BENNU BOUND: Happy news! The NASA OSIRIS-REx mission launched this afternoon from Cape Canaveral. We watched and read lots of pre-launch coverage thanks to NASA TV and a multitude of social media posts. Talk about a good sign! I love seeing "0 Days to Launch" on this iconic sign by Kennedy Space Center. (Photo: NASA)
The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket looked sharp on the launch pad. (Photo: NASA)
And the launch itself was spectacular. Lots of cameras giving great vantage points. I was happy to know that in addition to we here at MPA watching, a bunch of other school kids were tuning in, too. This morning, I sent notices about the launch to three of my favorite teachers, and I know at least one of them had their students all watching the event. Hopefully, the rocket lit a spark with some of those kids, and they'll be interested in learning more about spaceflight. We always enjoy watching a rocket launch, of course, but today's was extra special knowing CJ and Annabelle's names were on board. And not only that, some of Annabelle's artwork hitched a ride, too, thanks to this notice we saw months ago.
BOLDLY GOING, FOR A HALF CENTURY: Today marked the 50th anniversary of the premiere of "Star Trek," the original series, on broadcast television. The ground breaking program took viewers on an amazing journey, and the franchise continues to do so to this day. Series creator Gene Roddenberry was a visionary - and he had an interesting life pre-Star Trek, as well. This comic from The Oatmeal shares his remarkable story. Do yourself a favor, and take a look, here: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/plane
ASTEROID AND BACK: For years now, we've been tracking NASA's planned mission to an asteroid - and back! The target is asteroid Bennu, and finally, launch date is imminent. The launch window opens at 4:05 p.m. Pacific time on Thursday, Sept. 7. (Photos above and below are credit NASA.)
Recently, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket that will carry OSIRIS-REx to space rolled from the Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral to the launch pad.
After a two-year journey, the probe will retrieve at least two ounces of surface material and return it to Earth for study. Per NASA, "The asteroid, Bennu, may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of water and organic molecules found on Earth."
We found this great overview about the mission online https://youtu.be/3194ROG7VCE This morning, we watched a pre-launch briefing (archival version available here: https://spaceflightnow.com/2016/09/06/video-atlasosiris-rex-pre-launch-and-mission-science-press-briefings/) Annabelle sums up OSIRIS-REx below ...
OSIRIS-REx, an acronym for Origins Spectral Interpretation
Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer, is a space probe that will
be launched towards the Bennu asteroid, starting tomorrow. The mission of
OSIRIS-REx loosely mirrors the story of the Egyptian god Osiris. The god Osiris
had a knowledge of agriculture and brought life to the world. OSIRIS-REx is
going to be the first probe to actually bring samples back to earth, allowing
us to study some of the fundamentals that our solar system was built on up
close. It will be groundbreaking if the mission succeeds. The OSIRIS-REx mission
will also track the trajectory of Bennu, to see if it is a potential hazard to
earth. It will launch on an Atlas 5 rocket tomorrow, with a launch window of 7:05
pm to 9:00 pm EDT. I’m excited to see what valuable results OSIRIS-REx brings
back!
CJ has this to share ...
In recent years, you have likely heard stories about the Philae spacecraft landing on "67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko", a Jupiter-family comet. Philae was carried to its destination by the Rosetta spacecraft. According to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's website, upon reaching its destination, Philae achieved the first-ever "soft" (nondestructive) landing on a comet nucleus. A similar mission is about to be carried out:
On 9/8/16, the "OSIRIS-REx" mission will begin, and a special lander will start making its way towards a very special comet, known as "101955 Bennu". The OSIRIS-REx mission is special in that while Philae sent to 67P/C-G with the intention of just analyzing the surface of the comet and sending the data back to Earth, the OSIRIS-REx mission plans to get to Bennu (which won't happen until 2018) and actually collect a sample of Bennu's regolith (see below), which it will have brought back to Earth by 2023.
If you're wondering, according to Wikipedia, regolith is a layer of loose, heterogeneous superficial material covering solid rock. It includes dust, soil, broken rock, and other related materials and is present on Earth, the Moon, Mars, some asteroids, and other terrestrial planets and moons. One of the important reasons why the scientists at NASA want to take a sample from an asteroid like Bennu is because if humans want to go out and colonize larger comets and terrestrial bodies in the future, we will have to know what materials can be found up there (for example: Silver and water), and where we can find them. Maybe it's in a comet!
A reason why the operators of the OSIRIS-REx mission chose the comet Bennu is because Bennu might be one of the Solar System's earliest comets: Likely existing before the Great Bombardment, an ancient event where countless asteroids hit Earth's surface and significantly altered Earth's surface and atmosphere. In an informational video I watched, Bennu was described as being sort of like a time capsule: A valuable look into the past, showing us *what* exactly the ancient solar system was like, and how the ancient solar system was different from the present-day solar system.
I am very excited for the OSIRIS-REx mission, and I can't wait for the regolith sample to come back to Earth.
CAMPING TRIP: We took a 6-plus hour trip down toward the Oregon Coast this weekend for a big family camp out in Siletz. The scenery was gorgeous, with trees turning toward their autumnal colors, but some flowers still in bloom. A pretty picturesque setting for a tent, wouldn't you say?
A blue tent gives the background to this lovely dahlia.
Look at these lovely yellow roses, in September!
I actually rather fancied this dahlia in the middle (below). Sure, it's past its prime, but I love the fact that it gave it its all.
We pitched a tent of a size that would make the Ringling Bros. jealous. However, the first night it was sited on a slight slope, and some ambient noise helped me not sleep, so volunteers helped pick it up intact and move it to a flat, quiet spot. Perfect!
PARK HOLIDAY: We spent a good chunk of Monday at Safeco Field, enjoying a Monday afternoon matinee that turned into a slugfest with a football-esque final score, 14-6. Fortunately, the Ms were on the upper end of that scoreboard. We bought cheap tickets for the game off of Stubhub. For about $11.50 after fees apiece, we each got in the door. We hung out in the bullpen for awhile, waiting for Mariners' ace Felix Hernandez and then watching him warm up.
After the bullpen action, we started walking the main concourse, heading toward the loooong escalator that would take us up to our third-tier seats. However, there were so many empty seats on the lower level. It seemed a shame to let them all go to waste. And so, we sat. Just inside the right field foul pole, specifically.
About the seventh inning, we walked over toward the kids' favorite fro-yo stand and spent the rest of the game near the left field foul pole.
Fortunately, the Ms were victorious and Felix got the win. He seemed pretty excited about that.
ANCIENT MYSTERIES REVEALED: We went to some stores today. Many, many stores. Seven in four hours, by my count. Have I ever mentioned my disdain for shopping? It still holds true. But we soldiered on, because we had to. One of our stops included Goodwill. There, in the board game section, we found something remarkable. One of the wonders of the world, if you will. Stonehenge.
That's right, the prehistoric monument constructed amidst a dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments and several hundred burial mounds. It was ours, for just $6.99. Miraculous.
We could hardly wait to open the box to "Build Your Own Ancient Wonder." From the kit's description on Amazon, "This kit includes 16 Stonehenge rocks, a landscaped mat, and a 32-page guide capturing the possibilities of this ancient wonder. To this day, no one can explain the mystery and splendor of Stonehenge, but now you can replicate this extraordinary monument!"
It took the kids about 40 seconds to build. And there you see it, in all its glory, above. All jesting aside, fortunately, we got to see the real 'live' Stonehenge ourselves three years ago this month (photos from the site above and below). It truly was wondrous!
ABOUT FACE: Our very first stop today was a grocery store in our neighborhood. We went there looking for a specific bread and some special pickles. However, the shopping list went out the window as soon as we entered the store and saw these. ...
Ziggy Stardust and Labyrinth-inspired masks in the entryway our local *grocery* store?! Unexpected,to say the least. Of course we bought them. As soon as we got home, the kids tried Ziggy on. And as much as I love all things Bowie, I have to admit they weirded me out a bit ...
Love the kids, but I guess I like Bowie's face best on Bowie. Anyway, if you want or need one of your own, the Ziggy masks are the product of a company called Mamelok.
BIG AND SMALL: Yesterday morning we struck out around 10 a.m., destination Hoquiam.
Why Hoquiam?
Where Hoquiam?
Legitimate questions.
The answers date back to a morning last May when I was perusing Facebook on my phone while the kids were in a class. I noticed a post by Grammy winning rapper Macklemore, a Seattle resident, about a super special tour he was doing for a couple of weeks in August.
Though Macklemore plays sold out shows to tens of thousands around the world, he's a Washington state son through and through and works to stay grounded in the Evergreen State. As an homage to the place he calls home, he and producer Ryan Lewis planned a special tour called "The Camping Trip." The abject opposite of enormous arena shows, it was an 8 date tour of small theaters only in Washington.
As soon as I saw the post, I pretty much freaked out. My oh my, we love Macklemore. We've seen him perform before at a couple of Mariners' related events, and at Key Arena during his epic "The Heist" tour.
This was another animal altogether. Not a stadium, not an arena ... he was playing shows in old, tiny theaters around the state. Tickets were limited to just TWO per person, and I knew all the dates would sell out in moments. I was stuck with just my phone to try to make an online purchase, and frantically sent Christian a text message (so we could each buy two tickets). As I was doing this, I could see the 'bigger' cities were selling out - Oly was closed, Spokane and Yakima were gone. Bellingham was sold out. ... It was basically down to Enumclaw and Hoquiam. At the time, I wasn't sure where Enumclaw was (that was before two trips through Eastern Washington on the way to Idaho this summer). I *thought* Hoquiam was somewhere toward the coast. "TRY HOQUIAM!" I told Christian.
Miraculously, we each scored a pair of tickets for a pittance (yay for NO Ticketmaster for this tour).
Fast forward to August 29, and we were headed for the 7th Street Theatre in Hoquiam.
We left home a little after 10 and arrived there via I-5 and Highway 101 a little after noon, not knowing what to expect. All tickets were will call, and we didn't know if there would be a line blocks long already or what.
It turned out to be 'or what.' There were about three dozen people in line already. We decided to go ahead and put our lawn chairs on the sidewalk and get in line for the duration. Welcome to your next 7-plus hours. ...
Fortunately, it wasn't raining. It was in the shade and pretty darn windy, though. "Frigid" is a fair word. Fortunately, we took turns walking around, and sitting in the car and visiting the bathroom. We made friends with our new (sidewalk) neighbors, all friendly people, some locals, some from other points.
After a couple of hours, folks started setting up a Macklemore merchandise tent, and a rumor started spreading that the first 50 people in line would get wristbands to meet Macklemore and Ryan Lewis and get autographs.
Turned out the rumor was true... A little after 5 p.m., a woman came down the line with purple wristbands. The line stretched 'round the block by this point. We were in the lucky group that got 'em.
No photos were allowed during the signing, but let me assured you it happened.
And then the *real* good stuff happened.
There never were any physical tickets. We were checked into the theater old school - names on a list. But you know what? It worked! (Take that, Ticketmaster!)
We buzzed our way right up to the front left. For the next three or so hours, we were buffered by three seats in front of us, and four behind us. As the crowd behind abandoned their seats and pressed forward, the space became our fortress.
Meanwhile, a big ol' dance party erupted all around.
I'll let the kids tell you a little more about it. Annabelle's up first.
Seeing Macklemore and Ryan Lewis at the 7th Street Theatre was a fun and interesting experience. We got to the theater at around noon, because we wanted to be close to the front of the line. After waiting until about 5:00, they started a line for signing. We got our hats and shirts signed (very efficiently, might I add) and headed into the theater shortly after. We ended up “sitting” in the second row, which was great, because the chairs acted as bumpers against the standing people crowded around our seats. The concert itself was very fun, with a couple of warm up acts such as Xperience, who was also a hip hop artist from Seattle, before Macklemore actually came up on stage. Macklemore played many of his hit songs, like “Thrift Shop” and “Same Love”, but he also played some I hadn’t previously heard such as “White Privilege” I really enjoyed the show and I hope I get to see another of his concerts!
And here's CJ's take ...
Ah, Hoquiam, Washington, the "friendliest city". My family very recently visited this small town in southwest Washington for a reason other than what you might expect: Back in May, Macklemore, a popular local rapper, unexpectedly announced "The Camping Trip", which would be an 8-stop tour across Washington in Spokane, Yakima, Walla Walla, Enumclaw, Olympia, Hoquiam (the one we attended), Bremerton, and Bellingham. Most of those towns are places away from where Macklemore usually plays, in larger cities, so Macklemore did this tour so that people living in or around those smaller cities could have a chance to see him live.
According to The News Tribune, the entire tour sold out within 2 hours of the tour's announcement on May 20. This likely had to do with the fact that tickets were $20. We happened to be lucky enough to get 4 tickets for my family to visit the Hoquiam concert. We came to the parking lot of the venue at about noon, and we spent *7* hours in line. At one point, we decided to buy some merchandise from the merch stand nearby. We got an exclusive Hoquiam T-shirt, a Camping Trip hat, and a physical copy of "This Unruly Mess I've Made", Macklemore's new album that he was promoting in this tour (the copies they were selling here came complete with Mr. Haggerty's rant about being afraid of your art). Soon enough, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis arrived at the side of the merch stand, ready to sign any merchandise presented to him by the next 50 people in line. Fortunately, we arrived relatively early, so we got the wristbands that proved that we were among the first 50 people in line, and could get one piece of merch per person signed. I'm really glad that we got our merch signed by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.
I found a YouTube video where Macklemore talks about the tour and what it means to him, and what's going on in our country right now. (The guy who filmed it was way behind and somewhat to the right of us.) The video also includes Macklemore's performance of the powerful song "Same Love."
And here's a snippet of the finale, "Downtown," that Christian captured on his cellphone.
All in all, it was huge fun and a rare opportunity.
MORNING STROLL: If you believe local weather forecasts, this week is Summer's last stand. Wanting to capitalize on that fact, we headed down to the western shore of Puget Sound this morning for a good long walk. We 'put in' down by the former Amgen campus and very near the Louis Dreyfus terminal A bit south of there, there's a lovely rose garden. There was a surprising number of roses still (or again) in bloom today Also, we admired many enormous rose hips. Also, we spied dozens of big, juicy hops on a trellis in the rose garden. We've been coming to this park for years, and this is our first hops spotting, which makes me think they're new. I wonder if some beer loving soul brought a cutting down months ago and implanted it.
The kids enjoyed playing along the shoreline.
We got to watch some Coast Guard drills during our outing.
And, of course, there was some Pokemon GO business to attend to. I love this photo of Annabelle (below), battling to take over the 'gym' atop this art installation (yes, really, it's not just big boulders). See the woman on the bench in the background? Yeah, she came out on the short end. Go #TeamMystic.
We also captured a Pokemon Gym at the famous sculpture, Echo. Go Team Mystic!
AMUSING; Monday, we were up with the early birds and made a five-hour road trip to western Idaho, destination Silverwood Theme Park. We'd been there once before, earlier this summer, but it was a working visit, so this go 'round was just for fun, and much fun was had! We arrived just a couple minutes after the gates opened at 11 a.m., and Christian and CJ were riding in the front car of the Corkscrew just a few minutes later.
Annabelle wasn't feeling the big bad rides, so we stuck to a (super drenching) raft ride, bumper boats, and air-cushioned bumper cars. Below is Bee going in for the kill vs. CJ. Too funny.
On our way home on Tuesday, we stopped by the awesome Moses Lake Surf and Slide water park. It was our second visit there, and it was every bit as much fun as the first.
Annabelle shares her impressions of Silverwood and Surf and Slide following. ...
My most memorable moment from Boulder Beach (at Silvewood) would be when we were on the Ricochet Rapids slide, in a large tube. There was a drop about a quarter of the way through the slide, and it was kinda scary! We managed to survive, though.
The most memorable thing from the theme park portion of Silverwood for me was probably the bumper cars. They went surprisingly fast, and it was my first time on those bumper cars. It was fun to bump into other cars and spin in circles.
And lastly, my most memorable moment from Surf N’ Slide in Moses Lake is probably a spectacular wipeout I had on the bodyboarding wave simulator. At first, it was just a normal wipeout where I got to calmer waters and my board stopped moving. But then I stood up in the whitewater and I was immediately knocked down! It was pretty funny.
CJ has impressions to share, as well.
My family recently went on a trip through Washington and into Idaho to visit the Silverwood Theme Park. Silverwood is divided into 2 parts: "Silverwood," which is inspired by conventional amusement parks and is land based, and "Boulder Beach," a jumbo-sized water park with several slides and attractions.On the way back home, we visited the Surf 'N Slide Water Park in Moses Lake, WA, where there is an artificial wave. In this report, I will detail what my most memorable moment at all three locations was.
In Silverwood, the ride I remember the most was probably the "Tremors" ride. Tremors is one of two wooden rollercoasters at the theme park, with the other being the "Timber Terror" ride, which I also went on. Tremors is arguably the most popular rollercoaster at Silverwood, as the lines for it got pretty long. Before you go on the ride, there are several warnings about keeping safe on the ride, as Tremors is very fast-paced and there are several shallow caves. While I was riding on Tremors, I constantly felt like I was going to be decapitated, because my head appeared to get very close to the top of the various caves on the ride.
In Boulder Beach, the ride I remembered most was one of the slides on "Rumble Falls", an attraction which included 4 slides. Before going on one of the Rumble Falls slides, you would get a single-person or two-person tube from a pile next to the line. Once you got to the top of the ride tower, you would pick one of the 4 slides you wanted to ride on. I chose the open slide, as I often feel trapped in closed-tube slides. It was a nice experience going down one of the Rumble Falls slides, and I would do it again if we went to Boulder Beach again.
In the Surf 'N Slide Water Park, over in Moses Lake, I especially remember their cruise-ship style wave bodyboarding and surfing simulator, as I don't know any other water parks that have one. At Surf 'N Slide's bodyboarding simulator, the lifeguard will mount a bodyboard for you shortly in front of the wave. Once you get on and nudge the board enough, you get shot onto the wave simulator, which is very exciting and fun. Nine times out of ten, your ride will end by wiping out, usually with a smile on your face. Occasionally, your ride will end by you drifting to the landing area, so you can give the bodyboard to the next person in line.
Above, CJ waves from the top of a slide in Moses Lake. Below, he rethinks jumping off the high dive.
He chose to return to the ground and rethink it once. But to his credit, he got back up there and jumped off - multiple times!
He also enjoyed the drop off slide multiple times. :)
Between Silverwood and Moses Lake, we stayed the night in Spokane at a cool motel called Ruby2. If you're OK with occasional train noise, this place is terrific. Super cool artwork, a nice room, and a good price.
Just to the left of the frame above, they had a silent movie showing on the side of the building after dusk. Neat-o.
