Up and Away

NASA/Joel Kowsky

LIFT OFF: This evening, after watching the Seahawks go down in flames, we watched flames shoot from the rocket boosters as Crew-1 took off from the Florida Space Coast. These four (NASA's Shannon Walker, Mike Hopkins, and Victor Glover, along with Soichi Noguchi of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency) were on board.

Photos: NASA and JAXA

The launch appeared to go without a hitch and the four will be on board the International Space Station tomorrow. SpaceX even nailed the landing of the rocket stage on the barge in the Atlantic Ocean, 

NO SHOW:  Friday morning, in anticipation of this weekend's big launch, we tuned into the STEM in 20 Facebook page. We were expecting to watch a program with NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren, who  spent 141 days on board the International Space Station back in 2015. However, Lindgren was nowhere to be seen. Turns out he got called into work. And when NASA calls, you probably better answer the phone. So, the hosts filled in as best they could, but it was all just general space stuff the kids and I have heard dozens of times before, so we tuned out. The program is available online in case you want to see a special featuring an astronaut with no astronaut.

UP AND COMING: I recently received an email with a ton of (online, of course) events that I found interesting. I hope we can check some or all of them out. 

For instance, the National Security Agency's National Cryptologic Museum in Annapolis Junction, MD is offering free virtual field trips. They feature a variety of different themes each week. Many of the tours are  related to WWII topics, and they have a number of talks coming up. They even allow people to schedule a private online tour for groups of 6 or more. Eventbrite is an easy way to sign up for the tours.  

There are over 100,000 points of interest in the Historical Marker Database. It is a catalog of outdoor historical markers and commemorative plaques from around North America, complete with photographs and descriptions. Using the search function, you can see if there are any historical markers near your locale.The site also includes a link to an educational component, a  downloadable history project idea geared for 7th and 8th graders (though anyone of any age who enjoys learning could likely get something out of it). 

I mentioned a couple of posts back about virtual escape rooms. Turns out King County LIbrary System has posted an Olympic National Park digital escape room. Per the library's promo, "Someone must maintain Olympic National Park's trails to ensure safety. Are you up to the challenge? Try our virtual escape room Operation National Park. Solve puzzles and answer questions using logic, math, and map skills. This escape room was created for ages seven and older, but everyone is welcome to give it a try. You can work on it individually or as a team. The most important thing is to have fun.” Here's the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfzUssNdq4g-FyIjpM4nKt__JtGAavtHWxM77MWhJ6itlHuIg/viewform.