Very early on the morning of November 16th, I stood with my camera waiting once again for this rocket to go. This was my second trip to Florida to see this launch. Back in August the first expedition was thwarted by the tiny hydrogen molecule and its unwillingness to behave under unbelievable cryogenic conditions.…
Read the rest “Artemis I Launch”
Near the Kennedy Space Center there is a wildlife refuge. At one point a canal was cut through to allow the solid rocket boosters from the Space Shuttle to be hauled back to the assembly building. It also happens to be a natural location for manatee to hang out.…
Read the rest “Manatee in the Wild”
Book Cover: Spacecraft 2000 to 2100 AD
The year is 1978 and I’m at school. My school was a long building with 12 classrooms along a central media center/library. Each classroom was open to the media center delineated by the occasional bookshelf and the absence of desks.…
Read the rest “Spacecraft 2000 to 2100 AD”
NASA announced that they are going to leave SLS on the launchpad to stand up to Nicole this week. After the storm passes they will inspect the behemoth and decide whether to start the countdown to return to the barn. There are two windows next week, both offering 2-hours to get the candle lit in the wee hours of Wednesday and Saturday.…
Read the rest “Artemis After the Rain”
I love one new feature on my phone: “Report and Delete Junk”. I do not know if it is a feature of the OS alone or something from my carrier.
Especially on election day where my phone is beeping every hour with yet another political spam message coming from a phone number (not a short code).…
Read the rest “Report and Delete”
NASA is monitoring Nicole, yet another storm that could mess with launch plans. At this point they are in a wait-and-see mode while keeping employee safe.
Update: Launch pushed back to Wednesday morning.
I generally do not write about politics but I wanted to share a recent experience. I was reviewing a sample ballot ahead of tomorrow’s election. On the ballot is “Proposition A” which proposes to limit the “term of office” to “three years” and limit a person to “no more than nine years”.…
Read the rest “Study Before the Election”
Artemis I is on the move again, heading out to the pad for next week’s launch attempt.
Artemis I, back on the pad
Thirty-five years ago I made my first trip to Barcelona. I visited and climbed the stairs of The Sagrada Familia Basilica. I was surprised to see the construction cranes. At first i assumed it was a renovation project on this 105 year old church — but no.…
Read the rest “Sagrada Familia Plan to Plan”
Just over two weeks to go until the next Artemis I launch attempt. The next critical checkpoint will be the rollout to the pad this Friday morning just after midnight Eastern Time.
Having lived in Florida for 13 years, I think I know the state pretty well. When it comes to the list of things to do and see there are basically three categories: stuff I’ve done, stuff I heard of but never done, and stuff that I never new was a thing.…
Read the rest “Bioluminescent Dinoflagellates and Comb Jellies by Kayak”
I got bit again by the “attwifi – Passpoint” policy/bug/feature again. I was sitting in the airport terminal trying to use my phone but was not able to get any Internet connection. I know AT&T coverage can be spotty in places where there are people but this was no data at all even though I had a few bars.…
Read the rest “AT&T WiFi Passpoint”
On my most recent trip to Vancouver with a couple friends we went out on a 4-hour excursion with Prince of Whales out of Granville Island in search of whales. We eventually stumbled upon a solitary humpback juvenile while on our way back to port.…
Read the rest “Orcas” 
