Fall Back.....

Well the weather has been getting some what cooler the last couple of weeks here in S.W. Missouri. We're already over half way through the month of September, with October not far behind! Fall is just around the corner, my favorite time of the year!! :) I all ways did like fall the best, the temperatures are all ways cooler, so I don't get as hot, as quickly out side. Oddly, my allergies seem to be at their least during the fall, you would thing it would be the other way around?! I also like the weather! Day time temps. in the low 60's, cloudy skies, a slight breeze, and a very fine mist in the air, the smell of wood being burned in fireplaces along the block, and the turning of the leaves!!

I was spoiled in that last respect till we moved at the end of my Freshman year in High School. We had a massive Silver Maple tree in our front yard through out all my childhood, and early adolescents. The deep reds, yellows, and oranges that it's leaves would turn were amazing. Falls in which we had an abundance of rain fall made the colors even deeper, and more vivid!! We all ways had piles of Silver Maple leaves all over the yard, that was almost never raked up till after Halloween! I love to hear the sound of kids crunching the leaves as they walk up to the house on Halloween!

Halloween has always been my favorite Holiday since I could remember. Christmas may have been once in ancient history, but I'm sure after one or two with most of my family, my toddler brain switched to Halloween! I loved dressing up in costumes, and going trick or treating til I reached a certain age. After that I loved decorating the house, and handing out candy to the little kids! We used to have so many kids at our old house, we lived maybe 5-6 blocks from the elementary school I went to. We usually had at least 75-100 kids each year, and once had almost 150!! Since we moved, the most I think we ever had was 30-40. :( The year before last year at my grandma's house I think we had almost 50! Last year I didn't get to hand out candy, but this year I will be making up for it hopefully! I have all ready asked off for that day, and I need to stake out the Halloween shops that have started popping up on the south side of town. Halloween is on a Friday this year, so I am hoping that there will be many more trick or treaters than there has been the last several years!

I haven't decided yet what this Sunday's NASA post will be about. I'm thinking the Space Shuttle? In October there will be a mission that is, once again, supposed to be the final service mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. I wish that NASA would decide to continue the use of Hubble beyond what they have decided on. I realise that they want to put newer space telescopes in orbit, but none of the new proposals will cover everything that Hubble can do! There will be a large part of the visible light spectrum that will not be detectable be any of these new telescopes currently in the works. Why can't we cut back on Hubble service, but still continue to every once in a while upgrade Hubble, to continue with it's coverage of the entire visible light spectrum, and beyond!!

Ike's A Coming!!

This week's NASA post is about The International Space Station(ISS).

(Top picture, courtesy of NASA ISS Web Site) A Russian cargo ship was supposed to dock with the ISS this last Friday to deliver supplies to the station crew. That didn't happen, as due to the evacuation of Huston, due to Hurricane Ike, NASA had to leave Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center. According to the ISS Web Site, most of the missions, now being run out of Austin, TX; and Huntsville, ALB. facilities, will consist of recovery for the next week. Even tough NASA can continue to operate the station from these fall back positions, certain systems can only be controlled from the Johnson Space Center facility, so U.S. & Russian officials agreed to post pone the docking till Mission Control may be re-opened. The rescheduled docking will take place on Wednesday, September 17th, even if Johnson Space Center is not back to full working order.

(Bottom Picture, courtesy of NASA ISS Web Site)Before the closing of Mission Control, and The Johnson Space Center, NASA had began a very unique game. Greg Chamitoff, Flight Engineer for the Expedition 17 crew on the ISS, began a game of Chess with the people at Mission Control. Charmitoff brought the Chess set with him aboard STS-124 (Discovery) which launched on May 31st, of this year. In addition to the folks at Mission Control, Charitoff is playing with people at control centers in Moscow, Japan, Germany, and France!! The first game was won by Chamitoff, and he had began another before Hurricane Ike started to effect the Space Control Center in Houston, TX. NASA is posting the moves, one per day, on the ISS web site. You can also leave a comment at the bottom of the screen to tell Mission Control how you would move against Chamitoff!!

Expedition 17 has been on the ISS for 159 days, and the ISS has been in orbit of the Earth for 3,586 days!!

Splash Down!!

Well it seems that it's time for the Constellation Program to take a bath!!  Or at least the Orion Crew Modules turn at the 6.2 million gallon Neutral Buoyancy Lab, at The Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas.  NASA is testing a 1/4th scale model of the capsule, that will carry the Constellation Crew to the Moon, in tanks of water at The Johnson Space Center & Texas A&M.  The tests are designed to help see if the capsule will float in water, and how it will do so during water landings.  The tests also help to see if a new seal works, and to test a new floatation collar for the space craft!  These tests will lead up to a full scale mock up to be tested of the coast of Florida in January of 2009! (Top Picture, courtesy of Constellation Web Site)

On July 31st, NASA tested the parachute system that will help slow the Orion Capsule during landing, or during an abort attempt.  A parachute, called a programmer chute, deployed but failed to inflate during the test.  As a result, the test article didn't slow down, and wasn't oriented correctly to issue a safe landing. (Center Picture, Courtesy of Constellation Web Site)

Teams from 7 different NASA centers descended upon Moses Lake Sand Dunes in Washington State in June.  They are testing many new ideas for use during the missions on the lunar surface.  They team is testing new robots that would be used on the Moon to assist Astronauts.  Also tested were new rovers, new space suites, and habitats to be used on the surface of the Moon.  It sounds totally cool!! (Bottom Picture, courtesy of Constellation Web Site)

For more information go to the Constellation Web Site!

Coming Soon!

Tomorrow I will post what will be a new series in The Firebird's Nest!  A weekly, hopefully. blog post about NASA!  I have loved the Space Programme since I was a little boy, and I would love to make Space a regular part of my blog.  I hope to feel a lot of these posts with news about the Constellation Programme.  For those of you that may not know, Constellation is the Programme to return Astronauts to the Moon!!  I have seen drawings, pictures, and early mock ups that remind me of the hey day of Apollo! :)  I will admit that the Lunar Lander looks a bit different, but the Orion Crew Capsule is just a larger version of the one used on Apollo, with many upgrades!  I plan to bring you picture, direct from the Constellation Website, and and as much info as I can find.  I also plan to write about the last missions of the Space Shuttle, that will be retied in the next few years.  As we look forward in human exploration of space, the International Space Station must play a predominate role!  I will write about what is going on aboard the I.S.S., and the future of manned space flight.  Some very interesting things have been going on with robotic probes, and moving exploration robots used to explore our solar system!  The Martian rovers were two prime examples of NASA technology going above, and beyond what it was designed to do.  And many new, and exciting things continue to come out of NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab, there should be plenty to write about!!  Finally, NASA may have given up on it, but I refuse to let the Hubble Space Telescope go down quietly!  I will write about Hubble, bring you incredible shots taken be it's cameras, and hopefully make the argument why NASA should continue to use Hubble in conjunction with new age space telescopes!  I hope that you will like this new series!!

The Republican Convention Flop??

YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, if you haven't heard, the Republican Convention isn't going so well.  I just heard on CNN Headline News that attendance  is low.  A live picture from the convention showed many empty seats.  And what better gift could the DNC get, but John McCains Vice Presidential running mate's Daughter is pregnant!  Now I don't want to make fun of a families personal matter, but it will play big in the media.  It will appear as if Gov. Palin didn't instill good family values in her daughter.  Now that may, or may not be the case, but it will in at least the short term hurt the campaign. McCain in the polls.  I do hope that the Palin family has an easy time with this, which should be seen as a good time for their family.  I hope that Bristol Palin has no complications, and has a very healthy baby!!

In a Convention related note, according to Headline News, Hurricane Gustav has drawn a lot of people away from the Republican Convention!!  I hope that it's not from people being hurt, or loved ones in trouble.  It's kind of a mixed feeling for me.  I'm glad that less people are there, but I hope it's not for bad reasons.  I don't want Sen. McCain to win.  I think that he will lead us as a country down a road, that we need to get off of!!  I hope that there aren't as many people at the Republican Convention as was at the Democratic Convention!

I think that Sen. Obama will help us to dig out of the hole the country has found it's self in!  Maybe I just blowing smoke up my ass, but I think Barack Obam is the new John Kennedy!!  I think his administration will be known as the "New Camelot"!!  I'm hopeful for an America with President Obama at the helm!!