The Sky is Falling

   Photo: NASA

INCOMING: Nothing like waking up to a headline in the Daily Telegraph that reads
"Russian spacecraft Progress M-27M hurtling towards Earth" and promising coverage via a live blog.

That pretty much let us know that Roscosmos's attempts to get the Russian cargo ship launched yesterday under control had not succeeded as we slept last night.

The Telegraph's story included a link to a Web site where you can track the craft's orbital decay. It predicts it will re-enter Earth's atmosphere on Sunday, May 10, give or take 84 hours.

Multiple articles I read online quoted the head of Roscosmos, Igo Komarov , as saying they were working 'water landing' options this morning. Yeah, sure they are. Sorry, but I'm super skeptical they have any control over the spacecraft any more based on what I've read online from multiple sources.

Meanwhile, European Space Agency director Thomas Reiter said the ESA is tracking the spacecraft so that teams can predict when and where the spacecraft will come down if it cannot be rescued. Re-entry of Progress is normally done over the south Pacific Ocean in order to avoid any debris falling on land. However, not everything will necessarily burn up and if it’s an uncontrolled entry, that could mean fragments falling on land, and whatever's on said land. 

I am old enough to remember when Skylab came raining down. That was the kind of stuff that would keep me awake as a kid. 

Right now, Progress is 160 miles high and travelling at more than 16,000 mph. That altitude is enough below the International Space Station that it won't have to take evasive maneuvers, but some satellites might need to get a move on.

This was Progress mission 59. Three or four Progress cargo ships have been launched every year for several years, on supply missions to the ISS. The success record is good, with just one other complete loss, which came in 2011 when one failed right after launch and crashed near the Mongolia/China border.

SUNNY STROLL: This morning we took the dogs for a walk and delivered a thank you note to a neighbor who gifted us some brand new Mariners-game-giveaway swag in the form of some Kyle Seager jersey shirts.

We met the woman via a great Facebook group/phenomenon we participate in called "Buy Nothing ..." with the ... being whatever your local community is. You can read about it on their Web site: http://buynothingproject.org/

FLOATING:  This afternoon, we headed north and knocked an item of our 'must see' list by stopping at The Root Beer Store in Lynnwood, WA. 

There, they have over 100 different kinds of root beer in bottles, as well as a couple of kinds on tap. They also have dozens of other 'exotic' flavored sodas, from chocolate to cucumber, bacon to Buffalo hot wings (ewwww).  Here's a tiny sampling. Altogether, it's really quite a sight to behold.

We came home with a six pack of some of the ones the piqued the kids' curiosity most. I'll let them share one a day. That will prolong the sugary joyride.