Launch Fever

Image: NASA

EYES ON LC 39A: Not sure what was on your computer screen most of the day, but on mine I had six live feeds from the Space Coast. Three were cameras trained (at different angles) on Atlantis on the launch pad, two were NASA audio and video communications channels and the last was a live weather map (boo, weather! the launch might be scrubbed because of it).

That's right, we're officially launch bonkers this - the final - go round.

In other browser windows, I was checking NASA-related Twitter feeds for the latest (these were the best source of up to the minute news), as well as checking Facebook for updates, monitoring STS-135 launch group, and the updates of Facebook friends on the ground in FLA.

One of my friends - the space shuttle cookie delivery specialist - was kind enough to send me more photos today of the mini shuttles' voyage to the mothership. First, the shuttle enjoyed being nestled in a basket lunch at Kennedy Space Center.Then, my friend took the mini shuttle on a tour out to near the launchpad so that it could get close to the Real Deal (you can see the shadowy outline of Atlantis in the distance).Nice!

FACE TIME: This morning I remembered that (gasp!) we hadn't uploaded the kids' mugshots to the STS-135 mission page, so their images could travel into low earth orbit on this final mission. We had to fix that, pronto! So, I had the kids take photos of one another, and then they each opened and edited (cropped, corrected color, etc.) their own portraits.
The next step was uploading them to the NASA site. They each did that on their own (with a bit of prompting from me) successfully... So now they're ready for liftoff!

CUSTOM SHUTTLES: I thought the kids would enjoy making their own space shuttles, so I drew them a template and they each cut out two (a top and bottom). They used the shuttle models we have as inspirations for their design. and we used paper towel rolls in the middle for the shuttle's body, to give it shape.PAID TO PLAY: We got a call a couple of days ago inviting Annabelle to another Microsoft Playtest. Sure, sign us up!

So, we headed to Redmond today and did our thing, which I can't tell you anything about due to Serious Legal Documents we signed before participating. I will say that I encourage anyone in the area to sign up to be a Playtest participant. The gratuities are generous and it's fun. Here's Bee strolling the MS campus, complimentary can of Coke in hand, following her workout. :)