A Time of Mixed Emotions at Kennedy Space Center

Discovery landed last week ending not only a 13-day mission, but a 27-year spaceflight career. Preparations are now in work to retire the orbiter which will eventually be placed on public display in a museum.


Endeavour now sits on the launch pad awaiting a launch for April 19. On Monday, an accident involving in the death of James D. Vanover occured from the launch pad during preparations of Endeavour. The incident is being investigated it was a very sad day at Kennedy Space Center. This will be the final mission for Endeavour and it has been confirmed that the commander will still be Mark Kelly, husband of congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

SWE Boston WOW! That's Engineering!

Since last summer I was actively planning an outreach event for girls in grades 6-8. Together with the MIT Lincoln Laboratory and the Society of Women Engineers in Boston, we hosted a full day of engineering workshops to engage and encourage these young girls in the fields of math, science, and engineering. After the students checked in, they were directed to tables with all sorts of different donated hardware such as Rock Band guitars, printers, computers, old cell phones, etc. The girls were given screwdrivers and allowed to take any item apart to explore its technology. Best of all, they didn't have to put it back together!! Throughout the day, group rotated in 4 workshops: Robotics, Solar Energy Car, Electrical Circuit, and Lip Gloss mixing. Each workshop was hands on and the girls got to leave with what they built during the activity. During lunch, we had a Liquid Nitrogen demonstration where the girls had the opportunity to smash pennies, flowers, and marshmallows that were dipped in liquid nitrogen. The event was such a success, that we're planning the next one for this July!!!

STS-133: Last Launch for Shuttle Discovery

During this 11-day mission, Discovery will deliver two key components—an Italian-built Permanent Multipurpose Module and the Express Logistics Carrier—that will provide spare parts and storage capacity to the ISS. Discovery will also deliver Robonaut 2, which will become the first humanoid robot in space.

Launch is set for today, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011, at 4:50 p.m. EST.

Follow the launch at: http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts133/status.html

Shuttle Discovery (STS-133) launch delayed to late February

NASA shuttle managers need more time to investigate and repair the cracks in shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank. Thursday, they delayed the launch of Discovery's final mission again, moving out of the next launch window, which extended from Feb. 3 to Feb. 10. No new date was established, but the next window extends from Feb. 27 through March 6. The date could be advanced some, but February is a busy month for the launching of Russian, Japanese and European cargo capsules to the station. Meanwhile, engineers continue to investigate why the cracks appeared during a Nov. 5 launch scrub. (full story)

All-in-One: Solar Eclipse, ISS, Sunspots!

Belgian astrophotographer Thierry Legault's picture of Tuesday's partial solar eclipse also shows the International Space Station passing over the sun's disk.

Happy New Year!!! What's in Plan for 2010?

Happy New Year, everyone! Let's start this year off with a blog post!

It's hard to believe that I have been in Boston for 8 months now. I absolutely love my job and living in this city. I think 8 months is good enough to say I've gotten settled into the area, the new job, my first experience with an actual snowy winter, new friends, and a puppy (Higley)!



Now time for the realistic "how-can-I-improve" list. There are so many things that I want to work towards. My main priority for the first quarter is an event I'm coordinating for the Society of Women Engineers this coming March. We're planning a full Saturday of engineering workshops for girls in grades 6-8. While I knew it was going to be a lot of work, I'm blown away by everything that has to come together to make an event this big happen.

Other personal things on my list include:
Blog!
Take a photography class to really make the most out of my camera
Eat healthy and keep my exercise routine going
Teach myself sign language
Read more books
Plan a ladies camping escape trip in the woods
Keep in touch with friends better
Run a half marathon
Learn Japanese
Become a Big Sister

Let's be thankful for all that we have and for the support we've had from either family or friends. I hope everyone has a successful 2011 an good luck if you're working towards any personal goals!

Welcome, 2011!

Burt Rutan Retires....

If you’re an aerospace engineer or space enthusiast....you know of Burt Rutan. An innovative man crafting flight vehicles with a complete “think-outside-the box” design. Well now Rutan retires...

Read more...

STS-133 Shuttle Discovery Launch Delayed to 11/5!

With rain showers and low clouds sweeping over NASA's Florida spaceport, agency managers decided early Thursday not to fuel the shuttle Discovery, delaying launch another 24 hours to Friday at 3:04 p.m. EDT. While conditions will improve in the wake of a cold front, forecasters are predicting a 40 percent chance of high winds that could cause another scrub.....Here's the weather outlook over the next days.

Friday @ 3:04 p.m. EDT: 60 percent favorable, concerns for low-cloud ceilings and launch pad winds

Saturday @ 2:41 p.m. EDT: 40 percent favorable, concern for launch pad winds

Sunday @ 1:15 p.m. EST: 70 percent favorable, concerns for crosswinds at emergency KSC runway and launch pad winds

Monday @ 12:52 p.m. EST: 90 percent favorable, slight concern for crosswinds

STS-133 Shuttle Discovery Launch Delayed to 11/4

The shuttle Discovery's launch on a space station resupply mission Wednesday was delayed at least 24 hours, to no earlier than 3:29:43 p.m. EDT Thursday, to give engineers more time to troubleshoot an apparent electrical glitch in circuitry associated with a backup main engine computer.

STS-133 Mission Status Center

Think Outside the Circle!

http://spacecoalition.com/benefits-of-space/think-outside-the-circle

I want the Shuttle Adventure!!!!

I want the Lego Shuttle Adventure (10213)! One of the guys at work had this at his desk today and I was completely jealous. The design is awesome and they nailed little details I can appreciate after working on the shuttle program.

Filming of Transformers 3 at Kennedy Space Center

Well now I am just going to HAVE to watch Transformers 3 to see what at Kennedy Space Center made it into the movie. Scenes were shot at Pad 39A last week. They even had the Rotating Service Structure (RSS) retracted to maybe even give some credit to Discovery!

But then they went off to shoot in Washington D.C and a non-scripted crash of Bumblebee occurred. Whoops! I'm sure they have "extras" of Bumblebee, right?!? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkq6fi2U2zE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Transformers 3 is set to release next summer on June 11th.

Discovery Rolling Out to the Pad (STS-133)

Vote for Your Favorite Wake Up Song!!!

The wakeup song has been a part of the space program since the days of the Apollo missions, and now NASA is giving you two chances to be a part of this history! NASA needs your help selecting wakeup songs to be played during the final missions of the Space Shuttle Program! You can either vote from their Top 40 List or submit your own original work!

Visit: https://songcontest.nasa.gov/home.aspx

This Week in Space

This Week In Space

Robotnaut 2!!!

Rosie from the Jetson's comes true! Just kidding! NASA and GE have been working on jointly on this robot, Robonaut 2 or R2, which consists of a white-suited torso with two arms, two five-fingered hands and a gold head. The robot's role in space initially will be to perform tasks serving as an "astronaut's assistant" from a fixed position inside the U.S. Destiny lab. Eventually, upgrades could have this robot performing spacewalks!

R2 has a very human-like design for the purpose of being able to use human tools as well. The robot will fly on Discovery's 11-day mission's scheduled for November 1, 2010 at 4:40pm.

Need some ideas!!!

I need your ideas! I'm starting to get active with the Society of Women Engineers here in Boston and I've volunteered to keep an outreach event going where we educate kids about engineering through a FUN day filled with a variety of hands-on workshops.

I need your help with any good experiments or activities kids would be able to accomplish within an hour, BUT still incorporate learning about different engineering disciplines. We're hoping to have them complete about 6-7 different workshops for the day. I have some ideas (bottle rocket launching, music box kit, etc.)and I've looked around online, but does anyone have some good ones they really like out there?!?! If you have recommendations, it doesn't matter what age group/grade. We'd like to host an event for 3-6 and 7-12 graders. I'm open to all suggestions! THANKS!

Get your face in space!!!!

For as rainy and gloomy as it was this weekend in Boston, I turned out to have a pretty nice weekend!!! It amazes me how many events happened around the city here. This weekend I ventured out to the 2010 Health and Fitness Expo (got to meet Mario Lopez!) and explored the city a little more. I also bought a pair of rain boots and a good rain shell that I’ve definitely needed to not let the rain hamper my plans. I also found an awesome gym near my house that I've signed up with. There is a boxing class that is taught by a Women's Boxing Olympic coach and I've started really enjoying the sport and learning the correct techniques.

With two shuttle launches left (STS-133 in September and STS-134 in November), you can fly your face in space. Visit http://faceinspace.nasa.gov/index.aspx for details. I just submitted mine to fly on the last mission for STS-134.

JAXA’s Asteroid Explorer "HAYABUSA" successfully separated its capsule and re-entered the atmosphere to complete its mission. For about seven years since its launch in May 2003, the HAYABUSA successfully completed a great achievement by landing on the asteroid "ITOKAWA," gathering rocks and returning them to Earth.

Read the first diary post from ESA’s Mars500!! http://www.esa.int/esaMI/Mars500/SEMUXB5XT9G_0.html

This Week in Space