David Archer 01-28-11:
A painting surprise for Terry Mignerey from when we worked on some
pieces together. Terry did the amazing "high-tech lacework" on the end
of the painting best seen in the close up. Thanks Terry. I think I still
have this piece in the Museum Vault. I sure hope so. It come from the
Joseph Campbell book, "The Hero With A Thousand Faces." The "artist" is
stepping out into the unknown, past the classic mythological "Threshold"
where there is no going back until if and when the "job" or "quest" is
accomplished. One makes one's own path. Into the forest where it is
darkest and there is no path. The Western way. The individual. This
painting is the step over the "Threshold."
One other picture of the "Herobot" painting
showing the whole thing which was around six feet long. I wish this
photo was larger but I think this is it for now.
Don Davis 01-28-11:
A quarter century. I remember when that far in the past was a long time
ago, as in World War II. Now it is the anniversary of the Challenger
Disaster, one of those days you remember vividly as long as you live.
Louis Varricchio
01-28-11: The winter of discontent: A warm sunny day can
profoundly change my mood and perspective. A glimpse of blue sky, green
hills and liquid water has always acted as a personal tonic—my problems
seem easier to face when balmy weather returns. Then, the whole mad,
mad, mad world seems renewed. I am reborn. Yes, I tell myself looking at
a 2011 wall calendar, very soon I will feel the warm rays of sunlight on
my bare face. And the oppressive Vermont winter of 2011 will finally
fade into the glorious spring of 2011. The daffodils will emerge. The
birds will hop and sing again. Yes. There is hope for me—for all of us
dwellers of northern
climes.
David Archer 01-27-11:
Can't read the date. Circa '64. Pen and ink drawing I did of Mike Kelly
in the Golden Eagle Hotel, San Francisco's North Beach.
Richard Bizley 01-27-11:
I have just done this painting of Kepler 10b. It is a rocky planet
orbiting a sun-like star. The planet is tidally locked, so the side
facing the star is hot enough to melt iron.
William Foster 01-27-11:
Ascent Team handing over to Orbit 2 during STS-133 Post Insertion sim.
Discovery is in bad shape and TDZ is out of service for 24 hours. Hoping
for better luck on the real day. Clip ends with view of Spaceflight
Memorial plaques as the team gets ready for a moment of silence.
Flight Control Team gathered outside MCC for
moment of silence.
David A. Hardy 01-26-11:
For a while at least, anyone who's interested can see my grandson Aidan
being interviewed on Anglia TV about his prize-winning animation. He's a
star! See:
http://www.itv.com/anglia/aidans-animation-prize85182/
William Foster 01-26-11:
Good news today, network simulator feeling much better, turned that
solar frown upside down! Unusual to get to 8 ascent sims for one
training flow, still one more to go. Any more delays will put us in
double digits.
Kim Poor 01-25-11:
One time, during a power outage, my only light was a flash camera... It
took me 60 pictures to make a sandwich. --Steven Wright
William Foster 01-25-11:
All set to support generic ascent sim this morning but the network
simulator (NSS) did not want to play. Supposed to have been a final
certain sim for one of the INCO's, but he was out sick. Hopefully it
will be fixed in time for flight specific STS-133 ascent sims tomorrow
and Thursday!
Geoffrey Notkin
01-23-11: Dear Friends: I am very pleased to announce my
new book: "Meteorite Hunting: How To Find Treasure From Space." It will
be published on February 1 (my birthday!) and advance copies are now
available for pre-order at
www.meteoritehunters.tv
If you are planning on visiting me at the Tucson gem show, we will also
have copies for sale there.
Andrew Chaikin 01-22-11:
"Happy New Year all ...! I am doing quite a bit of teaching these days,
including a space history course for NASA engineers, which I give at the
different NASA centers. I've also been giving a course on Mars
exploration at Williams College as part of their Winter Study Program.
And I am teaching an online space-history course for Montana State
University."
David A. Hardy 01-21-11:
Easter Island. (photo)
Louis Varricchio
01-21-11: I hope to get back to night driving soon!
Dealing with Vermont's daily dumping of snow. Soon we enter and exit the
house on the second floor! Non-stop since Christmas time. When do
daffodils bloom?
Photo: Snowy Vermont. Taken this morning on a
U.S. Forest Service access road, off Route 125 in Ripton, Vt., in the
Green Mt. National Forest near Mt. Grant, in Vermont's Presidential
range.
William Foster 01-21-11:
View from the dreaded middle lobby at the JSC Clinic while waiting for
part 2 of my annual Flight Controller Physical earlier today. Amazingly,
I passed, so good for another year of console operations. Now if we
could just stretch out the shuttle program that long, but at least ISS
is waiting for me (I hope)!!
Louis Varricchio
01-17-11: Interstellar Space Mission under consideration:
NASA-APL Innovative Interstellar Explorer: The mission is aimed within
20° of the incoming interstellar wind; the robot spacecraft will depart
Earth without Venus, Earth, or Mars gravity assists to 200 Astronomical
Units (1 AU = 93 million miles).
Not as ambitious as the 1980s proposed
NASA-JPL TAU (1,000 A.U.) mission but better than no interstellar
mission.
Opening of first launch window at Cape
Canaveral, Florida, will be at noon, Eastern Daylight Time on Oct. 22,
2014!
Louis Varricchio
01-16-11: My 2011-2013
personal challenge is to learn to fly in a Challenger II LS aircraft; A
CFI in Deland, Florida can help me: 31.5 ft wingspan, great on floats
and for soaring, 500 lb, payload, 700/1,200 fpm climb, 20 mph cross-wind
capability, and 65-85 mph cruise speed. I have done enough namby pamby
test flights. I have completed ground school, need to restudy the
material, time to recommit and focus.
Next Gen Space Warfare: ICBMs are
so--well--Cold War.
By 2020 orbital kinetic strike weapons, known
as "Rods from God" will have replaced ICBMs as the primary WMD of the
United States.
Artwork: Project Thor is an idea for a weapons
system that launches kinetic projectiles from Earth orbit to damage
targets on the ground. Sci-fi author Jerry Pournelle originated the
concept at Boeing in the 1950s before becoming a writer.
P.S. The system is not prohibited by either
the Outer Space Treaty nor the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
Pat Rawlings 01-16-11:
Linda and I had a great ride down to New Braunfels past Canyon Lake. We
ate German food at Oma's Haus and then rode back past the beautiful
Guadalupe River on River Road. We then cut over to Blanco and ha coffee
at the Redbud Cafe across from the Old Blaco Courthouse where they
filmed True Grit. Then we rode back on RR 165, Creek Rd and RR 12 to
home. One of the more scenic rides we' ve had in a while.
David A. Hardy 01-16-11:
Having worked out how to upload these, I have now added 3 'FX wheels',
as used by Hawkwind in the 70s. These rotated at, I think, about 1 1/2
revolutions per minute, so that a continuous landscape/horizon moved
slowly across the screen behind the band. They are 'Space Ritual', 'End
of the World', and 'Ancient Mysteries'.
