Check out this video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2I8AoB1xgU&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Attitude Adjustment @MarsCuriosity, 7/18/12 9:27 PM
 Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity)7/18/12 9:27 PM Guess who just got an "attitude adjustment"? My mood's fine; I needed to reposition my medium-gain antenna for Earth communication. |
SpaceFest July 18-22
SAMSUNG SpaceFest, a 5-day festival, will celebrate the opening of Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum's Space Shuttle Pavilion, and its newly acquired Space Shuttle Enterprise. The festival kicks off the night of Wednesday, July 18, with a free concert on Intrepid's Flight Deck. Intrepid's free Summer Movies Series continues with Star Trek, Friday, July 20.
From Thursday, July 19 through Sunday, July 22, NASA will present over three dozen exhibits, displays, and educational demonstrations honoring aeronautics and space exploration past, present and future. Visitors to the Museum Complex will be able to learn about current missions in earth and space science, the rockets destined to take humans to explore the solar system, and the NASA research improving and enhancing aeronautics. The new Space Shuttle Pavilion will open to the public on Thursday, July 19 following a Grand Opening Ceremony. This exciting 5-day event will also provide an opportunity for guests to meet and mingle with a number of current and former astronauts.
Link to Schedule of Events
Shuttle Enterprise
This week marks the Grand Opening of the new Space Shuttle Pavilion at the Interpid Sea, Air & Space Museum in NYC. The museum has several days of special activities planned to celebrate the new acquisition. Check out the schedule, including astronaut meet & greets. I hope to visit the new exhibit to see OV-101 Enterprise in her new home. Earlier this spring, my family and I were able to be a part of the arrival flight of OV-101 and SCA-905 at JFK Airport. It was a thrilling day to see Enterprise in flight as I first saw her more than thirty years ago as I watched the broadcasts from Edwards AFB. While it is always a thrill to see these special spacecraft close up, it is even more thrilling to see them "alive" doing what they were designed to do. While I couldn't bring my students to the airport for the arrival, they were treated to a double pass directly overhead of the school as SCA-905 flew its pattern up the Hudson River to the Tappan Zee and returned for final approach to JFK.
Here are a few photos of that special day.
OV-101 Space Shuttle Enterprise was designed as a full-scale prototype to test and refine reentry and landing procedures and technologies. Some say, "she's not a real shuttle," but I strongly disagree. While Enterprise did not fly in space and has no engines of her own, she is in every other sense a real space shuttle, without which the other five (Challenger, Columbia, Endeavor, Discover & Atlantis) would never have been realized. This is the shuttle that ignited my imagination as a boy. This is the shuttle that made the last incredible 30 years of human space flight possible. This is the shuttle that made it possible to build the International Space Station. Enterprise, I salute you and look forward to my next visit in person.
Here are a few photos of that special day.
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| OV-101 and SCA-905 on Approach @mwilkinson3 |
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| OV-101 and SCA-905 Flyby Beauty Shot @mwilkinson3 |
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| OV-101 and SCA-905 makes turn for Final Approach @mwilkinson3 |
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| OV-101 and SCA-905 Triumphal Arrival @mwilkinson3 |
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| OV-101 and SCA-905 Head On @mwilkinson3 |
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| SCA-905 Pilots Salute @mwilkinson3 |
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| Badges of SCA-905 Missions @mwilkinson3 |
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| SCA-905 Pilots @mwilkinson3 |
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| @mwilkinson3 with "the girls" photo by @LaurenAlloyce |
Thursday, June 28, 2012
@MarsCuriosity Course Correction
| Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) 6/26/12 6:55 PM With my 3rd trajectory correction maneuver complete, I'm in "approach phase" for Mars! Landing Aug 5 1.usa.gov/LAhA9C |
Thursday, June 7, 2012
2 Once-In-A-Lifetime Events in 1 Day
On June 5, 2012 I had the pleasure of witnessing two once-in-a-lifetime events: the graduation of my children from 5th grade and the transit of Venus across the sun. Each event, in its own right, would have made for a memorable day. Having a "conjunction" of these two events made them both all the more special. My children were magnificent that afternoon, sharing music, art, and samples of their writing as they made their way through this rite of passage.
The much anticipated transit looked like it was going to be a complete bust as overcast skies persisted throughout the day. While the cloudy skies and cooler temperatures made it more pleasant for all assembled for the graduation, it also meant little if any chance remained to observe the transit. Throughout the afternoon I checked the sky. I nearly gave up all hope of a firsthand observation and had resigned myself to watching webcasts of the event. Finally around 7 pm EDT, there were some breaks in the clouds. I raced back to school and was eagerly greeted by half-dozen fellow parents. We carried the equipment to the roof of the Middle School and set up as quickly as possible. We were rewarded with a few moments of a perfectly clear view of the sun wth Venus and numerous sunspots in stark contrast to the body of the sun. After everyone got a look through the eyepiece, I converted to the camera mount and managed to capture a few exposures as the clouds started to roll in and obscure the view. The sun popped out a couple more times before setting but our view was always partially obscured by trees.
This one image is my reward for patience and timing. One that I won't have another opportunity to replicate in my life. The transit made for a perfect exclamation point on an already emotional day proudly watching my three children make the transition from life as a child-student to that of an adolescent-student.
The much anticipated transit looked like it was going to be a complete bust as overcast skies persisted throughout the day. While the cloudy skies and cooler temperatures made it more pleasant for all assembled for the graduation, it also meant little if any chance remained to observe the transit. Throughout the afternoon I checked the sky. I nearly gave up all hope of a firsthand observation and had resigned myself to watching webcasts of the event. Finally around 7 pm EDT, there were some breaks in the clouds. I raced back to school and was eagerly greeted by half-dozen fellow parents. We carried the equipment to the roof of the Middle School and set up as quickly as possible. We were rewarded with a few moments of a perfectly clear view of the sun wth Venus and numerous sunspots in stark contrast to the body of the sun. After everyone got a look through the eyepiece, I converted to the camera mount and managed to capture a few exposures as the clouds started to roll in and obscure the view. The sun popped out a couple more times before setting but our view was always partially obscured by trees.
This one image is my reward for patience and timing. One that I won't have another opportunity to replicate in my life. The transit made for a perfect exclamation point on an already emotional day proudly watching my three children make the transition from life as a child-student to that of an adolescent-student.
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