Skip to main content

A Splendid Endeavour!

OK, I stole the title from NASA Television and their video from YouTube, but this is a landmark event—the last night launch of the Space Shuttle…and I'm sad.

It wouldn't mean so much to me if I had never visited Johnson Space Center, Kennedy Space Center, or stumbled by chance upon the John C. Stennis Space Center while traveling through Mississippi.

It certainly wouldn't mean as much if I hadn't taken the Cape Canaveral: Then and Now historical tour of the (now) Kennedy Space Center. The original launch sites for the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space programs are all still there, including the most sombering Launch Pad 34 where the crew of Apollo 1 perished.

It wouldn't have meant as much if we hadn't gotten a bit “lost” on the massive grounds in my little truck and the nice facility security guard pointing us in the right direction and sending us on our way but not without handing us a couple of large coins commemorating STS-117 and STS-119 (STS-117 being the current launch, the missions were out of numerical order at that time).

It wouldn't meant as much to me if I hadn't taken the tour of the crawlerway, the LC 39 Observation Gantry, the massive Vehicle Assembly Building, and a viewing area of Launch Pad 39B complete with the Space Shuttle prepared for launch within the next couple of days. Which reminds me that I have photos, I just need to remember where I “filed” them.

It wouldn't mean so much if we hadn't driven 60 miles one way to watch a late night launch. We had to do this two nights in a row because the launch was scrubbed 30 seconds before takeoff the first night. This was before the beginning of the iPhone. I had my trusty Mac and network card with me to keep tabs on the launch status the whole time. Yes, I'm an über nerd.

It wouldn't mean so much if I hadn't turned around last year one evening in March to see the Shuttle gracefully arcing up into the sky as seen from the roof of our N.H.R.A. merchandise trailer while in Gainesville, Florida.


And there's so much more that I don't remember right off-hand I'm sure, like waiting on the jetty at Port Canaveral for a day launch that was eventually scrubbed, scrubbed again, then rescheduled. And watching a launch on the television while being trapped in West Yellowstone for the summer—it was a lot like ”being there” having ”been there” before.

But I'm sad now and will be even more so when the very last Shuttle mission takes off, thus closing another chapter of the United States in Space. Now what?


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Wire Wrap Cuff Bracelet Preview

Well, "finished" in the wirework sense. I still need to give it a patina...yukky pic, but I was so excited to be finished with the wire part... I call this my " Three Tutorial Bracelet ". When I first saw the wire-wrapped bracelets made by Julie Sigmund of Jewlie Beads my jaw hit the floor! I was perusing the Lampwork Etc. galleries last September/October and saw her bracelets: WOW! They were "just my style" made with mixed copper and silver and highlighted with a lampwork bead. What could be better? Why... a tutorial or pattern, of course! Eventually she wrote up the tutorial and put it up for sale on Etsy. This is the bracelet that she wrote the tutorial for: To purchase your own copy of Julie's tutorial go to JewlieBeads.etsy.com and look in her shop for the " Tutorial for Wire Wrapped Cuff Bracelet ". As you can see, I did not use a lampwork bead focal for my bracelet. It isn't that I don't have one, I had one all ready to go,...

Jewelry Class In-a-Box

Jewelry Class In-a-Box! I have always been crafty and love to work with my hands. I love needle arts, crochet is my favorite and the first of the arts that I learned at the tender age of 6. I started beading just four short years ago. I was looking for something to do for "extra income", something fun and crafty. I found my passion at the local Joann Craft and Fabrics in Kissimmee, Florida, in a package called Jewelry Class in-a-Box . Hey, it was on sale—something like 40 or 50% off. Couldn't pass THAT up! I had really not made any type of beaded item before. I had done some on-loom bead weaving and had made a couple of crochet necklaces from yarn but had never created a strung beaded object so it was all new to me. The kit came with glass pearls, crystals, bugle beads, metal beads, beading wire, crimps, clasps, head 7 eye pins, earring findings, a bead board, and some round-nose-type pliers. I followed the written instructions carefully and was...

What is the Legal Definition of ‘Ice Cream’?

Image via Wikipedia I never thought I would have to ask that question. I was at the grocery store. I wanted ice cream. Not just any ice cream, chocolate ice cream. The suggestion had been put into my head during a recent Twitter conversation—I'm easily influenced when it comes to dessert foods. The ice cream selection at the local supermarket is unbelievable…it's huge! I don't buy ice cream very often but I do know that I can just pass the frozen yogurt, ‘lite’, soy, rice, non-dairy, sorbet, and otherwise marked package right by. If I'm going to eat ice cream, I want ice cream, full-fat and full-flavor. This particular grocery store didn't carry my favorite (and trusted) brand, Blue Bunny , so I was forced to find an alternative. Pint-sized premiums like Ben & Jerrys , Haagen Dazs , or Starbucks were out. A pint is [almost] too much to eat in one sitting but since any amount left in a pint is "too little to save, I might as well eat it all…"...