Plugging Along

THE CIRCLE OF LIFE:  Lookie what we've spied growing in a big pot in our back 'yard.' A sunflower! Actually, we have half a dozen of them, already, still struggling to shake their shells!  It seems like it was only a week or so ago Annabelle pushed the seeds into the potting soil.  

It's hard to believe this sprout will be six feet tall before long. We planted it from a seed harvested from last year's sunflower forest.

DOWNWARD DRAGON:  Don't know what you were doing at 4:37 this morning, but we were standing on our deck, watching and waiting for an International Space Station flyover.  

Normally, we view ISS flyovers during more sleeper friendly hours, but today's flyover was special.  We knew that a little after 4 a.m. our time, the SpaceX Dragon capsule was going to be released from the ISS.  We were hoping to see Dragon trailing the ISS during the flyover.

When I awoke, I was happy to see clear skies, but worried about how bright it was already. Dragon is so small (compared to the ISS), I was afraid we wouldn't be able to see it (we being just Christian and me - I wanted to let the kids sleep since they had testing this morning).

When the ISS appeared overhead, I thought I could see a faint dot off its port side.  Christian saw it, too. At other times, it almost looked like an extra bump on the ISS.  Mission accomplished, we spied the Dragon!

Just a few hours later, the capsule splashed down, in the Pacific Ocean, about 150 miles southwest of Los Angeles. 

On board is over 3,100 pounds of scientific materials, including research on how spaceflight and microgravity affect the aging process and bone health.

Dragon also brought samples for the Osteocytes and Mechanomechano-transduction (Osteo-4) investigation. The investigation is important to help determine how to mitigate the effects of microgravity on the function of osteocytes, the most common cells in bone, during long-duration space missions. 

At the present, Dragon is the only space station resupply spacecraft able to return a significant amount of cargo to Earth. That makes it a rather valuable asset to the U.S. space program, doesn't it?

SHOTS FIRED: We continued our 'shot of confidence' tradition today in preparation for the hours-long test the kids had to take.

This morning's poison? Er, I mean, inspiration? Mountain Dew Sangrita Blast.

CJ, whose head had clearly not seen a brush yet, drank it right down.

Annabelle drank it, too, with a tad less enthusiasm.  "It's ... awful," she declared.  The thumbs up is for having finished it, not a product endorsement. 

Their "Smarter Balanced" state test today was on reading.  Tomorrow is the final test - another math go-round.  

We'll sure be glad when this week's over. This going-to-school-every-day-stuff is cramping our style. ;)