Winging It

FLIGHTY: Yesterday morning we headed to Raisbeck Aviation High School, a next door neighbor of The Museum of Flight.

It was our first time in the school, so we had big eyes checking everything out. Our purpose for being there was for the orientation for the private pilot ground school program CJ and Annabelle started yesterday. Monday through Friday through June 22, they'll be attending class from 8:30 to 3:30.  

It was a packed house in the small school gym. There are 104 students in the program this year, twice the number that there used to be when it started four years ago. Yesterday, they spent some time in The Museum of Flight's flight simulator. CJ and Annabelle both happily reported that they did not crash their computerized planes. 

One of the cool things about being at The Museum of Flight so often, is that we often see unusual (to us) aircraft during our visits. Case in point: We caught the take off of a Brazilian Air Force jet on Sunday afternoon.

ORION: Early Tuesday morning, NASA successfully conducted a test of the Orion spacecraft’s launch abort system at Space Launch Complex 46 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Fortunately, the demonstration showed that the system can outrun a speeding rocket and shuttle astronauts to safety during an emergency during launch. (Unfortunately, the retired space shuttles had no such system, resulting in disaster for the entire crew of the Challenger back in 1986.)

Called Ascent Abort-2,the test lasted about three minutes. The test vehicle was atop a modified Peacekeeper missile procured through the U.S. Air Force and built by Northrop Grumman. The  Orion test spacecraft traveled about six miles high, which meant it was under high-stress aerodynamic conditions expected during ascent. When the abort sequence triggered, within milliseconds, the abort motor fired, which caused the crew module to pull away from the rocket, and a jettison motor fired, which released the crew module and sent in on a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean.

You can see video of the test below.


RARE SIGHTING: Have I mentioned we have a gecko living with us for a bit? Stevie is a low maintenance pet. You hardly ever see her. She mostly just hides out in the hollowed out log or UFO in her enclosure, but last night she was totally out and about.

Not sure what got her going, but I'm guessing it was food (she's standing right over it in the photo), or maybe she was thirsty.