Monday - March 1, 2010

I like to watch the thirteen episodes of Cosmos from time to time. They are available on NetFlix streaming. Carl Sagan was a great story teller. I found that it is a very good way to relax. So much so that it is a sure-fire way to get my girls (3 and 4 yo) to go to sleep. They like to watch it but they just can't keep their eyes open.

Cosmos made my wife look for science sites. I decided to check out APOD (astronomy picture of the day) site. While I was looking through some of the latest pictures, I happened upon this one. It shows the space shuttle's dark side. It's quite beautiful. We won't be seeing much more of those craft. In a short time, they will be put out of service and we will be traveling to space by another means. I grew up in the 80s when they were still relatively new. I remember when the Challenger explosion happened. Prior to that event, the shuttle launches were a national event. When one was being launched, all three major networks were tuned in, just like when the president was giving a speech.

After the Challenger explosion, it has been rare to see a launch televised. I wish they were still on. The good news is that we now have sites like YouTube.

I tried to see a shuttle launch in real life last year but missed it due to delays. They have a lot of those, so it's very difficult to be lucky enough to witness one, unless you live near Kennedy Space Center.

We were staying in Cocoa Beach for two weeks but weren't able to see it. I did get to see the previous shuttle mission coming in, however. We stood on the beach and watched the shuttle come in on the back of a jet. That was a pretty cool experience itself.