Giant Leap For Womankind

This morning saw the penultimate voyage of Discovery to the International Space Station. Some tweeters enjoying the ground-shake at Kennedy said Neil Armstrong attended the launch and happily posed with many bystanders for photographs.

There were a few glitches in pre-dawn preparations, and tiny spots of fog loomed, but never posed a serious threat, so the veteran Space Shuttle launched as planned! Another beautiful combustive drama in the darkness!

After this, only one trip remains for each shuttle in the fleet.

Yamazaki, Wilson, and Metcalf-Lindenberger

With the launch of three female crew members on STS-131, a new space record has been set! Three women have flown together before, but this time, they will join a female on the ISS, putting four women in orbit simultaneously.

Ironically, NASA Space Operations didn't realize a record was to be set and had to have it pointed out to them by reporters.

JAXA's Naoko Yamazaki (40), and NASA's Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger (34) and Stephanie Wilson (43) will join astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson (40), who reached the ISS on the Russian Soyuz TMA-18 mission this past week.

The first three ladies will spend 13 days in space, and Dyson is scheduled for a six-month stay aboard the space station as part of Expedition 23.

Dyson, who also flew on STS-118

A few other fun points of trivia...

Metcalf-Lindenburger is the first alumnus of Space Camp to actually go into space! She attended the program at age 14 after being inspired by Krista McAuliffe.

Dyson was the first astronaut to be born after Apollo 11, with her birth coming 25 days after Armstrong stepped on the moon. So far no other Summer of '69 babies in space... (next closest is Karen Nyberg, born in October 1969).

Yamazaki's husband is something of a rarity in Japan, having quit his ISS flight controller's job to support his wife's career and care for their young daughter.

Now that's a real man. Progress, I call it! ;)

MoonSpring!

Happy Spring! Yes, it's that time of year again, when spring cleaning is upon us. I generally open all the doors and windows while I re-arrange the furniture and go all berserk with the vacuum. Next up will be starting the mower, riding around in the sunshine and showing those new weeds who's boss around here.

Sounds like a lot of effort, but at this point in the year, I am just so relieved I've seen the last of any possible SNOW, it's rather a jubilant affair.


In this state of mind, I realized my blog has been kinda heavy lately. I don't shy away from grim or reflective topics when they arise, but given all the gloomy news surrounding the national budget these days, it just suddenly seemed like I shouldn't add to the collective funk.

So, in honor of spring, I'm keeping it light in April! I'd like for this to be a fun place to visit to read up on space issues, not always money or politics. My theme for the month will be space novelties, and all the silly, charming or even bewildering things we derive from space travel and space exploration...!

So, here's Leonard Nimoy getting slammed by a neurotic muppet.

See? Imagine if there had been no space program. Things like Star Trek and Pigs in Space may never have existed.

(Could have been worse. I could have embedded the SwineTrek skit where C-3PO tap dances and Mark Hamill sings.)

Thy Congressman

Well here's a new twist... I actually received a letter FROM my Congressman.

I've voted, rallied and/or written letters to Senators and Representatives over the years in nearly every state in which I've lived. For the first time, I have gotten a response -- a form letter written by an aide and signed by the elected, no doubt, but an interesting development nonetheless.

I wrote to lend support to maintenance of NASA as a whole, though not because I have anything against the private industry angle. My worries revolve mostly around the speed with which this is all happening.


A year ago, rumors flew that "Obama May Tear Down Wall Between NASA And Pentagon" (had to go hunting for that link again!). Now, the Pentagon seems to have been left out of the White House + NASA loop in terms of swift project cancellations. The Air Force Under Secretary for Space Programs told a Senate subcommittee that retiring the shuttle and canceling Ares may force Pratt & Whitney to double the price of rocket engines in the face of decreasing demand and related rising costs.

Other unforeseen consequences on Pentagon Space Programs? We don't yet know. And we're speedily risking an awful lot of jobs and resources without knowing the far-reaching future ramifications.

Of course, politicians in states like mine where large space and/or research centers reside are not difficult to convince. They are all too willing to agree, and here's hoping I've added my one voice to many in the rising throng.

Happy April Fool's Day

Careful what you believe today...