Flight of the Falcon

FIRE BREATHING DRAGON: Our day started at 12:30 a.m., as the household came back to life (computers and televisions on, people and pets up) for the launch of Space Exploration's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft.

The launch was scheduled for 12:44 a.m. our time. I got (back) up at 12:30 to this on my screen:

Helloooo, engine bells!!

We woke the kids up when the countdown clock was under 2 minutes.

At exactly 12:44 a.m.., Falcon 9 fired up! We watched it climb and progress through various launch stages before achieving orbit.

It was fun seeing footage of operators in the SpaceX control room celebrate their company's major milestone.

In a post launch press conference,  SpaceX CEO and Chief Designer Elon Musk said, "There is so much hope riding on that rocket.  When it worked, and Dragon worked, and the solar arrays deployed, people saw their handiwork in space operating as it should.  There was tremendous elation.  For us it is like winning the Super Bowl.”

That said, orbit isn't the ultimate goal of this mission. They still need to approach the International Space Station with enough precision to be snared by its arm, and then dock with the ISS and deliver the cargo on board.

I sure hope it works.

Musk continued, saying, "This mission heralds the dawn of a new era of space exploration, one in which there is a significant commercial space element. It is like the advent of the Internet in the mid-1990s when commercial companies entered what was originally a government endeavor. That move dramatically accelerated the pace of advancement and made the Internet accessible to the mass market. I think we're at a similar inflection point for space. I hope and I believe that this mission will be historic in marking that turning point towards a rapid advancement in space transportation technology."

So what's up next for the mission? In the next 24 hours, Dragon’s sensors and flight systems will be  subjected to a series of rigorous tests to determine if the vehicle is ready to berth with the space station. On May 25, based on the test results, NASA will decide if Dragon will be allowed to attempt berthing with the station. If it's a go, Dragon will approach the ISS, be captured by station’s robotic arm and attached to the station- no easy feat when both the ISS and Dragon are moving around 17,000 MPH.

If the docking is successful, astronauts will open Dragon’s hatch, unload supplies and fill Dragon with return cargo, and then on May 31, after 2 weeks in orbit, Dragon will be detached from the ISS and return to Earth, landing in the Pacific Ocean, west of Southern California.

OUR LITTLE PONIES: We didn't waste much time this morning getting to the day's Most Important Business - putting the finishing touches on the kids' 3-D papercraft ponies.

Though yesterday's pony crafting was long and drawn out, this morning all the pieces literally came together, with the help of a little Elmer's and a hot glue gun.

The kids were both really pleased with their final products (CJ's Derpy Hooves and Annabelle's Fluttershy). The patterns were from artist Kna on Deviant Art.

GEEK OVERDRIVE: Today, the Seattle Science Festival Announced a new event in their Luminaries Series. On Saturday, June 16, a presentation  entitled "Evolution" will feature physicist Stephen Hawking, paleontologist Dr. Jack Horner, and Dr. Leroy Hood, a renowned biologist, inventor and entrepreneur. I bought tickets within about 2 minutes of reading the announcement. Can't wait!

WRITING WORKSHOP: I decided that the kids needed to do some writing today (well, and every day). But today, I was determined they were each going to spend a non stop half hour just writing.

CJ's been noodling a script for an action adventure film involving a heist of treasures from Tut's tomb, so that's what he worked on. Annabelle was feeling completely uninspired, so we talked about some story ideas and she finally decided upon writing about a day from Kirby the dog's perspective. Here's what she came up with ,,,

A Day in the Life of Kirby

There once was a dog named Kirby. She was a small, black brown and white Havanese.

One day, Kirby woke up in the morning, hopped out of bed, ran to the kitchen, and ate breakfast. Today she was going for a long walk. She loved walks. When Kirby was about to go on a walk she got excited!

Kirby's family loved her and she loved them. Then they went on the walk. They went up to the park! Kirby got lots of exercise walking around while Annabelle and C.J. played on the park.

Then they went back home. Annabelle and C.J. played on the computers while Kirby just curled up on the couch and went to sleep. Sooner or later Annabelle an C.J. went to bed too.

So there you have it. Not exactly compelling drama. Rather, very much a slice of life documentary. ;)

I'm not going to share CJ's story yet, because it's still very much a work in progress.

PRACTICE, PRACTICE: This morning and afternoon at home, the kids practiced for their upcoming performances. Here, CJ highlights his lines in the script. In case you were wondering, he's the leader of a school-aged gang of zombies. That's my boy!

CJ went over his lines for his play (with help from Bee and me), and Annabelle practiced her dance (with no help from CJ and me, har har).

Then this afternoon, I took Annabelle to practice at Skin Deep Dance studio on Beacon Hill, while CJ and Christian headed to the U District for CJ's play rehearsal.

Bee and I had a little time to kill before her lesson, so we hit the Beacon Hill branch of the Seattle Library System. That place is always interesting because it's in such a culturally diverse neighborhood and there are books from so many different languages on the shelves.
We found a stack of books to bring home in no time, and then Annabelle busied herself with the toys in the kids section. Eventually, she would up in front on an abacus. She proceeded to ask me, "So how do you use this do to math? ..."

Uh, um, derp ... I drew a complete blank for about 30 seconds. I studied the thing, thought about how I could use it to count, the fact there were 10 beads in each row and then it dawned on me. I managed to rather authoritatively demonstrate how easy it was to add and subtract numbers in the tens, hundreds, thousands and beyond using the beads. Phew.

LO AND BEHOLD: I know what you're thinking. It's been waaaay too long since you've had a mealworm/meal beetle update. Well worry no more. The mealworms are all still alive and kicking and CJ is proud to report that one of his pupas has transformed into a meal beetle. How exciting is that?!??!

Maybe now that we have two beetles in the house, we can stage some meal beetle races or something fun like that!