Ares I-X
This is my favorite photo from today’s launch of Ares I-X. The white “cloud” around the top of the rocket is common when aircraft break the sound barrier. I find it so cool because as I was watching the launch on NASATV I thought I saw the cloud but I couldn’t tell if it really was one or if it was just a reflection of the sun on the gleaming white (mock) capsule on top. I was delighted to find this photo to confirm it!
Photo Credit: RED HUBER, ORLANDO SENTINEL
That’s All Folks
I keep a white board on the wall near my computer with the upcoming shuttle flights, dates and crew members, for easy reference when writing about them or when planning content (who’s going, when, etc.).
Today I added the names of the last planned shuttle crew. So what’s on my board is it (barring some Congressional or Presidential somethingorother).
A Drop in the Bucket
My friend Pillownaut posted this chart on her blog to illustrate just how small a drop in a large, large bucket is the additional $300 Billion the Human Space Flight Committee says NASA needs to do it’s missions — go to the ISS, go to the moon, go to Mars, etc. My co-worker responded that Americans should stop giving money to charity and give all the money to NASA and it would more than make up for it — according to the chart Americans give $300 Billion annually to charities. (He was joking, of course.)
Interesting that the same could be true also if Americans were to stop shopping at Walmart — $352 Billion spent at Walmart annually. Of course then they’d just have to spend that money at Target so it wouldn’t really solve NASA’s woes, but it would at least make us all happier since we all know Target is a much happier place to shop than the alternative.
Space Radio
I thought it interesting that two of this week’s wake-up songs for the STS-128 space shuttle crew (currently in space) were by contemporary Christian artists. On Flight Day 2, TobyMac’s “Made to Love” was played for astronaut Nicole Stott, and today’s wake-up song was “There Is a God” by 33 Miles, played for astronaut Patrick Forrester.
Sports In Space Game
I don’t blog about NASA or space stuff all that much — don’t want to mix business and pleasure — but this new game by the Challenger Center is worth sharing. You play football — throw, catch or block — on Earth, the moon, Mars and the space station, taking into account the different levels of gravity on each surface when you choose how much force to use. It’s made for kids, but there’s nothing that says big kids can’t play too.
Tierra Luna Grill
On a work trip to Houston last year, two of my co-workers and I asked the group we were there to work with for some restaurant recommendations. The recommendations included a list of BBQ places and Mexican places — the two things Texas is known for I guess. But one restaurant stood out not for it’s food but for it’s owner. The Tierra Luna Grille, we were told, was a newly opened restaurant by astronaut José Hernández. Huh? An astronaut running a restaurant? Is his day job not satisfying enough? And how does an astronaut have the spare time to own his own business, especially one as taxing a restaurant? Certainly he’s not actually running it. This we had to see.
I half-hoped but didn’t really expect he’d be there. We walked in and were seated by nice young Mexican server who wiped our table and took our drink orders. The three of us all looked at each other like, “uh, was that him?” The Co-worker With The iPhone googled José Hernández to pull up a picture. Sure enough, it was him. “Are you kidding me?,” I thought. An astronaut just bussed my table and asked me what I wanted to drink? This must have been what the disciples felt like when Jesus washed their feet. I mean seriously, this guy was selected from thousands as the best of the best to fly in the nation’s space program, and he just brought me a Sprite?
Turns out, it’s Hernández’ wife’s restaurant — and she cooks all the food — and he was just there after work to help. We, of course, acknowledged that we knew who he was and were recommended to come there, etc. His wife came out from the kitchen to talk to us and asked how we liked the food (food was great, btw). Some of his children were there too.
Who knew that astronauts were just real people! Well, I did, it’s just hard not to put them on a pedestal. In some ways it’s a very deserving pedestal. But when you meet them they’re so humble about it.
I’ve been following Hernández on Twitter (@Astro_Jose), and it was great fun this week to watch him get suited up and loaded into the space shuttle for his first spaceflight. I know he’s having a blast up there finally living his dream.
The Future of Human Space Flight
I had the awesome privilege of sitting in today at the Augustine Commission — also known as the Human Space Flight Committee — which was commissioned by the President to “conduct an independent review of ongoing U.S. human space flight plans and programs, as well as alternatives, to ensure the nation is pursuing the best trajectory for the future of human space flight – one that is safe, innovative, affordable, and sustainable.”
This was awesome for several reasons. One, I believe it’s a historical event and therefore neat to witness. It’s historical because it may play such a large role in the future. Something that I knew going into it but that was even more evident afterward is that what comes out of this commission has the potential to affect the future of the entire world. That may sound like a superfluous or overblown claim, but having been there today, it is evident that what this commission says may determine or at least impact whether or not Americans ever go back to the moon, try to go to Mars, do science on the space station, and so on. It is hard for me to convey, but yeah, those decisions can make a big difference in the world as we know it. The ironic thing is that three years ago (before coming to NASA) I couldn’t have cared less and most people in my “circles” are quite the same way. But to be there today and hear from people who do care — and care a lot — made an impression.
Today was awesome also because it makes what I do have more meaning. It’s so easy to sit in my cubicle and forget the big picture. I’ll be honest, a lot of it was over my head — discussions of metric tons and budgets and chemical v. nuclear fuels. But what wasn’t over my head was the sincerity of the people who spoke, both those who stand firmly behind NASA’s current direction and those who question it.
The director of the NASA center where I work read several statements from young people about why they believe in human space flight. One statement he read identified two reasons for human space flight: curiosity and concern for our future. Those are both very good reasons and ones I’ve heard before. And while they may accurately explain why so many are interested in space, the moon, Mars, etc., they also accurately explain how it is that I don’t feel drawn to those places. I have curiosities but they are much smaller in scope. There is so much here, on Earth — even here where I’m at, not just physical location, but just where I’m at in life — that I don’t know, that it feels as if I do not have the mental capacity to go beyond those bounds. My curiosity is limited and I’m quite content in that self-made comfort zone.
The second point — concern for our future — is another one I can’t wrap my brain around. I mean I do not wish Earth ill, but my faith plays such a strong role in that and what I believe about “end times” that it never occurred to me (before coming to NASA) for humans to try to leave Earth and start over or hide out somewhere else. If the sun explodes or a comet strikes Earth killing everyone and/or making Earth unliveable, well, that’s ok because I know where I’ll be. But who am I to say that it’s not part of the “master plan” for humans to visit or relocate to other planets? As someone once explained it to me, the desire to explore is innate to humans. What if people had never crossed the Atlantic Ocean to “discover” the Americas? The parallels between the early explorers on Earth and the desire to explore other planets is quite interesting and one I didn’t realize on my own. But yeah, they had to take everything with them and it was risky but the end result was discovering a new place for people to live. Is that the end result of space missions to other planets? I don’t know but it doesn’t seem bad to try.
Stop and Smell the Space Roses
A co-worker sent a link today to an MSN feature article about 10 inventions tied to NASA. Most of them I was familiar with — Tang, the space pen, materials used in swimsuits and ski boots — but I had never heard of space rose oil. Apparently, in 1998, this perfume company partnered with NASA to fly a rose plant on the space shuttle to see how microgravity would affect the plant’s oils, which are used in perfumes and other fragrance products. What they found was that the rose released an entirely new scent. Without gravity the plant oils were no longer constrained to the stem and a new scent was created.
I started this post all excited about because the space rose scent is used in the perfume “Zen” by Shiseido and I was going to order a bottle to-day! But now I’m not sure if the current “Zen” still uses the space rose note. Several news stories and blogs talked about a new Zen that came out a few years ago, and the Macy’s description of the notes used does not list “space rose.” I’ve emailed the Shiseido people to find out and will post an update if they get back to me.
