Great Heights

LOOKING UP: An arresting image shared today on social media by NASA GO for Launch caught my attention.

In a view looking up from the floor of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, you can see four levels of new work platforms which have been installed on the north and south sides of High Bay 3. The G-level work platforms were most recently installed, at about the 14th floor level. Below them are the H, J and K level platforms. 

                             Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Per the post, "The G-level work platforms are the fourth of 10 levels of work platforms that will surround and provide access to the NASA's Space Launch System and NASA’s Orion Spacecraft for Exploration Mission 1. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3, including installation of the new work platforms, to prepare for NASA’s journey to Mars."

Exciting developments, to be sure. 

Without a doubt, the iconic VAB is a monument to American ingenuity. At 129,428,000 cubic feet, it's one of the largest buildings in the world by volume. It was built so quickly, when America was in the throes of a space race with the Soviet Union. 

We marveled it from afar when we were at the Cape for the STS-132 launch, shuttle Atlantis' second-to-last trip ever to the International Space Station.

Christian and I are both lucky enough to have been inside the VAB since then.

During the Mars Science Laboratory 'Tweet up" I attended, I was able to tour the facility. It's impossible to capture in a photograph just how massive it is.

This was the view of the VAB from my parking spot!

And below, looking up just before stepping foot inside.

Once inside, I remember snapping several shots thinking, "These aren't going to do it," as far as conveying the size and scale of the building.

 And so, I took a couple of shots before putting the cameras away and just taking it in with my own two eyes. 

 But not before snapping a shot of this lovely vehicle parked inside!

Behold space shuttle Endeavour! Now a museum piece on display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles, Endeavor's first mission was May of 1992, and her final flight was May of 2011 (STS-134, the second-to-last shuttle flight ever).

When he visited the edifice during a SpaceX social media event back in 2015,Christian discovered a "12" or two must work for NASA, given the Seahawks flag inside the VAB. 

Rebuilding

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20142420

LONG GONE: Pardon the interruption, as the saying goes. The last week has involved out of town travel, and turning me into a cyborg.

Yes!!!!!!

Ever since I saw "The Bionic Woman," based on "Cyborg" by Martin Caidin, I've dreamed of having some superior,engineered parts. Fast forward 40 years since Jaime Sommers' antics, and I've joined the club. I have a shiny, brand-new titanium hip. Sweet!

However, unlike a made-for-tv story, it's not exactly all cake and circuses getting a good ol' body part cut out and having a new one inserted. So, I've been working my way back. We appreciate your patience during this 'upgrade.'

FIRST FOTO:  Space exploration fans know that last week, NASA's Juno spacecraft achieved orbit insertion at Jupiter. Today, the first photos from the probe were released!

The image above is made from some of the first images taken by JunoCam after the spacecraft entered orbit around Jupiter on July 5th. 

Happily, the view shows that JunoCam survived its first pass through Jupiter's extreme radiation environment, and that it has begun to collect images of the giant, gaseous planet.

The photo was taken on July 10, when Juno was 2.7 million miles (4.3 million kilometers) from Jupiter on the outbound leg of its initial 53.5-day capture orbit. 

The first high-resolution images of the planet will be taken on August 27, when Juno makes its next close pass to Jupiter.

More information about Juno is online at http://www.nasa.gov/juno and http://missionjuno.swri.edu.