Crafting and Cooking

MODEL CITIZENS:  Yesterday the kids were supposed to be up north, at their weekly classes in Shoreline. However, the entire district was closed down due to a police action, so we went with Plan B, which turned out to be spending several hours putting together a rather complicated papercraft project.

Specifically, the kids built a model of NASA's NuSTAR telescope. (The kids had received the kits the day before, at the American Astronomical Society conference we had the pleasure of attending.) Right now NuSTAR is using telescopes to focus light in the high energy X-ray region of the electromagnetic spectrum. During its two-year mission, it will map selected regions of the sky, taking a census of collapsed stars and black holes, map material in young supernovas, probe cosmic ray origins, and more.

The kit's instructions warned us it was for ages 11 and up, and should take 3 hours-plus to complete. They weren't kidding!

The first step involved cutting out four long, thin strips and 11 pieces that would help connect them.

It involved lots and lots of cutting and folding. That would become the pattern for the rest of the project. So. Much. Cutting. And. Folding.

We took a couple of quick breaks (for instance, to clean the fish tank and to walk the dogs), but mostly the kids worked it right up until dinner time. 

There were some frustrations along the way, but we only had to resort to praying to the Flying Spaghetti Monster (as drawn by Annabelle) once, when trying to insert six tabs on the bottom of a cylinder through the top housing of the Spacecraft Bus.

Fortunately, just before dinner time, the kids finished, and were quite proud of their hard work and final products.

The telescope looks pretty darn impressive with its mast deployed.

BIRTHDAY BOYS:  January 8 is always a bit of a Deal in our house, as it's the birthday of David Bowie, Stephen Hawking, and Elvis Presley. (It's also the birthday of Kim Jong Un, but let's not talk about that. ... )

This morning, we watched a short video about how Stephen Hawking has given voice to the great heights humanity can achieve. Remarkable, considering Hawking must rely on a computer to speak. 

In a NASA video, Eddie Redmayne, who plays Professor Hawking in the film “The Theory of Everything,” explains the inspirational relationship between Professor Hawking and NASA’s mission and programs.


Every Jan. 8, the kids look forward to me breaking out the Elvis-centric cookbook, "Are You Hungry Tonight?"

We decided on a favorite, peanut butter and banana sandwiches for lunch.

The kids did most of the work (and Annabelle has a little frying pan burn to prove it). But I think she'd say it was worth it.

I think CJ was a little nervous The King was going to try to steal his sandwich.

They each got to pick out something out of the cookbook for dinner, too. CJ wanted Elvis' homemade mac and cheese, while Annabelle was more adventurous, opting to try Chicken a la King, the latter served with toast points, because that's what the recipe called for. It cracked me up. Much nostalgia. :)

The food was actually quite delicious and definitely not very good for us.  The cookbook suggested we listen to "King of the Whole Wide World" (from "Kid Galahad") while eating the Chicken a la King, so we did. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBicfhWxiAQ

One thing led to another, and of course we would up listening to several Elvis songs. I stopped after this one, because I don't think it gets any better.

Written by Walter Earl Brown, the song was made famous by Elvis Presley, who recorded it in June of 1968, two months after Martin Luther King's assassination. It was an amazing end to Elvis' 1968 'comeback special.'

GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN: Big news from Mars today: The littler rover that could has climbed a mountain.

No, we're not talking about MSL/Curiosity, we're talking about Opportunity, launched 11 years ago, with an anticipated mission length of three months. Talk about an over achiever!

Here's a panoramic photo Opportunity took atop the peak named Summit Lithology, where it sits at an elevation of 1380 meters overlooking the Endeavour crater, which is about 14 miles in diameter. 

How cool is that?