Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Why "Stars Fell in Alabama"

One of my goals while in AL was to figure out why the heck their license plates say "Stars Fell in Alabama." So today I found this on Alabama's official state website:

"In 2002 the phrase 'Stars Fell on Alabama' began to appear on license plates. It refers to the night of November 12, 1833, when a fantastic meteor shower seen across the Southeast caused this night to be known as 'the night stars fell on Alabama.' The shower created such great excitement across the state that it became a part of Alabama folklore and for years was used to date events. A century later it inspired a song and book."

Those lovely lyrics recall another inspired song about the heavens...written by our friend Peter. "It's time....time to go..."

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Space videos from MARS

Mars Desert Research StationOur space friend Ryan Kobrick has been posting video updates from his team at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah online. If you want to know what the future of space exploration looks like (including a preview of who will be there doing the exploring), check out the videos.

http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=Rykoby

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Falling into Orbit

Here is a funny little space factoid Craig Damlo made for Yuri's Night.
I laugh out loud every time I read it...


Falling into Orbit

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has this to say about flying: "There is an art to flying, or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Clearly, it is this second part—the missing—that provides the difficulties." Although mankind may never fully learn to fly, we have become very proficient at falling. And on April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first man to miss the ground.

That is all there is to space travel—falling, continuously falling. In the simplest of terms, a space launch works like this: take an object—in this case a space capsule—and throw it toward the horizon; if you throw it far enough, it simply will miss the ground as it falls back to Earth, and will enter an orbit around the planet. This may be, in fact, the greatest benefit of living on a round planet—well, that and the stability and strength of a sphere.

Redesign!

Hooray! Google upgraded the tools available for our blog! We have new features like our picture, feeds from my Space Culture blog, and a link to our online picture galleries.

Let me know what you do/don't like about the design!

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Hi from LA

So I made it to Lower Alabama. I'm pretty much in the boonies. I'll explore a little this coming weekend and let you know if I find anything interesting. So far the people that live here talk about hunting and mudding as their leisure activities. You know those don't appeal to me. I have heard there is a JCPenney's somewhere close, so maybe I'll find that on Saturday.
My class is going well. There's another space geek in my group, but he thinks that 40 people walked on the Moon, so I don't know how much of a space geek he truly is. I thought, at first, that he was including the people that orbited, but that's still less than 30.
So the instructors tried to scare us yesterday. They told us about the 15 page paper we have to write in order to graduate. Woo-hoo! Only 15 pages--that's easy compared to my thesis. ...But then today we learned all about military writing techniques and how you're supposed to keep everything as simple and short as possible. That's a little contradictory to a 15 page report. Maybe the 15 pages includes title page, references, and the like? Apparently we'll find out more on Friday.
My room is okay. It's like living in McKay hall again, without roommates, though. I have a kitchenette with a stove top, a microwave, a mini-fridge, sink, and a coffee pot. There is a pot, a pan, and some dishes. But so far I've made it work. I had spagetti tonight and chicken strips with rices and veggies yesterday. I also have a nice sized closet, and a sofa/TV area. The bed is "walled off." The wall doesn't go all the way up to the ceiling. And I have a nice bathroom with a medicine cabinet.
I'll try to keep you updated on my adventures in LA. (Someone please check on Tim and make sure he eats.)

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Post Holiday

We made it! After two weeks filled with family and friends, we've settled back into regular life...for a few days. So far, the new year has consisted mainly of us having a blast with our fancy new fridge and spending gift cards like crazy!

We went to see Children of Men last weekend. It was a great movie! Set in a future where all women are infertile, it showed how life could be in a closed-border, nationalistic, terrorist-filled country. Guess again: it's the UK! Don't worry, their Homeland Security looks just as scary as ours in the movie.

Jen leaves for her 3-month stay in Alabama in a few weeks :-( I can come visit her during her safety training class at Ft. Rucker, but only on the weekend. That's a looong drive for a weekend! If you're around the area (which nothing is around that area), be sure to give Jen a call! She's sure to get lonely in LA ("Lower Alabama").

As for me, I'll be deep into creating the education program for the World Space Expo and managing Sky Fire Lab. Both have picked up steam and are moving fast! Last week I shipped our first order from the online store :-) Hooray for garage-based inventory management!

This weekend we're movin' and shakin' around the house as we get a bunch of little projects done before Jen leaves. We're putting up shelves in closets and putting office stuff back in the office. A bunch of stuff has been living in the guest room as it had to move so my massive desk could come in! You may remember the 6ft. x 7 ft. "L" desk and hutch that was in the Port Orange House. Ok, maybe you don't. In any case, it's a BIG desk. If Sniper hadn't come over to help me figure out how to get it in, I would still have it in the garage (HINT: it's too big to come through the door and too heavy to think about while you're carrying it).

Happy holiday weekend! Jen doesn't work on Monday so neither will I. I love getting all federal holidays off :-)

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Yeeee-Haw! Dixie Stampede!

Did I mention that we went to see Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede in Orlando while Bill, Lynn, and Dave were in town? Well, we did. And it was really neat! They did a whole Christmas-themed rodeo show (North Pole vs. South Pole) and put in a touching little manger scene that dropped right out of the ceiling! Jen was squealing at the herds of real head-butting sheep and cute baby goats.

Other cute animals included the racing pigs and the chickens being chased by kids from the audience. The kids ran toward the chickens to scare them into running across the finish line. I don't think any of those kids had ever seen a real chicken before in their lives. I'm not sure who was more scared of whom! At any rate, the chickens seemed to know what to do (they're pros) and made it across the line. Oh the memories! (I had a pet chicken as a child.)

I like these dinner show things :-) There's lots more in Orlando... just give us a good reason to go see one!