Meanwhile, on the NASA Education beat, Marshall Space Flight Center writer Heather Smith has a new behind-the-scenes view for all of us space enthusiasts who cannot get enough of the goings-on inside the almighty still-18-billion-dollars-strong agency.
I just like mentioning that number occasionally, because lately, some people have taken "Shuttle Program Ending" to mean "The Sky Is Falling on Western Civilization." Not even close, sports fans. And, the final two (maybe three?) Shuttle launches will likely be the most heavily attended of the entire era.
So please participate in the astronaut discussions and events! Shuttle Discovery STS-133 will head to the International Space Station in November, and Heather's Taking Up Space group is hosting a Q&A with the newest shuttle crew in a live ISS downlink next month. Vote for questions, and then watch live on NASA Television!
Heather is on an amazing team on the "education beat" who are always keeping us posted on great projects, such as students running experiments on weightless parabolic flights, the Clickable Space Suit, the Dream Rocket and even NASA's musical group, The Chromatics.
Their new Taking Up Space blog on the NASA Wiki, says Heather:
"...Will have stories about people just like you – and sometimes stories about people who used to be just like you: the engineers, scientists, astronauts and many others who work at NASA. Sometimes the stories will just be about cool things going on at NASA. Occasionally I may tell you about something going on at NASA that you may want to get involved in. And I hope as you read about some of the great things other students are doing at NASA, that you'll share some of your cool NASA experiences with me too!"
The TUS folks have also been reporting on the undersea NEEMO (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations), Glenn Research Center's SLOPE (Simulated Lunar Operations), Space Cookies, and the much-anticipated Robonaut.
You can keep up with all Taking Up Space updates at the main blog or their @NASAblogTUS twitter feed!
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