Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Atlantis' Launch Today!

The launch of Atlantis was spectacular today. I started my morning by heading over to the Launch Control Center. Each group is assigned to sit at a designated console. We put on headsets to listen to updates on different monitored and controlled systems. We're able to listen to anything that may be a concern prior to launch. If there was an issue regarding the Thermal Protection System, my group would evaluate the concern.



Here are a couple of views of the consoles in front of me.


Then I quickly stepped outside to view the launch.


There has been a tradition since the beginning of the shuttle program in having beans and cornbread after a successful launch. Find out why at the following link: Click here

10 comments:

Steve Jeffery said...

Hehe, cool beans, as they say. Best wishes to you and the rest of the crew, on the ground and in space, for a safe and successful mission.

Anonymous said...

What happens to the beans when there is a launch scrub?

Damaris Sarria Toepel said...

haha...this question was asked. Apparently they save it for the next day if it's a 24-hr scrub.

heroineworshipper said...

So little of the firing room has ever been documented, a single high resolution photo is a good way to get famous. There has never been a high resolution photo of a JSC console.

BrianShiro said...

Wow, I learned something new today. I didn't know about the beans and cornbread tradition. It reminds me of the song "Beans and Cornbread" by Louis Jordan.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the insider's perspective. Good article.

Christopher Lusardi said...

This is another demonstration of how smart NASA is.

Anyway, the link you posted describes the use of a crockpot.

And, to me, a crockpot signals low heat being for a long time which signal good health!

I, myself, cook my food at low temperature which takes about twice as long to cook, compared to high heat cook.

Directly below is a short article from the May 2008 "Life Extension" magazine entitled "Avoid Foods Cooked at High Temperatures" which supports using more low heat in the food-prep stage.

What one eats plays a major role in chronic inflammatory processes. Cooking foods at temperatures greater than 250 degrees Fahrenheit results in sugars and certain oxidized fats reacting with proteins to form glycotoxins in the food. Consuming foods high in glycotoxins can induce a low-grade, but chronic state of inflammation. In addition, the glycotoxins in food cooked at high temperatures also promote the accumulation of advanced glycation end products in our living tissues, which results in an accelerated aging process.

Jeff said...

Damaris,

I'm a food writer for the Tampa Tribune and I'd love to chat with you about the beans.

I chatted with Norm Carlson a while back. I went to KSC one day for a shuttle launch so I could write about them, but there was a scrub.

Any chance I could chat with you briefly about the tradition?

I'm at jhouck@tampatrib.com.

Christopher Lusardi said...

Here's another article recommending everyone cook with low heat.

http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2008/apr2008_Guard-Your-Proteins-Against-Premature-Aging_02.htm


There are many more on the Internet.

Christopher Lusardi said...

Two of the pictures show computer screen windows that I think are from IBM computers. These computers are very very very reliable; Hence, NASA likes them. They shouldn't crash as much as a PC or other computer.

Honestly, this type of IBM computer is rarely if almost non-existantly taught at the college level. Ten years ago I worked for IBM, so I know a lot about how to get them to work.

When I first encountered that blue printed panel driven screen, I thought it was a computer made on Mars! This computer format was started in the 1960s, and is popular in the non-academic environment.