out-of-this-world
There was a fateful aligning of the stars this week.
My friend Melissa and I had the same day off.
To celebrate this bounty from the universe, we went to NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), also known as Space Center Houston, also known as the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, also know as Mission Control.
Apparently they had a hard time picking a brand name.
When we entered the JSC, we were told the tram tour would be leaving shortly, so we tried to hurry over to board. A NASA volunteer blocked our path, and asked where we were from. I replied, "Houston" and tried to keep walking. He responded "Are you sure?" Um, yes, I can bring eyewitnesses if you want....
We made the tour, and got to visit the old Mission Control building; I learned the average controller was in the mid-20s. Those smart youngsters.
After the tour, Melissa and I watched a movie that summed up the space missions, both the successes and failures. I nearly cried to see the absolute stillness in Mission Control after the tragedies of Columbia and Challenger. I saw part of the ingenuity of the Apollo 13 mission operations team in not only returning the astronauts back to Earth, but returning them alive. I saw the collaboration for the International Space Station, both on Earth and in space, and I heard of the ongoing research and upcoming missions.
It was a lot, and it was also time for lunch.
We ate in the Space Center, where I had the odd juxtaposition of the watching a music video by the JSC employees and sitting next to Asian monks.
The whole reason Melissa and I went to NASA was because we heard they had a DaVinci exhibit. It was totally true. In the center plaza was a variety of models built from DaVinci's sketchbook, and explanations of how we use the principles from his models in modern life, including in astronaut life.
I also convinced Melissa to go to the gift shop. NASA has some hilarious catch phrases.
It's an interesting thing, this place.
I lack 'loyalty-associated-with-a-larger-institution' spirit. I have no idea when my alma mater's football games are; I remained pretty oblivious even while I was a college student. Loyalty Reward Cards are rendered ineffective by disuse, and the only occurrences I have displayed Texas pride were a) in the bathroom of my apartment my senior year, b) in a petri dish where obliging bacteria flourished on agar the shape of Texas, and c) after some Alaskan friends gave me some Texas decorations, I stuck the paraphernalia on my wall. However, this is different. This is bigger than the Olympics--world inhabitants aren't competing for glory, but rather exploring and even collaborating to further mankind's capabilities and understanding of the universe. It fills me with a strange, warm, expanding sort of feeling; I think it's called patriotism. Or rather, kosmoism [as a side note, I don't think there's a word for love of world. So I had to make one up. I first tried having a Latin base, but that made it 'terraism', which sounds awfully close to 'terrorism', so I went with Greek]
Go Earth.
My friend Melissa and I had the same day off.
To celebrate this bounty from the universe, we went to NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), also known as Space Center Houston, also known as the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, also know as Mission Control.
Apparently they had a hard time picking a brand name.
When we entered the JSC, we were told the tram tour would be leaving shortly, so we tried to hurry over to board. A NASA volunteer blocked our path, and asked where we were from. I replied, "Houston" and tried to keep walking. He responded "Are you sure?" Um, yes, I can bring eyewitnesses if you want....
We made the tour, and got to visit the old Mission Control building; I learned the average controller was in the mid-20s. Those smart youngsters.
After the tour, Melissa and I watched a movie that summed up the space missions, both the successes and failures. I nearly cried to see the absolute stillness in Mission Control after the tragedies of Columbia and Challenger. I saw part of the ingenuity of the Apollo 13 mission operations team in not only returning the astronauts back to Earth, but returning them alive. I saw the collaboration for the International Space Station, both on Earth and in space, and I heard of the ongoing research and upcoming missions.
It was a lot, and it was also time for lunch.
We ate in the Space Center, where I had the odd juxtaposition of the watching a music video by the JSC employees and sitting next to Asian monks.
The whole reason Melissa and I went to NASA was because we heard they had a DaVinci exhibit. It was totally true. In the center plaza was a variety of models built from DaVinci's sketchbook, and explanations of how we use the principles from his models in modern life, including in astronaut life.
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| Automated saw |
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| Walking on water--unsuccessful, but creative |
It's an interesting thing, this place.
I lack 'loyalty-associated-with-a-larger-institution' spirit. I have no idea when my alma mater's football games are; I remained pretty oblivious even while I was a college student. Loyalty Reward Cards are rendered ineffective by disuse, and the only occurrences I have displayed Texas pride were a) in the bathroom of my apartment my senior year, b) in a petri dish where obliging bacteria flourished on agar the shape of Texas, and c) after some Alaskan friends gave me some Texas decorations, I stuck the paraphernalia on my wall. However, this is different. This is bigger than the Olympics--world inhabitants aren't competing for glory, but rather exploring and even collaborating to further mankind's capabilities and understanding of the universe. It fills me with a strange, warm, expanding sort of feeling; I think it's called patriotism. Or rather, kosmoism [as a side note, I don't think there's a word for love of world. So I had to make one up. I first tried having a Latin base, but that made it 'terraism', which sounds awfully close to 'terrorism', so I went with Greek]
Go Earth.
Yay for Earth patriotism!
ReplyDeleteAnd yay for those monks!
ReplyDelete