Visit http://astronauticast.forumastronautico.it

I was recently interviewed by Marco Zambianchi from Forum Astronautico in Italy. You can listen to or download the podcast directly from:

http://astronauticast.forumastronautico.it

The interview is translated in Italian and the non-translated version is also available. I would like to thank Forum Astronautico for taking the time to interview me and help spread the word and passion of space exploration.

Let me know what you think!

Atlantis has landed at Edwards Air Force Base

The weather at KSC was not that great. But the crew performed a magnificent landing at Edwards Air Force Base today. Welcome home to all! I'll be sure to post some landing pictures.

KSC weather conditions make landing a NO-GO!

Guess we'll try landing at KSC tomorrow. For now, I'll have to drive home in the rain. :(

Again, dependent on the weather!

We really hope to land at KSC today. But if the weather is not favorable, the crew will orbit stay in orbit for another day and attempt to land here tomorrow. We have already passed our first landing opportunity here at KSC, and the next attempt is at 3:30pm. We should know around 2pm if we're good to go or not as they would need to perform the deorbit burn at 2:25.

Atlantis Landing on Thursday!!

What a mission so far! Seriously! Atlantis undocked today from the International Space Station and the crew is all clear for Thursday's re-entry and landing. I am sure Suni Williams is delighted to be coming home along with the rest of the crew.

The S3/S4 truss on the Space Station was delivered and all work complete. Astronaut Danny Olivas did a fine job repairing the blanket on the OMS pod and a lot of work from the ground engineers and analysts went into evaluating the thermal/aerodynamic load conditions as well as devising a plan that could be performed in space with the available materials onboard.

Unfortunately, I will not be at the landing site this time, but I will be waiting for the sonic boom and still be close enough to get some pictures.

Endeavour will be rolling out to the VAB next week! I am so excited for this next mission and Atlantis' return.

Flight Day 3....Atlantis to Dock to the ISS

Today my imagery support begins from 1:00pm to about 1:00am. Currently many are evaluating the thermal blanket on the OMS pod by performing engineering assessments and pulling up the history of the part. We are determining the heating and aerodynamic effects that could occur during re-entry on the blanket cavity itself, as well as the surrounding parts. This afternoon I will be going in as Atlantis approaches the International Space Station. The crew on the Space Station will take images of Atlantis's lower surface. We will receive those pictures and begin to look for any discrepancies. Now, I must get ready....

And lift off for Space Shuttle Atlantis!!!!

Tomorrow I head out to Houston for mission imagery support. I was so excited this afternoon when the weather was looking favorable for launch. Here are some pictures from today's launch.

1 day till launch!

2 days till launch!!!

3 days till launch!