Source: Disney downloads
IT'S TIME TO LIGHT THE LIGHTS: The highlight of today was heading to the movie theater to see "The Muppets." We've been looking forward to this movie for MONTHS. CJ and Annanbelle's big bros were both big Muppets fans growing up, and CJ and Annabelle are ready to pick up the torch. :)We went to an early afternoon matinee and it was just us and about a dozen retirees in the theater. Nice.
The movie was AWESOME. Highly entertaining. We laughed, we cried ("The Rainbow Connection" always gets me), we cheered. The other audience members (all retirees), were equally enthusiastic.
Afterward, as we were leaving the theater, CJ was critiquing the movie scene by scene. A woman exiting the theater with us said, "I could just listen to him all day!" to her husband. :)
SPLISH SPLASH: Orion was on our minds again today. Just yesterday, NASA conducted it's seventh splash test into the Hydro Impact Basin at Langley Research Center.
The test video we watched today features three different angles. The last one - a water level shot - was our fave! Per NASA, the test we watched today "was all about the heat shield and how much it would flex when it hits the water at a slightly different angle then during previous drops at during a low-wind swell case." During the Dec. 1 test, there were more than 150 sensors on the test vehicle, recording data during each drop.
After checking out the capsule test, I asked the kids, "What good is a capsule if you have no way to get it to space?" And so, we cued up video from the J-2X Combustion Stability Test, which also took place yesterday, at another NASA facility. This successful first test was an important step forward in development of the upper-stage engine that will carry humans farther into space than ever before. (NASA/SSC)
The kids (and I) just love watching these tests! But what we'd really like to see is the real thing, and that's going to be quite a wait - perhaps 10 years or more for a U.S. return to manned spaceflight.
SAY WHAT?: Today a Facebook friend of mine posted a photo of a yummy looking meal along with the caption, "Hoje o almoço foi assim." Annabelle saw the photo and was keenly interested.
Turns out Carolina reported, "Today lunch was well." It's likley not a 100 percent spot on translation, but that's about what Annabelle and I deduced without a caption in any language!
You just gotta love the Internet. It really makes for so many more 'teachable moments.'
OVER ACHIEVER: With each passing moment, the Mars Science Laboratory gets closer to Mars! Hard to believe a week ago, I was ogling it on the launch pad.
Yesterday, the spacecraft carrying Curiosity was scheduled to have an early trajectory correction maneuver executed but, as it turns out, MSL is flying so straigh and true, this first of six planned course adjustments during its 254-day journey from Earth to Mars has been deemed unncessary. Sweet!
According to Louis D'Amario of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., "This was among the most accurate interplanetary injections ever."
Oh and in case you were wondering, as of 9 a.m. PT Friday, Dec. 2, Curiosity has travelled 10.8 million miles at a rate of 73,800 mph (118,700 kph) relative to the sun. Pretty hard to wrap one's mind around that.
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-371
SEASONS TWEETINGS: You can send a postcard to the crew on the International Space Station, and you don't even need a special stamp. It's free via a portal on the NASA Web site.
CJ and Annabelle chose a postcard with the Orion capsule on its front. On the back CJ typed, "We like the crew and we also like seeing you in the sky! Happy Holidays!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
guess we'll have to go see the Muppets Movie
ReplyDeleteEveryone should see "The Muppets" :)
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