Roster Move

SAYONARA: What's wrong with this picture (above)? We're sitting at Safeco, watching a Mariners' game, and Ichiro's mug is on the big screen and his name is in the starting line up. But wait ... what's that he's wearing? A (dreaded/hated) damn YANKEES uniform?!?

The end of an era.

Little did I know when I bought tickets a couple of days ago for last night's game that we'd be seeing the end of an era. It was announced yesterday that Ichiro Suzuki  had been traded, to the Yankees, who happened to the Mariners' opponent that evening. Convenient, I'll have to give them that.

And so, with some degree of disbelief, we watched Ichiro warm up with his Yankee teammates. 

Wearing number 31, as 51 belongs to the one and only former Yankee Bernie Williams.

During his first at bat, the crowd gave Ichiro a thunderous ovation. You could tell he was grateful. He tipped his cap to the crowd ... 

and he bowed to the crowd behind home plate and then toward the outfield. 

And then, of course, he got a base hit in his first at bat for the Yankees. And he managed to steal second. 

And he caught a fly ball to right for the last out, as the Ms lost. 

So long, Ichiro, and thanks for the memories. I look forward to him wearing a Mariners uniform again - in Cooperstown. 

GOOD NEWS:  A NASA press release this afternoon announced that the Mars Odyssey spacecraft has successfully adjusted its orbital location to be in a better position to provide prompt confirmation of the August landing of the Curiosity rover. 

NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft passes above Mars' south pole in this artist's concept illustration. The spacecraft has been orbiting Mars since October 24, 2001.

Per the press release, "NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft carrying Curiosity can send limited information directly to Earth as it enters Mars' atmosphere. Before the landing, Earth will set below the Martian horizon from the descending spacecraft's perspective, ending that direct route of communication. Odyssey will help to speed up the indirect communication process." 

The reason this is such good news is that about a week ago, NASA reported that Odyssey, which originally was planned to provide a near-real-time communication link with Curiosity, had entered safe mode July 11. That mean something was wrong with it, and the mode would have affected MSL communication operations. 

Odyssey was successful re-position was accomplished by completing a spacecraft thruster burn  lasting about six seconds today. Odyssey is now operating normally, and confirmation of Curiosity's landing is expected to reach Earth at about 10:31 p.m. PDT on Aug. 5 (early Aug. 6, EDT and Universal Time), as originally planned. Hooray!

FUN WITH FOOD: This morning, I sat in on a pair of NASA Educators Online Network webinars. Interestingly, both of them involved food to some degree. 


The first one was "Classroom Lunacy: Studying the Moon." While there were a number of great resources and educational activities shared. For instance, check out this super comprehensive Exploring the Moon Educator Guide:  http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/Exploring.the.Moon.html 


But the activity I know CeeJ and Bee will be over the moon about involves using Oreos to illustrate the phases of the moon. Sweet!

The second webinar was "Food for Thought," which is apparently one of NASA's newer curricula. Here are some handy links I received while 'attending' that one. When the kids get home, we'll definitely be doing some of the suggested activities. 

NASA Food For Thought Website: http://education.ssc.nasa.gov/foodforthought.asp

Space Food Systems Laboratory: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/slsd/about/divisions/hefd/facilities/space-food.html

Space Food and Nutrition Curriculum Guide: 

http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/143163main_Space.Food.and.Nutrition.pdf

HOT DOG: I'm a wiener! I've been entering Liberty Space's t-shirt giveaway contest daily now for about a week and today was my lucky day. Can't wait to wear my new shirt!


Oh, in case you're wondering, according to a press release dated July 17, Liberty Space "is a complete commercial crew space system that includes a composite spacecraft, abort system, launch vehicle and ground and mission operations, all of which were designed from inception to meet NASA's human-rating requirements."