Twinkle, Twinkle

LIT!: Thursday evening we ventured down to the south shore of Lake Washington to check out the spectacle that is "Clam Lights."

Sponsored by Ivar's, a Puget Sound restaurant chain famous for its clam chowder, the light show at Gene Coulon Park in Renton was downright dazzling.

We walked a waterfront trail decked out in colorful bulbs.

I can say without hesitation, none of us had ever seen Christmas Clams before. :)

We walked the waterfront sidewalk, about a half mile, and then took the long loop out on the piers over the water. It was brisk, but a beautiful night. In addition to the lights on land, we saw lots of stars and even an International Space Station pass overhead. 

CRUDE COVERS: Recently we 'had' to get new cell phones. We didn't really want to, but we did want to change plans, and the new place basically forced us to lease phones for 'free.' 

I suppose free is fine, but if you drop it, it's not your phone you're breaking, it's someone else's. And that's no good. I ordered the kids new protective phone cases, pronto, but until those could arrive, I asked them to make some temporary ones. 

Enter a padded Amazon envelope and some duct tape, and this fit the bill, at least for a day.

WILD WIND: Have you ever wondered what Martian wind sounds like? 
Well, wonder no more, as we Earthlings can now hear it for the first time ever, thanks to NASA's InSight!

This is *so* cool! 

APPLIED: For the past couple of days, CJ has been writing an essay as part of his application to  participate in the Washington Aerospace Scholars program. Offered by The Museum of Flight in partnership with the University of Washington, it's a two-part program for high school sophomores and juniors focused on the history and future exploration of space and topics in Earth and Space Science.

The first phase of the program is an online distance learning course about aerospace. It provides scholars the opportunity to earn five UW college credits.

Phase two is a multi-day residency at The Museum of Flight and other locations, where students work with STEM professionals, NASA scientists, university students, and STEM educators to plan a realistic space mission.

He should know in March whether or not he was accepted.

History Lesson

MARTIANS: Look - here we are on Mars!

Well, at least in name.

In the photo above, an arrow points to two tiny microchips contain the names of more than 2.4 million people who signed up to fly on InSight.

An even more important fact about the photo above is that it demonstrates that an arm on InSight is working! That's important, because the arm is going to be used to pick up and lower science instruments onto Mars' surface. 

"Today we can see the first glimpses of our workspace," Bruce Banerdt, the mission's principal investigator at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said in a press release. "By early next week, we'll be imaging it in finer detail and creating a full mosaic."

We're looking forward to the photos!


SOME SALMON: Yesterday, an email from the Library of Congress helped us learn about Salmon P. Chase.

[Portrait of Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase, officer of the United States government]. Brady’s National Photographic Portrait Galleries, photographer. [Between 1860 and 1865]. Civil War Glass Negatives and Related Prints. Prints & Photographs Division

The remarkable American is someone who should be more widely known, as it turns out. Annabelle can tell you a bit about him. ... 

Salmon P. Chase was elected to the supreme court in 1864 by none other than Abraham Lincoln, whom shared Chase's passion for abolishing slavery. 

He was the a leader for the abolitionist movement in the 1840s and was a major part of the creation of the Free Soil party, which was against bringing slaves into the territories.

At the 1860 Republican convention, Salmon Chase convinced those supporting him to cast decisive votes for Abraham Lincoln, which caused Chase to have to leave his job in the current senate... so he could become Secretary of State for Lincoln.

He drafted the first two clauses of the 14th Amendment, which gave citizenship to the recently freed slaves and granted them the benefits that came with it.

Finally, Salmon Chase was part of the Supreme Court during the impeachment trial and acquittal of Andrew Johnson, where he served until he died.

And following are a few factoids from CJ. ...

1. Salmon P. Chase defended multiple slaves on trial in court cases in Ohio during the 1840s. An example of Chase defending a slave in court was when Chase defended escaped slave Samuel Watson in court in 1845.
2. Chase served as Governor of Ohio from 1855 to 1859, becoming the first Republican to hold the office. In addition, Chase founded Ohio's Republican Party.
3. Chase was the Secretary of the Treasury during Abraham Lincoln's presidency.
4. Chase was the drafter of the two clauses at the beginning of the Fourteenth Amendment, which extended citizenship to everybody naturalized or born in the United States.

In a letter to the Colored People’s Educational Monument Association, Chase asserted:

Our national experience has demonstrated that public order reposes most securely on the broad basis of universal suffrage. It has proved, also, that universal suffrage is the surest broad basis of universal guarantee and most powerful stimulus of individual, social, and political progress. May it not prove, moreover, in that work of re-organization which now engages the thoughts of all patriotic men, that universal suffrage is the best reconciler of the most comprehensive lenity with the most perfect public security and the most speedy and certain revival of general prosperity?

Letter from Hon. Salmon P. Chase, Chief Justice of the United States. Wakefield, R.I., August 16, 1865. [To Williams Syphax and J. F. Cook, Committee]. In Celebration by the Colored People’s Educational Monument Association in Memory of Abraham Lincoln on the Fourth of July, 1865…. Washington, D.C.: McGill & Witherow, printers 1865. African American Perspectives: Materials Selected from the Rare Book Collection. Rare Book and Special Collections Division

Salmon was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Lincoln, and went on to serve as Chief Justice of the court before his death in 1873.

The Library of Congress has an extensive collection of documents and images related to Chase, including this Letter from Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase to Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, March 4. March 4, 1865. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/pin2204/

The letter references the fact that Chief Justice Chase was sending Mrs. Lincoln the Bible kissed by President Lincoln on taking the oath of office during his second inauguration.

MR GRINCH: Random fun with Wal-Mart merchandise ...

On the Waterfront

COOL SCHOOL: Yesterday, we went on a neat-o field trip down to Des Moines (about a half hour south and west of our daily 'campus.' Our destination was the Marine Science and Technology Center. It's not just on the waterfront, it's actually on piers above the water!

The center is usually only open to the public (for free!) on Saturdays, but we were part of a small, special class - just seven students. Lucky us!

Below is a view of the back of the lab and classroom building, from further out on the pier.

The view from our classroom window was extraordinary! The building further out the pier is the center's aquarium.

We learned lots about what happens at the marine center, as well as about marine mammals, in general.

CJ can tell you a bit more about that ... 

On December 5th, 2018, I participated in an exercise where I, along with two others, had to hypothesize the cause of death of two marine mammals (a sea lion and a toothless whale) based on their skeletons.

First, we were shown the skeleton (hung from the building's ceiling) of the sea lion, and asked to hypothesize as to the creature's cause of death (COD.) Rather quickly, my group noticed that a large section of the otter's ribcage (on both sides) was missing, so we suspected that it was bitten in that area by an orca (or other large, toothed creature.) Eventually, we were told that the sea lion was killed by an orca, but using blunt force. This is known because of the testimonies of multiple witnesses.

Afterwards, we were tasked with investigating the potential COD of a whale, again, judging by a skeleton hanging from the ceiling. For the most part, the skeleton seemed to lack (visible) signs of injury, and we were stumped. Eventually, we were informed that the whale's COD is actually unknown, though there are a number of hypothesizes as to what killed the whale (including drowning, malnourishment, disease, injury, or some combination thereof.)

Later, in our classroom, we were tasked with reviewing short informative papers related to the death of an orca in the Seattle area in February 2012. Different students were handed different papers, and asked to infer information from the papers. I was assigned the role of a "pathologist," meaning I studied diseases (parasites, bacteria, viruses, fungi) found in the orca's corpse. I discovered that a parasite was present in the orca's brain, which, by the time the orca's corpse was found, had turned to liquid. I was under the belief that the parasite caused brain damage, resulting in the death of the orca. Eventually, it was revealed to us that while the exact COD of the orca was unknown, most guesses involved blunt force trauma to the orca's head, which would result in its death.  

 The whale skeleton was most impressive!

His baleen almost looked like a mustache. 

Can you spot the vertebrae that are fused together? Scientists believe the whale's arthritis might have been a contributing factor in its death. They speculate the fused bones might have made it hard for this whale to lift its head to breathe.

Following, Annabelle tells a bit more about the center. 

Highline College MaST (Marine Science and Technology) Center is a rather small facility located on the coastline in Des Moines. The building isn't very flashy or obvious from the outside, but once you step inside you'll be greeted by dozens of extremely well-preserved skeletons of many marine mammals. In fact, these skeletons were part of our activity later that day. These line the main hallway, which offshoots into multiple classrooms and laboratories, only one of which we entered.

This building actually stands on a pier over Puget Sound, and further down said pier is the center's own small aquarium. The aquarium has many species of fish native to the Northwest, including a Wolf Eel and a Giant Pacific Octopus. While (as mentioned before) somewhat puny in size, it's definitely worth visiting. The MaST Center is open to the public on Saturdays from 10 AM to 2 PM and runs almost entirely on donations, so please pitch in what you can!

After the class, we visited the aquarium. It's small, but there are many creatures to check out. 

 Moon jellyfish are always entrancing.

 And sea pens are fascinating!

 I thought this purple starfish looked like he was saluting.

Casper is the resident Pacific octopus.

There are special events at MaST throughout the year. We'll definitely be going back there.

Season's Greetings

HAPPY HOLIDAYS:  Monday we knocked a couple of  stops off the holiday 'to do' list.

First, we hit Swanson's Nursery. It's in northwest Seattle. A lovely nursery, and every Christmas they have lots of beautiful plants, live critters, and more. 

We stopped by the reindeer exhibit first. 

 It was feeding time, and the reindeer were enjoying their roughage.

 Christian noticed one of the two reindeer's antlers were actually crossed over one another.

 We stopped by the koi pond near Swanson's cafe. The fish were looking healthy.

We sought out the model railroad display. This year's theme was the Pacific Northwest.  Naturally, that included Puget Sound and a ferry.

 There was a picturesque lighthouse. 

 And Yoda was living in a log cabin.

 The Space Needle was a focal point, for sure. 

After Swanson's we spent about an hour in a nearby Value Village buying things we probably didn't really need. From there, we stopped into Chuck's - a favorite stop for snacks, pints and visiting with friends. When we stopped in, we were going to check to see what night Santa was going to be at Chuck's this December. But guess what?  SANTA WAS AT CHUCK'S THERE AND THEN!!!

How lucky were we? 

Here and Gone

This series of images taken by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft shows Bennu in one full rotation from a distance of around 50 miles (80 km). The spacecraft’s PolyCam camera obtained the thirty-six 2.2-millisecond frames over a period of four hours and 18 minutes.

Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/University of Arizona

ARRIVAL: Since September of 2016, we've been waiting for this day - the arrival of a NASA mission to asteroid Bennu.

We put our names on board the mission, (OSIRIS-REx) a first of its kind. Not only will a probe be landing on an asteroid, but it will be sampling its 'soil' and returning that sample to Earth!

The probe traveled for more than two years and over two billion kilometers, 

OSIRIS-REx is an acronym for NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorerspacecraft. The spacecraft will spend almost a year surveying the asteroid with five scientific instruments. The observations will result in the selection of a location that is safe and scientifically interesting to collect a sample. Plans call for OSIRIS-REx to return the sample to Earth in September 2023.


DEPARTURE: This morning, I watched a launch of a SpaceX rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base. It was unlike any other launch I've ever witnessed, as a friend was onboard. 

James Eberling was a fellow space and sports geek. We 'met' online via numerous other space-y friends. 

James was a firecracker. I loved talking sports with him! He was so competitive! And he was my go-to guy when I saw a plane I couldn't ID. James could always tell me all about it.

Unfortunately, James' body wasn't as robust as his spirit. He left this Earth at 36. His family made sure to see that he soared in the afterlife. Today, part of James launched on a SpaceX flight! He's on a cube sat(ellite) that should be in orbit for about four years. As an added bonus, his grandfather is also on the journey. Awesome! It would make James so happy!

It was a beautiful launch. Fly freely, my friend!