Spaced Out

Image Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
SPACE CASES: A number of space-related activities were on our to do list today. First up, we tuned in to NASA TV to see if the asteroid buzzing by Earth today (2005 YU55) was still keeping its distance. Fortunately, it did. :) NASA now has a (first ever!) video of the asteroid. It's highly pixelated and only six looping frames, but it's an interesting look, nonetheless!

While on NASA TV, we also watched (taped) footage of the Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity being lifted (safely inside its clamshell) atop an Atlas V rocket. Pretty amazing to think that in just two weeks, I'll be down in Florida to watch the MSL skyrocket toward Mars as part of a NASA Tweetup!

After the launch pad footage, we stayed tuned into NASA TV for a live broadcast from the International Space Station. Mike Fossum, Commander of Expedition 29, was answering questions from Earthling school children. They asked great questions, including about the importance of exercise for ISS inhabitants so that muscles don't atrophy and what types of experiments the astronauts are conducting.

It was fun reminding the kids that just a couple of days ago, the NASA astronaut they were watching on TV this morning took a photo of Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa holding a laptop with a screen displaying the poster bearing the kids' names (as well as a few dozen space-loving friends). How cool is that!? CJ and Annabelle both said, "Thank you, Mr. Mike!" as they listened to him talk today.

Image credit: NASA/Mike Fossum

Just after noon, we started turned our attention to the Internet and live video stream from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. On the launch pad was a Russian Zenit rocket carrying the Phobos-Grunt sample-return spacecraft. The spacecraft was targeted for Mars' smallest moon (Phobos) and we learned today that grunt means "soil" or "land" in Russian, hence the spacecraft's name. The mission was designed to retrieve samples from the far-away moon and return them to Earth. There are high hopes for the mission, as it represents the first Russian interplanetary mission since the failed Mars 96 mission in 1996.

I have to say, there were some crazy sounds before, during and after the launch. There was robotic howling and groaning straight out of a sci-fi thriller, and underneath it all was a repeating pa-pum pa-pum pa-pum that sounded like a heartbeat.

By our clock, the rocket actually lifted off a minute or two early, and the kids and I weren't smack dab in front of my computer screen when it started. However, the second we heard that unmistakable rocket roar, all three of us went RUNNING for the computer desk. It was like a Pavlovian response. ;)

It was a beautiful launch - the rocket cleared the pad quickly and blazed into the night sky. (If you're so inclined, here's a link to launch footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4P0L6NUV98&feature=youtu.be. FYI, the actual rocket fire doesn't happen until about the 4 minute mark, though, so fast forward if you're looking for that.)

Imagine our surprise tonight when my Twitter feed started showing reports of trouble with the mission and news that the spacecraft is stuck in orbit. According to Universe Today, 2.5 hours after launch, the first burn should have put the spacecraft into an higher orbit around Earth, and a second burn should have occurred just over 2 hours later, sending the spacecraft on its way to Mars. Neither of these burns occurred. It isn't yet clear whether the problem is with flight computer or flight hardware. In either case, it's a huge bummer, obviously.

We have read that there is a three day window of opportunity to hopefully get the mission back on track and trigger the burns. We'll be watching and rooting for the Russians.

GIVE ME LIBERTY: Our history lesson today ended up being a couple episodes from a cartoon series called "Liberty's Kids." I'd never heard of it before we found the DVDs at a local library branch a couple weeks ago. According to the show's Web site (http://libertyskids.com/), the animated series aims "to provide 7-12 year olds with a fresh and exciting experience of the extraordinary period of 1773 to 1789 in American history." Stories are presented "through the eyes of two young apprentice reporters," Sarah, a British girl fresh from England, and James, a 15-year-old apprentice, who "sees things from a cocky colonist's perspective."

The first episode we watched today was about the Tea Party. (No, not THAT Tea Party - the original one, involving actual tea leaves and Boston Harbor.) The second episode was all about Ben Franklin and how he helped shape early America.

The kids were pretty engaged by the show, and are looking forward to watching more. My favorite part was hearing Walter Cronkite as the voice of Ben Franklin.

CIVIC DUTY: This afternoon, we popped over to Ballard to put a couple of completed ballots in a collection box. I have to say, I almost didn't put them in because when we arrived, a couple of guys driving an Enterprise rental truck had the side of the box open and were messing with it. They didn't look very official like! Despite the misgivings, I had Annabelle put our ballots in and we'll hope for the best. Election results are just starting to trickle in. I certainly won't miss the campaign ads.

DRIP DROP: We tackled our science class homework today. It was fun. The assignment involved dripping a drop of water on several different types of fabric and recording what happened with the water droplet. Did it just sit there, did it quickly get absorbed or was the result somewhere in between?

In case you're wondering, no the kids didn't drop water on the the plates of Honeycombs. That was just part of their breakfast.

LITTLE RED PIZZA: Knowing we were going to make pizza for dinner tonight, when I saw "The Little Red Hen (Makes a Pizza)" on the shelves at the Ballard library today, I grabbed it straight away.

We read it this afternoon and it was a fun retelling of the familiar story. Afterward, we got down to the business of making our own pizza. First, we read the recipe assembled the ingredients. I got a bit nervous when I found out I was out of the bread flour it called for. The obvious research question for us became "What's the difference between all purpose flour and bread flour?" Thanks to the magical Internets, we learned it's about the amount of protein or gluten in the flour. Bread flour has about 12 to 14 percent protein, which produces a chewier bread. All purpose flour is typically in the 10 to 12 percent range. Cake flour has even less. Articles we read said our pizza dough would be OK with the regular flour. Phew - crisis averted.

I had the kids read the recipe and follow the directions, all the way from feeding the yeast to dumping the whole mess into the Kitchenaid bowl and letting the dough hook do its work. We let the dough rise for a couple of hours, then the kids punched it down (yes, with clean hands).

The kids were both thrilled with the final product.