Launch Day!

Saturday morning at 4am, we woke up and left the hotel by 5:30am to meet up with the bus for launch attempt number two. Our group size was half of what it was Thursday since many could not stay. (Sadly, guys. Hope I get to see a lot of you at MSL time!)

We did not go to the causeway again, from what I heard because of the wind direction, they were worried about hazardous stuff in the air coming that way, so they took us over to KARS park. In my opinion, it was a way better view anyway- head on and the surrounding scenery was photogenic to the max.

They scrubbed launch attempt number one, again. Everyone was on pins and needles because this was the last launch attempt NASA could accommodate us for. For me, it is not a big deal, I decided that I was done chasing this rocket if it didn't go off that morning, I was spending way too much in gas to go back and forth. But I felt really bad for people who were sitting there waiting to see their first launch ever, who spent tons of money and came halfway around the world to see it.

Before the second launch attempt, we all sat around talking and laughing. I have never felt so close to such a large amount of people in such a short period of time. It was intense, like you suddenly have this new family you are sharing this amazing experience with. I feel like I have known some of these people my entire life. It is like you all have this really special secret that you can try to explain all you want, but people won't quite 'get it' until they have been a part of it. It bonds you all together.

Anyway, while we were waiting, I ate peanut butter out of a jar and tried to tell @fidget02 that the fire ant bites she got when she stepped in a pile of the beasts, would calm down in ten minutes. We actually have this on video and I still have to upload it to youtube. I have this thing for foreign accents and unfamiliar words, so I was torturing her, making her tell me funny British words. When I wasn't harassing her, I was petting manatees.

There were these two manatees (sea cows) hanging out by the dock because someone turned on the fresh water and they LOVE to drink the fresh water. I went over and was just a few feet from them, and I decided that how often does this happen and figured I would try to pet their little cute noses. So I laid down on the dock and reached down- Manatee #1 wasn't having any of it, he kept ducking under, but Manatee #2 actually LOVED getting its nose scratched and I think it was actually having a hard time decided between drinking the fresh water and getting its nose scratched. Little CUTIES!!!!! That has always been on my bucket list, and I am really excited that I got to do that. They are gentle, amazing creatures, and it was an honor and a privilege that it trusted me to let me do that. 

This killed all the time up until the second launch attempt number two. We all waited in suspense and yes, it was GO!!!! :)

As always, my hands were shaking and I decided since I had to lean over the water, it was not a good idea to hold my phone out to video (trust me, I would have dropped it!). So I only took photos, but they were FABULOUS!! My photos came out so neat, I still have to edit them and get them on a public album, but if you are on Facebook, you can find the originals on there.

So 3-2-1...and the Delta II launched GRAIL off on their journey to the moon!

The crowd energy...indescribable!

After the launch, we all took pics with each other, through this whole thing, I did not take many people pictures, and I realized it and tried to get as many as I could before we got back on the bus.

We got back to the parking lot, said our goodbyes. Then @Iamtay and I got back to her hotel and we said our goodbyes. I actually got really teary eyed on the way home. I am such a nerd, but I really had the most amazing week.

Preview of the launch, photographically.

This was the sunrise view we had of SLC 17-- see the two big towers to the left? The Delta II rocket carrying GRAIL is to the right of the right hand tower. It was stunning. Even the birds came out for the view!

Unedited launch photo. The sound went through my body.

Follow the white contrail all the way up past the clouds- Delta II is going, going, gone......see where it splits off a dark line? That is the shadow of the contrail! It was so neat, sometimes the clouds mess up your view of the rocket but give you great photo ops!

NASA Tweetup, Part 7? The Endless BBQ and The Planetarium

This is the story of a BBQ that is Endlessly awesome. A tradition after the launches, it is put on by a couple of awesome "spacetweeps" (clever name for space loving Twitter people), who provide a ton of food and beer. I went to the one after the launch for 135 and I remember someone saying they had about 200 people in and out of the house that night, I remember seeing every beer and liquor imaginable there, on a help yourself basis.

For the Endless BBQ after the GRAIL launch, Cocoa Beach Brewing Company offered up their facility, with their newly built deck out back. This place is the cutest bar I have ever seen. If you walked in not knowing where you were, you would think you were in a really cute coffee shop. I can't remember what kind of beer was in the keg, (help me out here guys) but I know I drank a lot of it. The food was great, the company was great. At what party can you sit around drinking lots of beer and talking math and physics and space? Endless BBQ, that's where!

I can't remember half the conversations I had that night, but I remember meeting some fabulous people, hearing awesome music, drinking wonderful beer and having a super good time.

One of the people attending GRAIL so generously offered to let me share her hotel room on Cocoa beach with her since I was absolutely not going to drive back to Orlando after this. The next morning, I woke up and walked over to the beach in the dark, and watched the our star rise over the Atlantic. It was spectacular, I love walking on the beach and I love sunrises.

Back up though. The night before as we were going to sleep, an email came through to our phones saying the Friday morning launch attempt was canceled, but NASA so generously offered to accommodate us for one more launch attempt Saturday morning. So that meant Friday was a free day. This is why I was on the beach Friday morning and not out chasing rocket launches...

I came home that day, relaxed, played with Pupples (it missed me so!) and got ready to head back out to Cocoa. It was announced that Dr. Randii Wessen from JPL would be speaking at the Brevard Planetarium though that evening, and I definitely wanted to go to that. So I headed back out and showed up there about an hour before the talk to do some homework.

Well, Dr. Wessen was already there along with the head of the Astronomy/Physics department, Dr. Fiorella Terenzi (they are both on Wikipedia, look them up). I sat and talked with them, such interesting people. Dr. Wessen's talk was so interesting, especially the part that explained how Curiosity (the Mars rover about to launch in November) would land on Mars.

After the lecture, there was a "reception" out in the science center part of the planetarium. They had all sorts of fun stuff there for kids to learn about scientific concepts, lots of "toys" that even us (yes, me) adults had fun with.

As I was speaking to the lady from NASA with the moon rock, (I apologize for not remembering names here), Dr. Terenzi invited me to dinner with herself, Dr. Wessen, and a bunch of other people.

It was an awesome evening with awesome, intellectual conversation- I there were several other NASA folks there as well, along with a student of Dr. Terenzis and a fellow Tweetup attendee.

From L to R: Tamre, Dr. Terenzi, Dr. Wessen, Me, Lisa

(My phone was dying so no flash, poor lighting)

Also, Dr. Wessen worked with Carl Sagan and on the Voyagers. If you are not aware, Carl Sagan is my hero and the Voyagers are my absolute favorite thing to read about. I love learning about their backstories, I love hearing anything about them. I was at a loss for thoughts though, I was so curious about them and what it was like to work with Dr. Sagan, yet I couldn't really think of anything to ask him about them. Really, it was just a nice dinner, with really intelligent people. And they had me try smoked salmon, which I had never had, and I am now hooked on! :)

I love good conversations. I am a talker, I am very inquisitive and I LOVE to learn and laugh. Meeting people with the passion for/or knowledge of Physics, Space, Math is rare. So it is like a flood gate opening when I am around people who I can talk about this stuff with and not get eye rolls or sighs of impatience. I was in my element, and I honestly drove away from dinner so happy. I didn't want this awesome week to end.

After dinner, I went back my friend's hotel and crashed. We had to be up at 4am to meet up with the tour bus at 6am for the final launch attempt we could view from NASA property!

NASA Tweetup-Part 6: 3-2-1..just kidding.

So I got home late the night before and before I went to sleep, I plugged all of my technologies in. I wanted to make sure I had full batteries for everything. I had a dream that I was late and missed the whole thing. It almost became a reality because I am an inept alarm clock setter, and I got lucky enough to be behind the only other (15 mph under the speed limit) person on the one lane part of Narcoosee Road at 4:45 in the morning.

When I pulled up, I saw a crowd had gathered around something. I walked up and there is Neil deGrasse Tyson with a laser pointer giving us a 6am astronomy lesson in the parking lot! It was fabulous! Shortly thereafter, we got on our bus and headed out to the causeway.

Once we got out there, I ended up with a group of about ten people at the far end of everyone else- but we had a full view of the rocket so we could see it clear the pad. In my opinion, that is the best part- watching it clear the pad. You can get a good view of it in the air anywhere- but seeing it clear the pad is the unique, awesome view being up close affords you. So we waited. We talked. Sang the "GO!" song up until the weather part- NO GO on weather! It was up and down- here is how it went.

GRAIL had two instantaneous launch windows. They were about an hour apart. If it wasn't ready to go at that second, it was a no go for launch because it HAD to be launched right then. See, usually launches have pretty big windows of time to fix any issues- like a person wandering into restricted areas, weather holds, etc. So they can basically reschedule the new launch time for sometime within that window. Not GRAIL- it had once chance and once chance only, twice each morning, precisely on the dot. So they scrubbed the first launch time that morning, and we waited for the second launch time. At this point, clouds started rolling in, and I predicted there was no WAY it was going to launch with clouds like that hanging out. I was right.

They scrubbed and we went back to KSC. They would try again tomorrow.

The cool thing was, we were each given a complimentary admission ticket to Kennedy Space Center, so many of us headed there after this because it was still really early.

I met up with some people and watched the "Hubble" IMAX movie in 3-D, which was SUPERB! Then I met up with some different people and went to the exhibit they had under the theater- had a lot of really cool space stuff in there, including a piece of the moon we were allowed to touch. Really neat to touch something that was once a part of the moon.

I will definitely say this, NASA goes all out when it comes to public education. They had some really neat people there, but I will get to that later, because I actually got to meet some of them at dinner the next night.

So that afternoon, Neil deGrasse Tyson was going to be speaking again at an informal q&a session. I definitely went. I got to ask him another question again, but I will be writing a separate post for that because I asked him a really neat question and got a really neat answer.

We then went and stood in line for Nichelle Nichols autograph. I was never a big Star Trek fan, I watched it when I was a kid, but never a junkie, but I have a friend who was, so I stood in line and got her to sign the back of my lanyard next to Neil deGrasse Tyson, and a GRAIL postcard for my friend.

The good thing about the launch being delayed is that it also delayed the end of the Tweetup. But sadly, about half of our people had to leave. I lucked out.

But, before some people left, it was Endless BBQ time---the LEGENDARY ENDLESS BBQ!! It really is legendary. It deserves it's own post as well. :)

Link to the NASA Tweetup Broadcast-Guest Speakers.

So if you missed the afternoon program on Ustream, here is the link. I can't watch it because I don't want to see myself on video or hear myself asking questions...I'm not a big fan of being behind a camera I am not controlling. Maybe eventually I will...:)

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-tweetup

That is all of the speakers that I mentioned in yesterday's blog post. Neil deGrasse Tyson is at the very end. (PART TWO!) Oh and now I remember I also asked Jim Adams a question about the Voyagers but I can't remember now. I love those little Voyagers :).

So just some highlights during NDT's talk- again, it is in part two,

7:43- That is MY water bottle! :)It is still sitting on my desk...I can't throw it away...
15:20-His whipped cream story- "Either the laws of physics are different in your coffee shop...."
19:20- "We define who and what we are as a culture..."
21:51- "And adult field trip.."
22:41-"We become jaded, forget what it is to ask questions..." (This is also where he thought I called humans pathetic..haha)

NASA Tweetup- Part 4- The Rest of the Tour

So after we left the VAB, we stopped at the famous Countdown Clock which just outside of the parking lot. This is THE Countdown Clock- the one that is in all of the press photos, directly across- 3.5 miles- from launchpad 39A. This was the view of the final launches of Atlantis, Discovery and Endeavour.

Everyone was rotating out for a picture with the clock. Here is the thing- the field was infested with sandspurs. If you are unaware of what these hideous things are- they are these tiny little spiked balls of dead plant material- and they attach to anything that touches them. They are SHARP and they are in clusters. I knelt down to take a pic for a friend, and when I stood up the back of my pants had them scattered from my waist, down to my tennis shoes. I had to have some buddies pick them off for me...last thing you want to do is have a seat with a cluster of those attached to your pants.

This was a quick stop. We then proceeded on to Launchpad 41, where Curiosity will launch out on an Atlas V in November. The pad was empty, and they had a speaker, but the problem was that I have no tolerance for heat. None. At all. I am a northerner at heart, always will be and my tolerance for standing out in the sun is about zero. I tried to hide in the shade of a Hummer with another buddy out there, but it was too much, I started to get that nauseous buzzy feeling I used to get when I would ride horses at high noon in the dead heat of July when I was a kid. I went back on the bus to sit in the air and missed most of the guys speech. It was either that or pass out. I probably would have been fine if I wasn't still battling the sudden mystery illness, but my body was already being mean to me, and I did NOT want to risk getting sicker and missing the AWESOME afternoon lineup they had planned for us.

We then traveled to pad 17 where the Delta stood. Unfortunately, rollback of the tower would not be until that night, so all we could see was the rocket boosters and about 3/4 of the body of the rocket. Again, we were in the sun, and again, I went to the shade to stand with some others, but I couldn't take it. I was SO nauseous, and so ill feeling, I got on the bus and took an anti-nausea pill to try to quell the nausea. It was that bad, I thought I was going to have to miss the speakers. (At this point I am pretty sure it was more to do with being sick than the sun. The sun was being tolerated by everyone else, so I think I was just really super sensitive because I felt like crap).

Anyway, I got pics of everything I talked about here, I still have to sort through all these photos and figure out what site is the easiest and most organized for uploading them onto. It was an amazing tour, despite being sick. Thank goodness we got to see Endeavour first though, turning the corner and seeing that shuttle right in front of me was by far one of the most priceless, irreplaceable moments of my life. I am sure that I will go back as I am looking through pictures and write new entries as details come back to me too. I just want to get the gist of everything down here first before I forget! There is so much more to talk about!

The next few entries will be about the guest speakers, launch day 1, endless bbq, the planetarium, launch day 2, goodbyes, and one last meetup to hangout with my new pal Justine from the UK before she headed back across the pond!

The GRAIL NASA Tweetup-Part One

I am going to break this up into a few parts I will write over the next week or so. This event was so overwhelming, and I am still digesting everything. I met and conversed with a sampling of the greatest minds on this planet. I met Space Shuttle Endeavour. I sat at a BBQ and talked math and physics equations with my new buddies. I experienced things that most people will only ever get to experience via television or photograph. I played in a space-lovers candy shop paradise for a week and honestly it was one of the most gratifying experiences I will ever have. My mind is stretched by this, it can't be undone. NASA Tweetup, you rocked my WORLD! :) 

The first day of the Tweetup was credential pick up and the pre-event dinner  we all planned at Dixie Crossroads Restaurant. I woke up Tuesday morning really sick. I was nauseous and throwing up, and I honestly thought it was going to ruin the whole week for me. I felt horrible, but I went out to pick up my stuff anyway. When I got to the press building on SR 3, I checked in and was given my awesome Tweetup badge and my swag bag. All sorts of fun NASA and GRAIL logo adorned items, would make any fan super happy. At this point, it got real. It made it quite easy to ignore the fact I felt like falling over. 

The Press Accreditation Building

Next up on the agenda was dinner. Time to meet a ton of people. I had some time to kill, and it was unseasonably cool outside, so I headed over to Spaceview Park and took a little 20 minute snooze on a park bench on the water. When I opened my eyes the Vehicle Assembly Building was the first thing I saw. 

 

My NASA Tweetup Badge

I headed over to Dixie Crossroads, and dinner was fantastic. I met around 60 people in one sitting, and the energy in the room was exhilarating. The conversations you have when surrounded by a mass of people who share the same exact passion as you, are fantastic. On top   of that, you already "know" these people in theory, so it was just a super fun night. Just a note, Dixie Crossroads serves these corn fritter things- either eat one or prepare to ruin your diet. They are addictive! 

The night slowly came to a close, I felt like I had at least introduced myself to everyone there, and it was time to head home and get some sleep. The next morning we had to be at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex by 8:30am for day one of our actual NASA sponsored activities. 

In hindsight, unless you are a veteran of these things, there was absolutely nothing that could have fully made me comprehend the things I was about to see and the people I was about to meet over the days that were to follow. 

My "Endeavour".

There is SO MUCH to tell about this week. To summarize, amazing sights, amazing conversation, but mainly AMAZING PEOPLE! Well...and this...

Yep. That is ME with ENDEAVOUR!!!! I am standing just a few yards from a space shuttle. It rendered me speechless if you can believe it.

"NASA Invites 150 Twitter Followers to Lunar Launch "

Media Release of our event from NASA:

News release: 2011-276                                                                     Sept. 1, 2011

NASA Invites 150 Twitter Followers to Lunar Launch 

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at: 
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-276&cid=release_2011-276

PASADENA, Calif. – NASA has invited 150 followers of the agency's Twitter accounts to a two-day launch Tweetup Sept. 7-8. The Tweetup is expected to culminate in the launch of the twin moon-bound GRAIL spacecraft aboard a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The launch is targeted for 5:37 a.m. PDT (8:37 a.m. EDT) on Sept. 8. The two GRAIL spacecraft will fly in tandem orbits around the moon for several months to measure its gravity field in unprecedented detail from crust to core. The mission also will answer longstanding questions about the moon and provide scientists with a better understanding of how Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system formed.

Tweetup participants were selected from more than 800 people who registered online. They will share their Tweetup experiences with their followers through the social networking site Twitter.

Participants represent the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Indonesia, Spain and the United Kingdom. Attendees from the U.S. come from 32 states: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

Beginning at noon PDT (3 p.m. EDT) on Wednesday, Sept. 7, NASA will broadcast a portion of the Tweetup when attendees talk with NASA Administrator Charles Bolden; Jim Adams, deputy director of planetary science at NASA Headquarters in Washington; Maria Zuber, GRAIL principal investigator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge; Sami Asmar, GRAIL deputy project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.; and Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist and Frederick P. Rose Director at the American Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium in New York. To watch the broadcast, visit:http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-tweetup . The event will also be streamed live, with a moderated chat, at http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2 .

Participants also will tour NASA's Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral, including a close-up visit to the launch pad.

Reporters interested in interviewing Tweetup attendees should contact Stephanie Schierholz at 202-358-1100 or stephanie.schierholz@xxxxxxxx. Reporters interested in covering the afternoon program Sept. 7 at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex must secure access through Andrea Farmer by 2 p.m. PDT (5 p.m. EDT) Sept. 6 at 321-449-4318 or afarmer@xxxxxxxxxx.

Previously, NASA invited groups to attend the launch of the Juno spacecraft on its way to Jupiter and five space shuttle launches: Atlantis' STS-129, STS-132 and STS-135 missions, Discovery's STS-133 mission and Endeavour's STS-134 mission.

To follow participants on Twitter as they experience the prelaunch events and GRAIL's liftoff, follow the #NASATweetup hashtag and the list of attendees at: http://twitter.com/nasatweetup/grail-launch

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the GRAIL mission. For more information about GRAIL, visit:http://www.nasa.gov/grail or http://grail.nasa.gov .

To connect with NASA on Twitter and other social networking sites, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/connect .

Veronica McGregor 818-354-9452
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
veronica.c.mcgregor@xxxxxxxxxxxx

Stephanie L. Schierholz 202-358-4997
Headquarters, Washington
stephanie.schierholz@xxxxxxxx

And So It Begins!

"Congratulations! You have been selected to attend the NASA Tweetup on Sept. 7-8 in conjunction with the launch of the twin GRAIL spacecraft!

The two-day event will provide you the opportunity to tour the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex; speak with scientists and engineers from GRAIL and other upcoming missions; and, if all goes as scheduled, view the spacecraft launch. The launch window opens at 8:37 a.m. EDT on Sept. 8.

I am going to see GRAIL launch atop the Delta 2 rocket in about 3 weeks!! A few days ago I received this email, and I have been walking on sunshine ever since! 


Alright, here is the deal. I never, and I mean NEVER, win things. I occasionally get to do some pretty cool things in my life because I get the hook up from some really selfless people, but random chance, "luck of the draw", was never something I was good at. There are no words that can truly express how excited I am. I absolutely adore rocket launches, NASA, space exploration, the universe, the people I have met via this passion, all of it. 


***A HUGE THANK YOU to @NASA, and all the folks that handle the @NASATweetup for this incredible opportunity. ***


You can follow my GRAIL NASATweetup adventure on Twitter (@catahouligan) on September 7 and 8.


"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." 


Stay Tuned!! :)