We did a little unpacking, had dinner, gave Kirby lots of attention, and went to bed about two hours before the fireworks were shot off the top of the Space Needle. The noise did wake me up, though.
New Year's Day dawned with blue skies, so we took Kirby to a neighborhood park and she and the kids romped around for a good hour.
MOON WATCH: Sunday afternoon, about 1:30, we started monitoring the progress of GRAIL B, a craft launched on Sept. 10 with its twin, GRAIL A, for the moon. Together, solar-powered GRAIL A and B will fly in tandem orbits, measuring the moon's gravity field in more detail than ever before. It's expected the data
will answer questions about the moon and give scientists a better understanding of how Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system formed.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Unfortunately, NASA TV wasn't covering the arrival-to-orbit event live. However, a Tweet from @NASA_Eyes let me know we could watch it go down via the Eyes on the Solar System interface that I had the pleasure of seeing demoed at the Mars Science Laboratory Tweetup last November. Boy, are we glad for that Tweet. It was a remarkable way to watch!
We had a myriad of choices of vantage points, and put two different views on our monitors. "We're like Mission Control!" Annabelle declared.
After a few minutes, we discovered we could view the event in 3D! So, I dug out the 3D glasses we were given at the Tweetup, and when Annabelle put them on, her jaw dropped.
"I can hold the moon!" she exclaimed.
We watched GRAIL B creep closer toward the moon and a bit after 2 p.m., it achieved its lunar orbit. Per NASA's press release on the milestone,
Sweet!"During GRAIL's science mission, the two spacecraft will transmit radio signals precisely defining the distance between them. As they fly over areas of greater and lesser gravity caused by visible features such as mountains and craters, and masses hidden beneath the lunar surface, the distance between the two spacecraft will change slightly.
Scientists will translate this information into a high-resolution map of the moon's gravitational field. The data will allow scientists to understand what goes on below the lunar surface. This information will increase knowledge of how Earth and its rocky neighbors in the inner solar system developed into the diverse worlds we see today."
THIS AND THAT: We cracked open the dusty math books today. The kids completed a rather longish assignment with 100 percent accuracy, which was great. We also FINALLY got around to putting together a great triceratops 3d puzzle the kids were given months ago. Annabelle was very pleased with how it turned out.
We also took on a baking project today - home made Cheez-Its(R). CJ's favorite food in the world might be Cheez-It(s) and so when someone posted a recipe on Facebook last night, I felt compelled to try it. It couldn't have been much simpler - just five ingredients (grated sharp cheddar cheese, salt, cayenne, butter, flour).
CJ was an eager participant in cutting the pseudo-Cheez-Its out.
While Rick, Annabelle and I found them delicious, CJ was non plussed. Apparently he'll accept no substitutes when it comes to Cheez-Its.
FURRY PATIENT: Yesterday morning I noticed Kirby's right eye was red and inflamed. Assuming it wasn't from her partying to heartily on New Year's Eve, I kept an eye on it. When it was still red this morning, I called the vet and we took her in to be checked out.
Visiting the office gave the kids a chance to learn about all sorts of stuff, like dog and cat anatomy and parasites.
I am happy to report Kirby was a Model Citizen at the vet's. She was very polite and quiet and compliant and the vet and technician loved her for it.
JUMPIN' JUPITER: Last night astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson Tweeted, "This night & next: Seeking Jupiter and want to find it soon? It's a fist's width away from the half-full moon." Upon reading this, we three ran outside, spotted the moon to our south, held our fists in the air, and just as he promised, Jupiter was glowing brightly to the moon's east - a fist's width away. Talk about an easy way to stargaze!
AUTHORS: Last night, the kids were combing a Wiki about Minecraft and came across a dead end. There was no info about leggings - a kind of armor - in the game. When CJ discovered that he/they could actually author an entry, he got really excited. They jumped at the chance. They took turns typing. When Annabelle was keyboarding away, she reminded CJ, "You need to make sure I get my punctuation right, make sure I get full sentences or not, make sure I'm talking about leggings!"
They worked on it for about a half hour and did a nice job, listing the different types of leggings, how you craft them and why you'd want them. They even uploaded a screen shot of leather leggings. With great pride, they published it and CJ was happy to get some kind of badge or points for his efforts.
This morning, they went back to view their Wiki and ... it was gone! In its place was a re-direct to the category 'armor,' and there was a completely crappy, one sentence 'wiki' about armor, with multiple spelling and grammar mistakes. The kids were pretty upset. Oh, the agony and the ecstasy of wikis. I told them that's just the nature of a document anyone can contribute to or edit. It's great when competent people contribute, and it's awful when some MORON goes in and wrecks it. But it is what it is. I was glad I'd taken a photo of their work last night. :)
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