The Good and the Not so Good

The Good:

In my May 28, 2012 post, I wrote about SpaceX’s successful launch of a cargo ship to the International Space Station (ISS). It was the first time a ship owned by a private citizen had visited the ISS, and now they may have an opportunity to expand into the manned space shuttle business.

On August 3, 2012, NASA announced three companies had been contracted to design and develop the next generation of crewed spacecraft under the umbrella of NASA’s Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative. NASA’s press release states the CCiCap’s objective is to facilitate the development of a U.S. commercial crew space transportation capability. Their goal is to achieve safe, reliable and cost-effective access to and from the International Space Station and low Earth orbit. The idea is that the technology, once developed, would be available to the government and private sector.

The three companies are:

• Sierra Nevada Corporation, Louisville, Colo., $212.5 million
• Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), Hawthorne, Calif., $440 million
• The Boeing Company, Houston, $460 million

According to NASA, these commercial partnerships have the potential to set the agency on a course to provide new transportation into space for its astronauts, while expanding human presence beyond low Earth orbit and enabling new missions of exploration across the solar system.

The Not so Good:

NASA is working on an in-house project called Morpheus, a vertical test bed demonstrating new green propellant propulsion systems and autonomous landing and hazard detection technology. It is a full spacecraft that will be capable of carrying 1100 pounds of cargo to the moon.

On Friday, August 3, 2012, NASA completed a successful tethered test flight at Kennedy Space Center.



It went so well that NASA decided to attempt a free flight with a Morpheus prototype on Thursday, August 9th. Unfortunately, the craft crashed about fifty feet from the launch site.



NASA says no one was injured, no property was damaged (besides the vehicle), and they have been able to recover significant data that will give them greater insight into the source of the problem.

I think both these events are of equal importance. I hope NASA doesn’t give up on Morpheus. This was a setback but no one was injured and to me, the fact that they are creating a homegrown spacecraft is huge. Also, since NASA has awarded some developmental contracts I have hope that the United States space effort is not dead.

Does anyone else think both these events are of equal importance?

Curiosity Follow Up

My December 6, 2011 blog discussed the Mars Rover Curiosity. On Sunday, 8/5/12, it landed on the Red Planet in what CNN reported as a spectacle known as the "seven minutes of terror." The reason for the “terror” was the unknown; the distance between Mars and Earth caused a communications lag so the folks in mission control couldn’t follow the descent and landing in real time.

Courtesy ABC News

When they launched the rover on 11/26/11, there didn’t seem to be much hype. I don’t recall there being more than fifteen second blurbs on news casts. But after landing, ABC News ran a clip that showed the unbridled elation of the technicians in mission control when they received confirmation of a safe touchdown. It seems that every night thereafter, they’ve had a piece about some aspect of the current mission.

Courtesy ABC News

After traveling more than 200 million miles in about 8 ½ months, Curiosity has settled safely in Gale Crater on Mars’ surface. Within minutes, it sent its first image, and in the distance you can see the rim of the Gale Crater. (For all you conspiracy theorists, that’s not the Mojave Desert.)

Curiosity’s mission is to scout for signs of life on Mars and NASA expects it will function for two years.

I think it’s exciting. NASA says missions like this pave the way for manned exploration. We can only hope.

What do you think? Is the Curiosity mission frivolous or a logical step in potential human space travel?

Cruisin’ With Glory

The Glory's Atrium Lobby

The average weight gain for a five-day cruise is (the answer is at the end of this post):

a. 7.5 lbs

b. 2.5 lbs

c. 5.0 lbs

d. 10  lbs

Carnival Glory

My wife and I just completed our second cruise. It was a five day Canadian cruise aboard the Carnival Glory out of Boston, MA, with stops in St John, New Brunswick and Halifax, Nova Scotia. Our first cruise, aboard the Disney Dream, was detailed in my February 27, 2012 blog (Living the Disney Dream).

Reversing Falls Rapids
Courtesy Google Images

After a day at sea, our first port of call was St John. We did the “Top 10 Best of Saint John” excursion which was highlighted by a pair of trips to the Reversing Falls Rapids. It was the first stop and later in the day our final stop and it afforded us the opportunity to view the river moving in the opposite direction from the morning visit.

Peggy's Cove



Peggy's Cove

The following day we ported in Halifax. Our primary excursion was to Peggy’s Cove. We drove to the tip of a cramped promontory and our tour bus was parked with four other similar vehicles – and more kept coming. There's no denying that Peggy's Cove is scenic but, the combination of damp drizzly weather and so many people in this confined space made this a non-highlight for me.

Chocolate Melting Cake

Overall, I think the Carnival cruise compared favorably to the Disney cruise. For example, the meals were of similar quality and both vessels had good shows in their main theaters and comics who I thought were funny.

We must have enjoyed it; we’ve begun the process of booking a 2013 Carnival cruise.

Do you have a guess regarding cruise weight gain?

According to the Glory’s cruise director the average weight gain per day for a cruise is 1.5 pounds for a total of 7.5 pounds. I believe it!

A Weekend in Millinocket



This rock signals the entrance to the park is imminent.

This past weekend, my family and I trekked to Millinocket, Maine or as I like to refer to it, the southern gateway (Togue Pond Gate) to Baxter State Park and Mount Katahdin. This was planned as a quick trip for a family reunion on Saturday.

Millinocket is also home to the Pelletier family— lumberjacks who are featured in the Discovery Channel’s American Loggers.

Ribs at Ruthie's

We stayed at Ruthie’s Hotel Terrace in Millinocket. It was inexpensive and very homey. Ruthie made certain her guests had what they needed to be comfortable. At her restaurant, attached to the hotel, she offered a variety of well made, affordable meals and homemade baked goods (the doughnuts made to order – crispy on the outside, cake-like on the inside).

We should have taken all our meals at Ruthie’s. Comparatively speaking, our dinners on Friday and Saturday night were a disappointment. One establishment boasted they had the best burger in Millinocket and you could have it prepared anyway you liked—so long as you liked it charred, dry and crumbly.

Sunday we spent the day at Baxter State Park. Mount Katahdin is a haven for hikers, campers and photographers. There are trails for the novice and the experienced walker.

We had hoped to spy a moose. Unfortunately, a whole day was spent in the park but we did not see any signs of moose. But it didn’t matter; we still had a terrific day.

Our first stop was Sandy Stream Pond, an eight mile ride north of the Togue Pond Gate entrance and then an easy hike.



Sandy Pond Vista



Sandy Pond



Little Niagara

Next, we backtracked and went northwest from the Togue Pond Gate to Little Niagara Falls. The path to the falls was a bit more challenging but we weren’t deterred. It was worth the walk.

I’ve been to Mount Katahdin a number of times, and I’m always awed by the scenery and the clarity of the water. Every pond, every stream, is crystal clear. If you haven’t been, I suggest making the trip.

Does anyone care to take a hike?

Full Circle

I’ve been thinking about health issues a lot lately, and not just because universal healthcare, Obamacare to some, has been front and center in the political debate.

My health is not an issue. I just had my annual checkup. My vital statistics were outstanding:

• Blood pressure – 118/74
• Weight – down 4 pounds from last year’s exam
• Heart rate – 62 beats/minute
• My LDL (bad cholesterol) – down to 100 (was 105)

My concerns revolve around eldercare. We’ve been dealing with the declining health of my 93-year-old mother. She fell while trying to answer the telephone, resulting in a compression fracture of the ribs and a prolonged stay at a rehab facility (her third such stay in as many years). She was sent home and continued her rehabilitation with in-home professionals (physical therapist, occupational therapist and a nurse).

Unfortunately, they can’t be there 24/7. For the first few nights, we used a baby monitor to track her nighttime activity. We have a constant concern that she’s going to fall again.

She’s reached the stage of life where her mind is sharp but her body isn’t.

The idea of moving her into a “home” is unpalatable..We’re straddling a fine line between her ability to continue living somewhat on her own verses her need for help. I remember when a hernia didn’t slow her so watching her physical deterioration is tough to witness.

In a lot of ways caring for an elder is similar to caring for an infant or toddler. The difference being, a baby becomes more stable as she ages.

Is anyone caring for an aging parent? Please share your coping strategies.

Space Telescope

There have been a host of big screen and television disaster movies featuring comets, meteors and asteroids either colliding with or on a collision course to earth. Big screen productions such as Meteor (1979), Deep Impact (1998), Armageddon (1998) and the very recent Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012) feature huge extraterrestrial objects hurtling toward earth.

Discovery News quotes Dr. Donald K. Yeomans, head of NASA’s Near Earth Object (NEO) Program Office, "On a daily basis, we're hit with basketball-sized objects, and Volkswagen-sized objects come in a few times a year."

Large scale impacts are not without precedent. National Geographic says scientists theorize that on June 30, 1908 a meteor may have crashed into a remote area of Siberia with a force of roughly 15 megatons.

I’ve read some stories that believe the asteroid named 2011AG5, which is 460 feet wide, could impact the earth in 2040. However, Yahoo News reports that NASA estimates the odds of 2011AG5 crashing into earth as a 1 (one) on the Torino Impact Hazard Scale. (The likelihood of a collision is so low as to be effectively zero.)

But, that doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen; stranger things have occurred. After all, the Red Sox did win two World Series.

Courtesy Google Images

Enter, the Sentinel Mission. According to their website, the B612 Foundation, a nonprofit group of independent scientists, is planning to raise funds to build, launch, and operate the first privately funded deep space mission – a space telescope to be placed in orbit around the sun. The intent is to create a comprehensive map of our inner solar system illustrating the paths of 98% of the asteroids, both large and small. They hope to have the telescope in orbit within 10 years.

But I wonder, if a huge meteor is discovered bearing down on our hapless planet, would we be able to do anything more than brace for impact?

What do you think? Would you want to know if the world was going to end in 21 days?

Flying High

There’s a store in The Promenade Shops at Evergreen Walk in Manchester, Connecticut, that sells some pretty cool electronic tchotchkes; items such as remote controlled helicopters and cars. Sadly, I am embarrassed to write, I do not remember the store’s name.

The cars didn’t interest me but the ’copters did. It was painfully obvious that my flying skills were inadequate. When I managed to get the thing off the ground, I discovered I could not control its flight.

This is of no surprise. My various attempts at piloting remote controlled, flying objects have never ended well. Humpty Dumpty comes to mind.

That is how I know that a Volocopter is not in my future. Granted, a manned Volocopter will not be remote controlled but I suspect my flying skills would be just as poor.

Courtesy Google Images

The Volocopter is an 18-rotor personal helicopter, currently in development by e-volo. According to e-volo.com, they completed the first manned flight with an electrically powered, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft. The company’s ultimate goal is a two-seat, personal aircraft. There’s no news regarding its public availability.

What do you think? Would you like a Volocopter for your morning commute?