Friday Finally

ARRIVAL: This morning, as planned, the SpaceX Dragon arrived to the International Space Station. It was grappled by European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, with assistance from NASA's Terry Virts. 

Cristoforetti appears eager to open the hatch between Dragon and the ISS, and get at that onboard ISSpresso maker. The ESA posted this photo of Cristoforetti, a Star Trek Voyager fan, this morning.

               ESA - European Space Agency

The caption read, "There's coffee in that nebula. Ehm, I mean... in that #Dragon." The quote is from the Voyager episode "The Cloud," where Captain Janeway, eager to find coffee for herself and her crew, asks the navigator to set a course while jokingly stating, "There's coffee in that nebula."

ReelNASA produces a weekly "Space to Ground" broadcast. The two-minute video does a nice job of summarizing all the activity around the Dragon launch and arrival at the ISS.

A couple of days ago I wrote about the ISSpresso machine that is now on station. Turns out NASA astronaut Don Pettit (of Oregon) helped design special cups that the ISS dwellers will be using to enjoy their espresso.
https://youtu.be/b4tGENRQcWU


Annabelle wanted to know more about Pettit's cup, so we found  video about it on YouTube. The physics involved are fascinating.
https://youtu.be/pk7LcugO3zg


ANOTHER ANGLE: My Twitter and Facebook feed was full of news about new footage of the first stage of the Falcon 9's attempted landing on a barge on Tuesday. It was posted to Reddit, supposedly taken by a GoPro camera. If it hasn't been taken down yet, here's a link to it: 
https://youtu.be/DDF2DQ5rAh0


ALLEY CATS:  Families looking for affordable fun this summer might want to check out KidsBowlFree.com.  Once again, the group is offering free bowling for kids age 15 and younger all summer long. It's as simple as going to KidsBowlFree.com, finding an alley near you, and signing up to receive coupons via email each week.

The KidsBowlFree program is offered by bowling centers to give back to the community and provide a safe, secure, and fun way for kids to spend time this summer.  Eligible children receive two free games a day, all summer long (shoe rental rates do apply, however). 

I signed CJ and Annabelle up. Now, it's just a matter of actually making it to the bowling alley. ....