Ad Astra

FLY ON: To the stars, Bruce McCandless. Eighty years on Earth and now to infinity and beyond.

The first NASA astronaut to fly untethered (see above), McCandless said, " May well have been one small step for Neil, but it’s a heck of a big leap for me!”

It was Feb. 7, 1984, when McCandless II became the first “human satellite” when he tested the Manned Maneuvering Unit during STS-41B. 

In the amazing and iconic photo above, McCandless is seen floating against the blackness of space, 320 feet from orbiter Challenger.  He's floating 217 miles (350 km) above Earth!

In the photo, the former U.S. Navy captian McCandless is propelled via 24 small nitrogen-powered thrusters. McCandless was instrumental in developing the Manned Maneuvering Unit he's operating. Pretty freaking awesome.

Countdown Clock

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket is shown atop Pad 39A of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in this artist's concept. Its maiden flight is scheduled for January 2018. Credit: SpaceX

HEAVY DUTY:  We've had our eyes on an upcoming launch for years now, and the T-minus clock is about to start ticking in earnest. SpaceX's Falcon Heavy is set to launch from the Space Coast's historic Pad 39A. That's the same pad from which Apollo 11's astronauts launched to the moon. I was lucky enough to get to visit the old site during the Mars Science Laboratory launch back on Thanksgiving weekend of 2011.

This shot is from standing under the old 39A launch pad. This is one of my favorite photos I've *ever* taken, and I've taken a *lot* of photos.

It's exciting to thing about rockets rumbling to life on that pad once again. 

CJ will tell you a bit more about it all. ... 

The Falcon Heavy rocket is a spacecraft designed at SpaceX scheduled to launch in January of 2018. According to SpaceX's website, when Falcon Heavy lifts off in 2018, it will be the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two. With the ability to lift into orbit over 54 metric tons (119,000 lb)--a mass equivalent to a 737 jetliner loaded with passengers, crew, luggage and fuel--Falcon Heavy can lift more than twice the payload of the next closest operational vehicle, the Delta IV Heavy, at one-third the cost.

The test flight of the Falcon Heavy is planned to carry the Tesla Roadster weighing 2,723 pounds, designed by SpaceX's Elon Musk. The long-term mission of the Falcon Heavy rocket is to bring humans to places such as the moon and Mars.

Recently, Musk, CEO of SpaceX and founder of electric car maker Tesla tweeted photos on Wednesday of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket in a hangar in Florida where it's being prepped for its maiden launch.

Elon Musk ✔@elonmusk

Payload will be my midnight cherry Tesla Roadster playing Space Oddity. Destination is Mars orbit. Will be in deep space for a billion years or so if it doesn’t blow up on ascent.

The Falcon Heavy is pretty much three Falcon 9 rockets strapped together with a second stage added to the top of the center rocket.

The exact launch date has not been announced, but whenever it is, you know we'll be watching!

THREE-DEE: Wednesday afternoon, CJ and Annabelle attended a two-hour class at Living Computer: Museum + Labs. It was called "Designing for 3D Printing." Before attending class, the kids each had to register for a (free) account on TinkerCAD.

The 3D Printing course I took at the Living Computer Museum was mainly about how 3D printers worked and how to make an effective 3D print model that will stand up to gravity and pressure. Our instructor explained that if something on your model is at more than a 70 degree angle and doesn’t have any support, the molten plastic will droop on the bottom due to gravity. He told us that one way to prevent this is to keep your models upright and compact or use temporary supports that can be removed later. If you have very thin attachments that sit on the ground, you can add a thin layer of material called a “Raft” to expand the area of contact and keep your project more stable, minimizing flaws.

Near the end of the workshop, we used a 3D print model-making program called TinkerCAD (www.tinkercad.com). TinkerCAD uses simple blocks and shapes that can be put together in many ways to make almost anything you could want to 3D print. Our instructor walked us through many tutorials on the TinkerCAD website. Between that and students' questions, in the end, we were left with only a 30-minute period to work on our custom 3D models. I was very disappointed that we spent so much time talking and not much working, as it really took away the part of the workshop that was advertised (the model making). I felt bad for our instructor, as he was trying to keep up with numerous kids who wouldn’t stop asking questions or having temper tantrums about not knowing what to do (despite being told by both the website tutorial and the instructor what comes next). The part where we did get to work was fun, but as previously mentioned it was rather short-lived.

So, while there was valuable information, you can see the kids were left wanting a LOT more personal hands on time. The good news is, thanks to TinkerCAD, they can play around with the 3D modeling on their own time.  

They get to pick up their creations next week some time. Hopefully, I'll remember to post photos.

Needled

GOING UP: This afternoon, we headed to Seattle Center to continue our holiday tradition of visiting the greatest Santa in the galaxy, Space Needle Santa!

It was a busy place today, and we had to wait in line for about a half hour before getting on an elevator to ride up to the observation deck.

While waiting, we checked out graphics along the way. I rather liked all of the rocket references in relation to the building of the Space Needle.

Oh, and here's a hot of the outside. The Needle is looking different these days, while undergoing a MAJOR renovation. More on that later. 

Christian beat us to the Needle and headed up before us. He texted us an update that there was no Santa to be found on the Observation Deck. Wait ... what?! No Santa!?

He said he was told Santa was on the lower level. 

Since we were still on the lower level, I asked a customer service rep where we could find Santa. She told me that Santa had some trouble in the workshop today and wasn't on site. 

Hold it ... what?! NO SANTA?! You've got to be kidding.

Sure enough, we spied his empty sleigh just beyond the elevators. 

How sad.

I told her we would not be there today if we knew there was no Santa. She said we could come back tomorrow for Santa photos. Yeah, easier said than done. 

Have I mentioned it's $22 apiece for entrance to the Space Needle? Ouch.

Since the money was already spent and we were steps from the elevator, of course we went up.

It's so different up top right now. Plywood and exposed beams everywhere, multiple sections shut off ... it's clearly a construction zone. 

We got a table on the south side and enjoyed a view of downtown. And a view of a woman who spent 20 minutes taking god knows how many selfies from who knows how many angles. I get catching a shot of yourself with that awesome view behind you but EGAD, she and her selfie stick went on and on and on (blocking traffic all the while, by the way). It was narcissism on parade. How about you turn around and actually look at the view instead of yourself and a tiny version of it on your phone?

 Our visit coincided with sunset (4:20 today, in case you're wondering). Oh, so early!

 Downtown, the stadium district and our mountain were looking lovely.

There are so many new buildings in South Lake Union since our last Space Needle visit, last December.

We couldn't see anything on the north side of the Needle, as it was blocked off by plywood and more. 

Holiday Highlights

SILVER BELLS: City sidewalks, busy sidewalks, dressed in holiday style. ...

Today was our 'let's do downtown Seattle' holiday experience. First stop: The 'gingerbread village.'

In years past, it has been at the Sheraton, and has been absolutely magical.

This year it was not at the Sheraton, and, frankly, I found it considerably less magical for many reasons. One, it was awkwardly spread out in the lobby of an awkward small mall-like space. The lighting was terrible, the acoustics awful, and the flow was really bad. Basically, not even close to being the experience that it was in the Sheraton. Also, there didn't seem to be nearly as many entries this year. Over all, super disappointing, to me.

The works that were on display were fanciful and fun to look at. The one below celebrated old Seattle.

Loved the buildings on piers and a sailing ship was well done.

This colorful creation featured the city's seafront. The Great Wheel actually spun, and we loved the octopus!

Obviously, this construct was a celebration of Ivar's, a Seattle seafood icon. 

 The kids, next to a display denoting the number of gummies in the show.

This one featured the landmark Smith Tower prominently up above. Down below, it told the story of underground Seattle and the Great Seattle Fire of 1889.

 The entry below was about the future of Seattle. Not the Bertha tunnel under the city.

A close up of one section of the display shows Berta's boring head broken off, and gold coins, representing the money spent on the project, dangle.

Here's what CJ had to say about the gingerbread display. ...

Every year since 1992, the JDRF Northwest Chapter has hosted the Gingerbread Village event at City Centre in downtown Seattle. The Gingerbread Village events feature (mostly) gingerbread structures and landscapes designed by youths with Type 1 diabetes. This year, the theme of the gingerbread structures seemed to be the future, evidenced by the presence of things like flying cars and signs marked "2080".

The structures in City Centre were at disparate locations within, located near the entrances/exits. In contrast to last year's event, there wasn't a particular "line" you had to walk through to see the structures. Around the floor of City Centre, there were various persons in safety jackets and elf hats, handing out free candy canes. The candy canes were delicious.

One of the structures seemed to show a concept of Seattle's skyline circa 2080, judging by the presence of a Seahawk logo and a sign with the year "2080" on it. The gingerbread skyscrapers resembled typical depictions of "futuristic" skyscraper designs. Another structure seemed to show a giant Santa (with clothes not colored red), presumably not made of gingerbread (it would almost certainly crumble that way).

After the gingerbread show, we decided to hop over to the Fairmount Olympic Hotel to see their tree and the Teddy Bear Suite. 

The grand tree in their lobby was a beauty!

It's a local product, a placard informed.

Up on the second floor, we checked out the Teddy Bear Suite. The fireplace at the top of this blog post is from that attraction. 

The display is just a standard sized motel room, so not huge. But the little details are so great. I loved these 'grape' ornaments.

I'll let Annabelle tell you a bit about it. ...

The Teddy Bear Suite is an annual exhibition at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel in downtown Seattle. The suite is on the 2^nd floor and consists of 3 rooms, each filled with teddy bears and large ornaments. The 1^st room you walk into has a large Christmas tree and one of those 24-hour Yule Log channels on a TV. There are many bright lights which, although pretty, have a habit of shining directly into your eyes. A small room on the right of that is roped off, but pictures are allowed. The smaller room is lit dark purple, with a large mirror surrounded by stuffed toys. The final room in the suite has a large framed bed with an enormous pile of teddy bears on it. There are a few windows in the room tied with large feather boas and another TV across from the bed. The Teddy Bear Suite is the same every year, and there usually isn’t much wait. It’s pretty adorable, so if you’re in the area around December, make sure to stop by!

While traveling downtown we saw interesting sights, including the ground right next to this top heavy skyscraper being excavated.

We hope the building doesn't topple!

We also drove right by the Amazon biodomes. They're darn near complete. Workers looked to be putting plants inside when we drove by.

We also headed up north, to Swanson's Nursery, a north Ballard haunt of ours for years now.

Historically, they've had camels on display during December, but this year, Curley and Moe were nowhere to be found. 

 The resident reindeer were still around.

Then we had to go find the little red sleigh the kids have sat in for the past 10 Decembers. You can tell it was a tight fit this year. 

And next, we wandered over to where they have their annual model railroad display. But wait, what's this?!?!?!

Be still my Jedi heart, it had a Star War theme!!!!

I spotted the Ewoks right away.

And our beloved princess, or should I say General? - Leia 

 Chewie looked like he was having fun.

 Threepio hitched a ride on a camel!

 Jabba has something super special to put under the tree - Han in Carbonite!

 This little scene was tucked down low. Obviously a meeting of the Dark Side.

 The Jawas were looking to trade some junk.

 Rey and Kylo Ren were readying to square off for an epic battle.

 Luke found a furry friend.

 Oh no, an Imperial droid!

 Yoda had a nice little cabin.

 And he had time to give some light saber lessons.

 Sand Raiders were on site.

 And Stormtroopers charged through the forest.

 On a bridge, Obiwan and Darth Vader dueled.

All in all, what a wonderful surprise. It was definitely my favorite stop today!