Afros and Astronauts

EVENING WITH THE ASTRONAUTS: This evening we spent a couple of interesting hours in the Charles Simonyi Space Gallery at The Museum of Flight attending a "Luminaries of Space" event, part of the on-going Seattle Science Festival.

Per the promo on The Museum of Flight's Web site, the evening was meant to illuminate the inspiring topic that we are on the brink of a new era in space exploration, pioneered by spacecraft developed and launched by private companies. It did that and more.

The evening's speakers included two astronauts from the Shuttle era. One was Bonnie Dunbar, a veteran of five space flights, with more than 1,200 hours in space. Her talk was very personal and biographical. She shared she was a second generation immigrant. Her grandparents, of the Dunbar clan, emigrated from Scotland with one way tickets. Dunbar called them great explorers. The Scottish immigrants homesteaded in Condon, Ore. After Bonnie's parents married, they pitched a tent on unimproved land in Outlook, WA., and Bonnie spent her first four years living in a sheep herder's shed.

She talked about growing up on a farm and the sense of responsibility and community. She eventually wound up in the materials engineering program at UW, where even back in the '60s, they were working on engineering the shuttle of the future. Her speech was inspiring in that she came from such humble, small town roots and, thanks to following her dreams and guidance from good mentors, went on to achieve great things.

Dunbar ended her presentation with a quote from Robert Goddard, who she said is a hero of hers. Goddard, an American, dreamed of building a spacecraft to fly to Mars, and he is credited with having built the world's first liquid-fueled rocket. A visionary, Goddard was often ostracized, once by a scathing New York Times editorial in 1920. The day after the launch of Apollo 11 - and 49 years after its editorial mocking Goddard, the NYT published an apology, admitting its 1920 editorial was wrong.

Goddard's quote Dunbar used to conclude was, "It has often proved true that the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow." 

Also on the bill was George "Pinky" Nelson. With a background in astronomy, Nelson is a veteran of three Shuttle missions, totaling 411 hours in space, 10 hours of which were spent doing extra-vehicular activities (space walking!).  He was an engaging speaker, sharing his lift off, touch down, space walking and other experiences with the crowd, who soaked up every word. These days, Nelson is program director for Western Washington University's Science, Math & Technology education department. 

Nelson led the group in a mind boggling math exercise that helped make it clear just how many solar systems containing Earth like planets might be out there. He also reminded us that "those nations that stop exploring disappear," and ended his presentation with a quote from an e.e. cummings poem (1x1): "Listen, there's a hell of a good universe next door. Let's go!" 

We also heard from Mark Sirangelo, an executive from Sierra Nevada Space Systems, a private company currently developing a winged and piloted orbital commercial spacecraft. Their Dream Chaser launches vertically and lands horizontally (like Shuttle). It's set to be operational by 2015. 

Chris Lewicki of Planetary Resources (you know, that well-funded company that is planning to mine the asteroids) was the night's emcee. He did a fine job, and he also gave a 10-minute talk largely about the intriguing asteroids and why "Space Rocks!" Lewicki told us that there will be a Curiosity landing party at the Museum of Flight come August. We'll be staying tuned for more details on that, to be sure!

In addition to the speakers, there was some live entertainment. We got to hear three numbers from "The Little Prince" performed by a talented baritone from Seattle Opera.

We were also treated to a performance by Seattle Aerial Arts. Their aerialists dangled in air with the greatest of ease.

All in all, it was a FABULOUS evening. 

POLKA DOT, POLKA DOT, POLKA DOT, AFRO: We finally got around to seeing "the number one movie in the world" (at least that's what an ad on Fandango says). That movie being "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted."

To be honest, I don't think I've seen the first two "Madagascar" movies (or if I did see them, they weren't memorable). It wasn't that hard to follow the storyline, amazingly. ;) The first 20 minutes or so of the 1.5 hour movie was a chase scene. After that, things just got weird. How weird? Well, hmm, there was the lemur's love affair with a giant brown bear wearing a tutu and riding a trike. And then there was the scene with the villain, Captain Chantelle DuBois (who looked a little like a cartoonized version of Susan Sarandon) singing in French to four hospitalized police officers whom she tranquilized to arouse them from a coma. Yeah, that was weird.

But who cares what I thought? The seat was comfortable, the popcorn was good and the kids liked it. So there.

In care you're wondering, that pony keg CJ is holding is NOT filled with soda. It's water. I swear.

Oh, and in case you have somehow managed to avoid the earworm up until now, the reason for the heading on this section is this ...


BRICKYARD: After the movie we went to Alderwood Mall. That's right. We went MALLING two days in a row. Ugh. I think we've exceeded our mall total for all of last year in the last 48 hours.

After wandering around a bit (tortuous to me) through the mall, we found the spot where the big LEGO build we learned about yesterday was going on. Mercifully, it was well organized. We checked in with a young man who directed us to a table (one of a dozen plus) where there were bins of LEGOs and instructions for what we were to assemble. Because we were there early on Day 1 of the big build, we were working on the base upon which LEGO Yoda will eventually stand. So, we each had a khaki colored brick to build.

I finished mine post haste, and Annabelle finished shortly thereafter. CJ was a little frustrated. Why? I have no reason - it was a simple, straightforward build and much easier than the builds he did in LEGO class all year long. A LEGO Master Builder (yes, there is such a thing) came over and gave him some words of encouragement, telling him there was no time limit and not to fret. CJ settled down and got his block done.

Here the kids are with their contribution to the project and a mini version of what's being built. The big build one will be about 8-feet tall. For their efforts, CJ and Annabelle were given a slip which we had to take to the new LEGO store in the mall to get a certificate. However, we couldn't set foot in the store as it was so busy they were assigning entrance times and the wait was 2 hours when we were there. I told the kids the LEGOs would certainly still be good next week, after the grand opening hubbub is over.