Friday Fun

ROUGHAGE:  A 'leftover' shot from Wednesday, when we were at Sky Nursery. You can certainly tell what season it is, because you can see a Christmas tree in the distance in the head of cabbage/lettuce(ish)!

It reminds me, I do love me some broccoli, but I have yet to meet a beet I'm thrilled with (nothing personal, Bee). Any great beet recipes out there!? 

STILL ON SATURN: We've been big on Saturn this week, and today was no exception. We fired up the amazing "Eyes on the Solar System" to check in on Cassini. 

I was first introduced to "Eyes on the Solar System" when I was at the Space Coast for the Mars Science Laboratory launch. It's an amazing, powerful tool. It features an interactive simulation of our solar systems, complete with planets and moons and all the NASA spacecraft within.

Here's a view we took of Cassini today. Breathtaking, indeed. 

MANDIBA: We were in the Southcenter Mall, standing next to their Santa display, when we learned Nelson Mandela had died.

I stood in silence, reading the news feeds across a screen, The name didn't mean anything to CJ and Annabelle, unfortunately. Today, we rectified that situation.

For starters, I had them watch the BrainPOP video about apartheid:  http://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/worldhistory/apartheid/

After that, I had them watch a few videos on the Biography channel's Web site. We started with this:
http://www.biography.com/people/nelson-mandela-9397017

NIGHTCAP: Last night, the kid were up way past their bedtime (watching 'The Sound of Music: Live'). Once I realized the 11 o'clock was coming and going, I had them stay up a bit longer to see United Launch Alliance Atlas V Rocket Launch of #NROL39 Payload for the National Reconnaissance Office        

Post by 30th Space Wing (Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.).

Today, a post by former NASA astronaut Mark Kelly reminded me that rocket launches don't always go off like clockwork. In fact, they sometimes go spectacularly wrong. Like on this day in 1957, when NASA's Vanguard tried to answer the Soviet's Sputnik by sending an American satellite into orbit.

There was no code to embed the video, but it's 57 seconds and it's worth following this link to see:
http://youtu.be/zVeFkakURXM

These are a Few of our Favorite Things

SATURN SEMINAR: At 10 a.m. we tuned in to a Ustream webcast to see a panel of Cassini scientists answered questions about Saturn and its rings and moons.

The program featured Dr. Ota Lutz, JPL Education Specialist, moderator, with Dr. Marcia Burton, fields and particles scientist, Dr. Amanda Hendrix, icy moon scientist, and Dr. Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist.
The NASA-JPL photo above is formally known as Image 12. It's more commonly known as Pac-Man! :) It's of the "Death Star" moon of Saturn, Mimas. (Tell me George Lucas hadn't seen that image on the left of Mimas before dreaming up the Death Star!)

The image on the right is a thermal map. Scientists were expecting the moon to be warmest in the middle of the map, as that's the region where the Sun was shining down when the image was made. They also expected the surface to get progressively cooler out away from that spot. But as it turned out, the part that "should" be warm was cool, and the expected cold spots were warm. And the boundaries between the parts were sharp, rather than smooth transitions. And that is why we explore! Computer models and assumptions are often wrong! (If you're interested, there's a very in-depth discussion about the temperatures on Mimas' surfaces on a blog post here: http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2010/2413.html)

Here's CJ's review of the hour long webcast: 

Cassini is an unmanned spacecraft sent to Saturn. Cassini has studied the planet and its many natural satellites since arriving there in 2004, also observing Jupiter, the heliosphere, and testing the theory of relativity. One woman who worked on Cassini's team was Linda Spilker, who worked on NASA projects as early as Voyager.

Titan's lakes are said to possibly have life in them, but we don't know for sure. If Saturn's moons were to disappear, so would Saturn's rings. Saturn casts a shadow on its rings. On one of Saturn's moons, Iapodos, there appears to be a walnut shape. Cassini is not just worked on by NASA, but many other space programs around the world.

That is my pack of some facts about Cassini-Huygens.

As usual, Annabelle took notes mostly in the form of drawings.

While one of the scientists (Dr. Spilker) spoke about her work decades ago on the Voyager program, Annabelle drew this. ...

I love that she included the asteroid belt. :)

And here's her take on the scientists talking about how they share what types of instruments they'd love to have on a spacecraft to the engineers, but then reality, including budget cuts, hit.

And some of the discussion involved the fact that both Cassini and Galileo use Saturn's moon Titan to build up velocity, in a slingshot effect.

POM-POM-POM: Project pom pom continues. Annabelle got in on the action today.

It takes 300 spins around the form. And then you gather it up into a wreath shape, tie it off, and cut the loops. 

Keep doing it, and after awhile, you have a passel of pom poms. Too bad they don't multiply as fast as Tribbles. 

We just might have a finished product to show you tomorrow.

FOR CROWN OR COLONY?:  This afternoon, out of seemingly nowhere, CJ remembered a game he'd played online long ago, "For Crown or Colony?" It's on the Mission US Web site,  "a multimedia project that immerses players in U.S. history content through free interactive games. It's funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

"For Crown or Colony?" puts players in the shoes of Nat Wheeler, a fictional printer’s apprentice in 1770 Boston. Nat encounters Patriots and Loyalists, and tensions escalate and culminate in the Boston Massacre, when "Nat" is forced to choose sides. It's a pretty long 'game,' which is really more of an interactive story. It's a great way to learn more about early American history. 
THE HILLS ARE ALIVE: This evening we gathered around the (electric) fire and watched "The Sound of Music" 'live' on NBC (delayed for we left coasters). 

My hook getting CJ interested was telling him it was a war story, set at the beginning of WWII. It worked. :)

The kids had never seen "These are a Few of My Favorite Things" or "Do-Re-Mi" in context before. 

Gosh, it was fun watching it. Now, of course, I have to show them the classic version starring Julie Andrews. 

Not everyone was a fan of the remake, though. ... 
                                             
Of course, Grumpy Cat doesn't like ANYthing.

North Poles

GIF: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/Hampton University

SATURN STYLE: This time of year there's lots of talk here on Earth about the North Pole. Of course, our chatter centers on elves, toys, reindeer and such. On Saturn, say 'North Pole' and talk turns to the remarkable hexagon found there.

The GIF above is the first of its kind. Using color filters and on views captured by the Cassini spacecraft over a 10-hour period, it shows a complete view of the top of Saturn down to about 70 degrees latitude. The view spans some 20,000 miles (30,000 kilometers) across. 

The predominately blue and pink hexagon pictured is actually a wavy jet stream with 200-mph winds. At its center is an enormous, rotating storm, 

Speaking of Cassini and Saturn, turn in tomorrow morning for a special one-hour program with Cassini scientists. Catch the Webcast here: http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2, starting at 10 a.m. Pacific time . We're hoping that they have time to answer one of the questions CJ & Annabelle submitted by the Dec. 3 deadline. 

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission,  visit http://www.nasa.gov/cassini and http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov.

There's even a kids' page all things Cassini - http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/kids/index.cfm

TIS THE SEASON: All year long he sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake, and so on. This is the one month you can turn the tables on the all-knowing Jolly Old Elf, and stalk him for a change, thanks to NORAD's Santa Tracker.

Annabelle went right for the arcade. "I love this game. I love ALL these games," she declared. There were only four games unveiled so far this month. A new one is introduced every day.

GOOD THING: One of our holiday projects involves pom poms. Lotsa pom poms, of various colors. I recalled that one could make such things out of yarn, rather simply. Where to turn for tutelage? None other than Martha Stewart, of course. ... http://www.marthastewart.com/913926/good-thing-how-make-mini-yarn-pom-poms

Her tutorial was short and simple (way moreso than others I checked out online). While the kids were in math class today, I tried my hand at a few poms. You can rather readily tell which are my first, second and third, I think.

DEPOSIT: We swung by Sky Nursery today and dropped off the kids' nature-related haikus. Hopefully they'll appear in an upcoming Junior Gardener newsletter. 

STABLE GROWS: On Black Friday, a 'new' friend was added to the My Little Pony line at Build-A-Bear Workshop: Fluttershy!

Naturally, since I deplore malls, we weren't going anywhere near a mall on Black Friday, or any day that weekend, to be sure. We decided to make today the day, since Alderwood Mall is just a bit farther north than the kids' Wednesday school.

We were the store's first customers at a couple minutes after 10, and the kids set about acquiring their new pony right away.  The store's recently undergone a major overhaul, and one of the new features was a computer that allows kids to add their own sound to the sound chips. CJ and Annabelle picked a snippet of Fluttershy speak for their chip.

 Of course, the pony has to have a heart, so that was another add on (or stuff in, as the case may be),

After Fluttershy was stuffed, the whole stable of ponies got a spa day.

Fluttershy is now safely home, happy to be with her friends, furry and otherwise.

Phantom and Falcon

TUESDAY MATINEE: After Annabelle finished reading "The Phantom Tollbooth" a couple of weeks ago, we discovered there was an old (as in 1969 old) movie based on the book. Fortunately, a remastered edition is available on DVD, and part of our library's collection. We got on the hold list and today it because available, so we went to collect it, stat!

It took us three tries to get a player to recognize the DVD. It was a no-go on the XBox, and the first laptop we tried didn't like it at all, either. I popped into my PC, and it worked. So, the kids spent the happily watching the mostly animated film.

I have to admit, when I heard the first strains of the first song, I cringed. It reminded me of memorable-for-the-wrong-reasons music of the 1960s.  I found it on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMVyA4YfZYo

I'm glad we stuck it out for those four minutes and nine seconds, though. The movie was terrific. 

The animated sequences, which were the bulk of the movie, by far, were produced by Chuck Jones, a familiar name to the golden era of Bugs Bunny cartoons. I certainly heard a number of familiar voices from the Bugs & friends cartoons in the "Phantom" movie. 

The storyline was engaging and entertaining, as we followed Milo through a magical word containing the dueling kindgoms of Dictionopolis (where words ruled) and Digitopolis (where numbers were all that mattered).

Seeing the movie makes me want to read the book (published in 1961). I have no idea how I missed it during my childhood. I thought I read every book in the Lake Shore Elementary library, and how could Mrs. Lumpkin NOT have this one on her shelves?

And speaking of Mrs. Lumpkin, I wasn't sure if her name had the 'p' in it or not, so I Googled it and was delighted to discover this Vancouver Public Schools video, made last year when she turned 100! How great is that?!

http://youtu.be/kZnwvGGbRBA

ROAR OF THUNDER: The third time was the charm for SpaceX's SES-8 satellite launch, its first geostationary transfer mission.

Falcon 9 with SES-8 on board - PHOTO CREDIT — SPACEX

A Falcon 9 rocket got off the pad super quickly and with a tremendous roar - they certainly had that launch mic-ed well!  Today's launch was SpaceX's first commercial one from its pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. There should be plenty more where it came from, as SpaceX has nearly 50 launches on manifest, 60 percent of which are for commercial customers. 

GARDENING: We've long since cleaned out our beds, but sowing and reaping is still on our minds. We visited Magnolia Garden Center this afternoon (where a customer would have loved to buy the ugly Christmas sweater right off CJ's torso), and the kids read their monthly Junior Gardener's club newsletter from Sky Nursery, in Shoreline. 

The newsletter included a funny "Mad-Libs" type fill-in-the-word page, which the kids had fun with, as well as an announcement about a haiku contest. Kids were asked to submit haikus about gardening, wildlife or nature. 

Here's what Annabelle came up with ...

Plants and animals
Living in harmony
Wonderful nature

And here's CJ's

Watering my tree
you grew to be so tall
I see your beauty 

Hawks and Reindeer

REINDEER GAMES:  Every December since moving to Seattle, we have made our way to Swanson's Nursery to check out their lovely holiday displays. The number one attraction is the live animals - a pair of reindeer and a BIG camel. 

Dasher and Blitzen are the reindeer on site. 

We missed their 'official' feeding time, but one of the reindeer seemed content to chew on hay nonetheless.

Their antlers were completely clear of any velvet. On the info board adjacent to their pen, we learned that reindeer eat their antlers after shedding them. Interesting, but ewwwwwwwwww. 

Speaking of antlers, did you know that reindeer and caribou are the only deer where males, females and even calves produce antlers. 

As they were walking around, we noticed a pronounced clicking sound. It's produced by a tendon in their ankle. It rubs over a bone, causing the sound. The noise helps the reindeer keep track of one another while they're walking around in low-visibility conditions.  

In a pen next to the reindeer is a solitary camel. Can you guess his name from this photo of his coif?

It's Curley!

He's a dromedary, also known as an Arabian camel. 

Just five years old, he towers over CJ and Annabelle.

Another attraction at Swansons is their decorated sleighs. The kids have been sliding into it for years now. 

Here's a blast from the past ... 

And here's today's shot. 

Oh, and of course we couldn't leave without checking out the train display. It's always fun looking at the details, like this guy in cuffs in the county jail!

DINOS GO HOME: With November over, so ends Dinovember, a fun, nightly occurrence in our home. 

We had lots of fun with it, and are sorry to see Dinovember go. We can't wait to see them all next year!

TO THE MOON: Sunday morning we gathered 'round the computer to watch coverage of a Chinese launch. Not just any launch, it's a landing moon mission.

We watched a Long March 3B rocket carrying the Chang’e-3 probe. The launch took place at the LC2 Launch Complex at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.
No humans on board this time, but it's a soft-landing moon mission, with rover Yutu, or "Jade Rabbit," on board.                   
                                                          
The lander weighs 3,780 kg, and is equipped with a radioisotope thermoelectric generator to power it during its three-month mission. It is equipped with real time video transmission capabilities. I hope we get to see some live footage. It's also designed to dig and perform analysis of soil samples.

MOM'S WHEREABOUTS: Over the weekend we also followed news regarding India's Mars Orbiter Mission, or MOM.  There was a big 'point of no return' development on Saturday. The spacecraft broke free of Earth orbit and is on its way to Mars. Here's the Indian Space Resources Organisation's post about the development.  

Exciting stuff for India and all space exploration fans!

GO HAWKS: Monday Night Football came to Seattle this week, and the Seahawks did NOT disappoint. The whole town seemed to be buzzing about the game, and there were two plus hours of pre-game coverage on ESPN.

We were excited to see our neighborhood on the screen at one point. Wave at the camera, Magnolia!