SpaceX’s Dragon Launch 3:44AM EDT
Yes - we got up at 2:30AM to watch SpaceX's Dragon launch across the early morning sky. There really isn't much I could say about it - I am as speechless now as I was when I saw Atlantis launch two years ago. If there was a way to share this experience with more people there would be a huge priority shift from dropping bombs on sand castles to exploring what lies beyond Earth's atmosphere. The sights, sounds and feelings that come with watching a launch are hard to explain. So posting at 4:30AM? The explanation isn't going to make a ...
Kennedy Space Center
Almost two years ago a few friends in Raleigh rented an RV and headed South on a trip to see one of the last shuttle launches (STS-132). I know - I probably talk about it all the time. If the first trip was "To Infinity and Beyond" this one is Infinity behind the scenes. At the close of the shuttle program the Vehicle Assembly Building is open for tours for the first time in almost three decades. Currently the building is open because there is no vehicle to assemble. It it not only one of the largest buildings in the world ...
Brewgaloo
Or Veni, Vidi, Setit Linea. In the words of Julius Caesar I came, I saw, I stood in line. Et tu, Brute? Nope. This event went from - I bought tickets for what??? to nearly epic in a fairly short span of time. I'm not sure how that happens but for us the letters V-I-P are usually involved. And yes - a couple of us were speaking Latin by the end of the night. What went on exactly? This voicemail might make things a little clearer... We also popped into an Indian wedding. Almost had a kitchen tour. Saw someone get kicked out ...
Christ of the Abyss – Key Largo, FL
So today's diving included getting to use my new Canon PowerShot SX230HS with the Waterproof Case on the second dive of the day. Fortunately for all of us we went to the famous Christ of the Abyss in John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. There isn't a lot I can say about the underwater statue except he didn't have a golf cart and I don't think a 8 foot tall statue would be underwater in the New River. Sorry Golf Cart Jesus - I get the feeling this isn't happening for you. The original Christ of the Abyss is a submerged ...
| BobG on World Bluegrass Festival Coming to Raleigh | I seem to remember something about a large parade in mid March each year. My memory on that is kinda ... | [READ MORE] |
| Anthony on NOSVC Weather Cam [BETA] | Good call on turning the camera - that seems to have cleared things up a little bit. Office Cam is ... | [READ MORE] |
| BobG on NOSVC Weather Cam [BETA] | To avoid the reflection, simply turn the camera 30-45 degrees so its not looking directly back at itself. Suggestions? PrincessCam. GI ... | [READ MORE] |
| BobG on Vote for the Dark Bucket | Imagine the Lego Death Star you could make with this.... | [READ MORE] |
| BobG on Vote for the Dark Bucket | I know some nephews who would kill for this. | [READ MORE] |
It’s the final countdown and we are well on our way to another St. Patrick’s Day parade. Welcome to awesome – population those fortunate to either ride on or have been part of the legacy that is the floating experience. We hope everyone will come out in two weeks and be a part of the greatness that is the Raleigh St. Patrick’s Day Parade & Festival.
For those you not familiar with the event it has been around since 1983 – we’ve been a part of the fun since 2006 first as an artmusiclife.com project and going forward into the nosvc.com years. We’ve built with papier-mâché, balloons, spoofed televisions shows, a space program and thrown out 100s of pounds of candy.
The question we hear most – why? The usual response – why not? I can explain it to you but you won’t understand. You have to experience it. You have to get on a cardboard boat that was built in a couple of weekends from scrap, put on a viking helmet and watch as the masses cheer for you. Last year someone described it as “being a rock star.” Fortunately we’ve never been asked to play music – except that one year – with the balloons.
Thanks to everyone that came out today to help with the build (Candace, John, BobG, Courtney, Cara) – we’ll have more to do soon. If you have a favorite memory or float post it in the comments. Until then – Megi vegur rísa upp á móti þér.
2006 – 2007 – 2008 – 2009 – 2010
Papier-mâché
Sorry about the ad at the beginning – it shouldn’t last more than 15 seconds and it is worth waiting through. After that – extremely awesome series of shuttle launches with some really good audio spliced in. Very cool moment of silence for Challenger.
Enjoy!
Most of us know that what is commonly called the the Space Shuttle (technically the spaceplane) is part of the larger STS or Space Transportation System. The no less important but generally less focused upon elements of the STS include twin solid rocket boosters and the external tank or fuel tank. The video to the right focuses in on the solid rocket booters and shows what happens after their two or so minutes of useful thrust is complete.
Per the note on the video this is from STS-125 which was an Atlantis mission to perform final repairs on the famed Hubble telescope.
Note: Given the success of yesterday’s broadcast I am adding a permanent link to NASA TV under Features. Today they are viewing the heat panels under the shuttle looking for potential damage.
Just a quick FYI that we’ve updated to WordPress 3.1 and installed what is hopefully a better template based mostly on a div structure and not a table structure. (For those of you not familiar with HTML that just made no sense at all.) If you see issues please let me know. I am going to try and get everything resolved as quickly as possible but then I do have a full time job so we’ll see. If you are using a browser other than Firefox or an operating other than Windows 7 or Ubuntu 10.10 feel free to send over a screen capture or upload it to the User Gallery. (Just hit Control-PrtScn and paste into an email.)
Everything has been tested but that doesn’t always mean everything works. I’m happy to learn about my mistakes – at least on this project. Also feel free to comment on the new look – it isn’t likely to stick around any longer than the previous ones but I am making it possible to go back to the older themes with the drop-down box under the recent Facebook connects.
UStream.tv feed after the jump. Moved to this because that one kept crapping out on me.