Any Space Geeks Out There?

I admit it. I’m a geek to the core. Since the space shuttle went up a few days ago, I’ve had my sad imitation of Mission Control going on in my office. My version involves perching my laptop next to my desktop and tuning it to NASA TV. I have the live feed from space going all day while I’m on the desktop computer doing other things. I know… total GEEK!!

Then again, I also used to listen to the cabin chatter on airline flights, back when I was a frequent flyer. Back in the old days, I used to fly to the West Coast at least once a month or more, and all over the country on a more regular basis. On certain flights, the pilots would devote one channel on the audio entertainment to their communications with ground control, tower, air traffic control and other pilots in the airspace. I LOVED listening to that! Maybe it has to do with the fact that there are a lot of engineer-types in my family and some of them are pilots. Maybe it’s my own inquisitive nature and scientific training. Or maybe I’m just a little strange. (Probably the latter.)

But my hat - if I wore one - would be off to the spacewalkers I’ve been watching for the past few days. The views - particularly of the hurricane near Hawaii - have been totally cool and the progress on the ISS (International Space Station) is fantastic. Very interesting stuff going on up there. You should take a look if you have a chance. Every night when the astronauts go to sleep, they run a “highlights” reel at the top of each hour showing you what went on earlier in the day in 30 minutes or so. It’s worth checking out. Just go to www.nasa.gov and click on “Watch NASA TV” at the top of the middle column.

BTW - who else thinks astronaut Charles Hobaugh’s nickname “Scorch” is totally cool - and a little scary? LMAO!