, I want to see the awesome beauty of that rocket blasting into space, or cruising in for a smooth landing. I even love watching the shuttle being piggybacked back to Florida after it lands in California. It seems so huge, until they park it on the back of that plane and fly it across the country! But as a culture, we've lost our love and awe of space travel. I blame TV. We've gotten so used to seeing cool things on TV, CG and special effects, that we don't really notice something as common as a space shuttle lifting off or our astronauts doing a space walk. Heck, we've seen that on Star Trek a hundred times, and they make it look easy.
But it's also, in part, NASA's fault. They haven't done anything NEW in ages. It's past time for a new shuttle. It's past time to revisit the moon, or Mars. I know all of those things are in the works, and that it takes time, but we seem to be stuck in slow motion with the program and all the problems over the past few years have made it worse. We're impatient for progress in an area that can't be rushed, but still seems to be moving backwards at times.
Do kids even want to be astronauts anymore? I haven't heard one say that in a long time, and that makes me sad. I'm also sad because I left my little toy shuttle at home. I usually get it and do a mock liftoff or landing while watching the shuttle. Perhaps I can do a recreation when I get home tonight. In the meantime, lets pray they land safe and get a hero's welcome home.
One of my favorite trips was to the Johnson Space Center outside of Houston. No, I wasn't in school, it was a few years ago when Sharonda was temporarily living in Houston. I went to visit for 4th of July and we spent half a day at JSC. It was AWESOME and I can't wait to go back. So many things stick out about that trip, the actual Mission Control room that was staffed during the Apollo 13 mission, the observatory over the actually training area for the astronauts (which was not in use at the time, it was during the time right after the Columbia disaster when the program was on hold), I got my picture made in front of actual giant rockets (gotta try to find those and scan them...) and of course the grove of trees, one planted for each astronaut lost during a mission. There were all kinds of things to do, and they had a huge kid-friendly exhibit up with all kinds of hands-on stuff (yeah, I did some of it!). I was surprised at how neat it was. I'm facinated with the space program but didn't expect JSC to have so much to do. Greg and I want to go back and I'd love to tour Kennedy as well.
A couple of years ago, when I was walking around the bank as a zombie after getting up at 4:30am two different days to watch the first shuttle launch after Columbia, which kept getting delayed and ended up taking off during the day when I couldn't watch it, I was talking to somebody about the whole space program thing. Don't remember exactly who it was, but as I recall they didn't realize the shuttle was set to launch. Most people didn't. It's sad, the only time the general public seems to care is when a shuttle is destroyed. I remember watching that scene in Apollo 13 when the televised live transmission from space was cancelled and they didn't want to tell the astronauts. We're there again. Nobody cares what the projects are on the missions, or when they go up, or when they come down, other than to see if something tragic will happen.
I don't want to see anything tragic happen, I want to see the awesome beauty of that rocket blasting into space, or cruising in for a smooth landing. I even love watching the shuttle being piggybacked back to Florida after it lands in California. It seems so huge, until they park it on the back of that plane and fly it across the country! But as a culture, we've lost our love and awe of space travel. I blame TV. We've gotten so used to seeing cool things on TV, CG and special effects, that we don't really notice something as common as a space shuttle lifting off or our astronauts doing a space walk. Heck, we've seen that on Star Trek a hundred times, and they make it look easy.
But it's also, in part, NASA's fault. They haven't done anything NEW in ages. It's past time for a new shuttle. It's past time to revisit the moon, or Mars. I know all of those things are in the works, and that it takes time, but we seem to be stuck in slow motion with the program and all the problems over the past few years have made it worse. We're impatient for progress in an area that can't be rushed, but still seems to be moving backwards at times.
Do kids even want to be astronauts anymore? I haven't heard one say that in a long time, and that makes me sad. I'm also sad because I left my little toy shuttle at home. I usually get it and do a mock liftoff or landing while watching the shuttle. Perhaps I can do a recreation when I get home tonight. In the meantime, lets pray they land safe and get a hero's welcome home.
Monday, August 20, 2007
All Is Well
Both of Mom's doctors said everything looks good. She saw her cancer doc and the thyroid doc and neither of them had any concerns. The cancer doc said to come back in 3 months for another checkup, and if nothing has changed at that point they can start scheduling them further apart. For some reason this checkup felt like the big hurdle, and being over it is quite a relief. From here it seems almost routine, like going to the dentist twice a year. That's a pretty bizarre feeling after everything she went through. Not sure whether to laugh or cry, so I think I'll just stare dumbly into space for a few minutes, and offer up another big prayer of thanks to God for walking her through this.
Monday Update
Well, Edwin was THRILLED to start school, and the one person I left off my list was the one who had the hardest time. Apparently Ian had a meltdown when he was left at daycare without his big brother. I don't figure it'll be too many more years before they can't stand the sight of each other, but for now it's nice to know they're so close. Here's the pics of Edwin on his first day.
He looks happy. It's always a toss up of how he'll react to new things, but the school did a great job of getting them in there to visit a good bit before the first day, so he knew where he was going and was pretty excited about it. Let's hope the day ends as well at it began!
In other Monday news, Mom goes back to the doc today to get the results of the last PET scan and find out if there's anything new to see, or anything new they want to do. Let's hope not on both counts. She's doing well, and has gotten much of her energy back. I'll post an update on her whenever she calls me.
He looks happy. It's always a toss up of how he'll react to new things, but the school did a great job of getting them in there to visit a good bit before the first day, so he knew where he was going and was pretty excited about it. Let's hope the day ends as well at it began!
In other Monday news, Mom goes back to the doc today to get the results of the last PET scan and find out if there's anything new to see, or anything new they want to do. Let's hope not on both counts. She's doing well, and has gotten much of her energy back. I'll post an update on her whenever she calls me.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
The Big Day
Tomorrow is the big day. The day Edwin starts kindergarten. I almost feel sorry for his teachers. They did enroll him in a magnate program for insanely smart kids, which is good, but I still doubt they know what they're about to face. I just hope he adjusts well and enjoys it.
It's also a big day for Lauren and Ed, since they have to actually SEND him to kindergarten. It's hard enough on me and I'm not actually his parent! Mostly because they didn't fulfill their promise to give me their first born child as payment for introducing them all those years ago. But I'll let that go for the moment, since I know it'll be a hard day for them. Good luck to all three of them. I hope tomorrow is the start of a wonderful educational experience that ends up giving him the ability to channel his brilliance into something great, like curing cancer or creating a future-generation Wii. Love you, Edwin. Good luck.
It's also a big day for Lauren and Ed, since they have to actually SEND him to kindergarten. It's hard enough on me and I'm not actually his parent! Mostly because they didn't fulfill their promise to give me their first born child as payment for introducing them all those years ago. But I'll let that go for the moment, since I know it'll be a hard day for them. Good luck to all three of them. I hope tomorrow is the start of a wonderful educational experience that ends up giving him the ability to channel his brilliance into something great, like curing cancer or creating a future-generation Wii. Love you, Edwin. Good luck.
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