OMG! SPACE!

Last night, Stephen Colbert interviewed astronaut Garrett Reisman, who’s currently spending time on the International Space Station. It was a pretty basic interview, but the cool part was how excited Colbert seemed. He was giddy! And Reisman had a great sense of humor about the whole thing — he was even wearing a Colbert “WristStrong” bracelet.
That’s right: NASA appeared — in a positive way — on one of today’s most popular TV shows. And one that’s (gasp) popular with young people! When’s the last time that happened? It was fantastic!

I’m at work early today for the STS-124 Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test. I don’t actually have a whole lot to do other than monitor numbers and make a few updates, so I’ve been watching the video feed from Florida, where the crew is going through the motions of an actual mission — getting suited up in the orange launch and entry suits and getting into the orbiter. I can see Karen Nyberg (a hardcore runner, by the way; I see her all the time on the trails here at work) and Japanese astronaut Aki Hoshide in the camera view right now. Aki’s waving, which makes me laugh, since the only people watching today are NASA folks. No general public like there will be on launch day. (Aki is perhaps my favorite member of this crew. I have never seen him not smiling.)
I like this crew. I feel like they are “my” crew. I’ll be working in the control center during their launch on May 31, their rendezvous with the space station on June 2, and their undocking a week after that. (It’s my first mission as a rendezvous flight controller! I’m officially certified as of today!) In fact, the only critical phase of flight that I’m not working is their landing. As rendezvous support, I’ve spent hours editing their rendezvous procedures and making sure their flight data file is in order. I’ve been to a lot of their training sessions, watched them practice flying the shuttle, and even answered some of their questions. And now, in just a few weeks, I get to watch them go into space!
p.s. After my previous entry, my brother — a financial consultant in DC — texted me to let me know that “Sarah, it’s your civic duty to spend the stimulus money here and quickly.” Hmm. There are a few things I’d consider buying with it, but my rebate was not the entire $600 so it actually won’t go that far. But I have been eyeing the Flip.
Brian is such a bad influence. 😉