America’s Return to Manned Space Flight

After nearly a decade, NASA once again launches American astronauts into orbit on an American spacecraft from American soil. The last time this happened was July 8, 2011 when NASA launched the final Space Shuttle mission (STS-135). NASA contracted SpaceX to launch the Crew Dragon atop a Falcon 9 booster from the Kennedy Space Center, Launch Complex 39A. The mission, SpaceX Demo Mission 2, carried Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station. The launch occurred at 3:22 PM.

The weather today was not ideal, but better than it was on May 27, when the first attempt to launch was scrubbed with less than 17 minutes left on the clock. Even so, the range was go for launch. We decided to stay home and watch the launch from the back yard and on YouTube. When the clock reached T-30 seconds, we ran outside and waited for the glow. We briefly saw the rocket before it disappeared into the clouds.

NASA/SpaceX Demo Mission 2 crew patch

For the next 24 hours, we watched the live broadcast. At one point Bob and Doug were talking and said that, as the first crew aboard the Crew Dragon, they had the privilege to name the capsule. They chose “Endeavour” in honor of the retired Space Shuttle on which they both had their first space flights. After several tests, the Crew Dragon docked with the Space Station. They were greeted by the three astronauts who were currently on board.

The most memorable parts of the experience for me were the words of congratulations from various politicians, government employees, and members of the commercial space industry and the discussions about the NASA logo. Nearly all of them said basically the same phrase, which I repeated in the first paragraph: “…launched American astronauts on American rockets from American soil…” Meanwhile, the commentators discussed which NASA logo they preferred; the "meatball" or the "worm". They asked social media users for their input and someone came up with a hybrid combination of the two logos.

Falcon 9 booster with the NASA "worm" logo

For more details, see the Wikipedia or the NASA web site.

Every time I hear the names “Bob and Doug”, I think of Bob and Doug McKenzie, who voiced the moose characters in the Disney movie, Brother Bear. Here is a clip from the movie.

SpaceX Starlink Chain

Tonight was my first sighting of a chain of SpaceX Starlink satellites. At 9:00 PM a series of fast moving dots appeared in the Northwest sky over Melbourne. The dots were travelling faster than airplanes, but much slower than “shooting stars”.

SpaceX Starlink satellites; photo by Andrew

SpaceX currently has over 400 Starlink satellites in orbit with plans to add thousands more over the next few years. The end goal is to provide world wide, low latency Internet connections. SpaceX launches Starlink satellites in groups of up to 60 at a time. The satellites are deployed all at once and slowly separate as they move to their final individual orbits. They are sometimes visible before dawn or after dusk. There are several web pages available with location-based information about when they may be visible, for example: SpaceX Starlink Satellites Tracker

For more information, check out the SpaceX Starlink site.

Garmin Forerunner 245 Music

One of my goals this year is to be able to run a 5 km race without stopping. The help reach that goal, I bought a Garmin Forerunner 245 Music smart watch. The watch arrived today and I’m looking forward to using it to improve my health and fitness.

Garmin Forerunner 245 Music

SpaceX CRS-20

Tonight, SpaceX launched CRS-20, the 20th Commercial Resupply Mission to the Space Station. This marks the final flight of the Dragon 1 capsule.

The picture below is a composite of several 30 second exposures combined to form a single picture. The picture shows the first stage launch, boost back, re-entry, and landing burns.

SpaceX CRS-20 launch

For more information see the SpaceX CRS-20 Wikipedia page.

Gateway To Space

Today we all got up early to run the Gateway To Space 5K at the Shuttle Landing Facility in Kennedy Space Center. Generally, visitors are not allowed to see the Shuttle Landing Facility, so this was a great opportunity to see some more NASA history.

We arrived at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex around 6:00 AM. From there, we caught a NASA bus to the Shuttle Landing Facility. It was a short ride over. On the way, the driver provided interesting tidbits of knowledge. For example, he told us a story about the pilot who had the most pinpoint accurate landing. To some people’s surprise, it was not a male astronaut. When we arrived, a man told our driver where to drop us off. It was pretty obvious that this was something unusual and special.

Sunrise at the Shuttle Landing Facility

Since we were early, we walked around the facility and tried to stay warm. They were offering free hot chocolate, so we accepted. There was a pair of F-104 Starfighters on display near a line of port-o-potties. At this time, we were not allowed out on the runway. Susan informed us that her foot hurt and she would not be participating in the race.

As race time approached, buses continued to drop off runners. It was clear that the race would be delayed, or would it? The organizers made the decision to start on time, regardless of whether there were still people arriving. There’s a lesson in there: be on time.

The race began and we all on our way, down the taxi way and onto the 15,000 feet long, 300 feet wide runway. This runway is one of the longest in the world. Andrew and I jogged together past all the rubber marks left by so many shuttles over the years. We continued past historical markers at the edge of the runway. I was too interested in setting a good time to stop to read them.

The race was both a 5K and a 10K; the shorter using only half of the runway length. As we neared the 5K turnaround point, I noticed that there was a Space Shuttle parked near the north end of the runway. I never found out any details about it, but I know it was not a “real” Space Shuttle.

Fake Space Shuttle

By this time, Andrew was getting tired and started to walk. I continued jogging without him to the water stand, then started walking, too. Making it past the half way point was a pretty good achievement for me. Now all there was left to do was finish the race. I ended up finishing with a time of 33:26 at a pace of 10:46 per mile.

After the race, Andrew and I had our picture taken near the sign on the building.

Andrew and I after the race

 

Mt. Bachelor Vacation

In late summer 2019, we started planning our winter vacation. This year, we wanted to do another ski trip. It all started when the Northrop Grumman Ski Club announced the season’s destination itinerary. One location of interest to me was Lake Tahoe. I started looking into what was available and how much it would cost. This led to expanding the search to other ski resorts, which led to ski resorts near WorldMark resorts. The search eventually narrowed to Mt. Bachelor, near Bend, Oregon. Going to Oregon meant that we could see my brother’s family, including the newest member, Aubree. It also meant that we could visit our old friends, the Lindleys. And besides that, I’ve been to Mt. Bachelor before and I’ve always wanted to go back. And Mt. Bachelor had an amazing pre-season lift ticket deal that I couldn’t resist – $250 per person for four days.

Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort, outside Bend, Oregon

Family & Friends

The trip started dark and early on February 7. We drove to Orlando and caught our Southwest flight to Portland, with a stop in Chicago. Once in Portland, we picked up our rental SUV and headed for my brother’s house in Chehalis, Washington. On the way, we stopped for a bite at Gilliano’s Pizza and Ice Cream Parlor in Woodland.

Saturday was family day. We drove up to Olympia to visit Kendra, Brad, and the new baby, Aubree. After a few hours, Andrew and I headed out alone to find trains. Unfortunately, it was a typical Northwest day – gray and raining. We stopped at the Amtrak station in Olympia, then headed back to Chehalis. We saw a few trains, including this BNSF GP39-2

BNSF GP39-2; photo by Andrew

We ended the day by going to see a Scorpions cover band at the Market Street Pub in Chehalis. After a few beers, I was almost convinced that I was back in 1990 and these were the actual Scorpions.

Sunday morning, we left Chehalis and headed for Oregon. Our first stop was in Salem to see the Lindleys. We met, then went to Best Little Roadhouse for lunch. We had some good food and a good chat, then continued to Bend. We eventually arrived at the WorldMark Bend – Seventh Mountain Resort.

Skiing

On Monday morning, we got up, ate breakfast, and headed for the mountain. After getting our passes and equipment, we headed outside. The weather was absolutely perfect. The sky was blue and the wind was calm. Unfortunately, the Summit lift, which goes to the top of the mountain, was closed due to damage from an ice storm the previous week. Andrew and I skied while Susan and Mom hung out in the West Village Lodge. Susan was nursing a sore foot and Mom was reading a book.

Top of the Pine Marten lift; 7,775 feet above sea level; photo by Andrew

On Tuesday, we all headed back to the mountain. This time, Susan gave it a try. She lasted until lunch time, then called it a day.

On Thursday, we headed back to the mountain and Mom stayed home. The weather was terrible with strong winds whipping around the mountain. By lunch, we were done and headed back to the condo.

On Friday, we headed back to the mountain for our final day of skiing. Again, the weather was cold and windy. We skied for a while, then called it quits. Visibility was very limited due to ice covering our glasses. It took almost an hour to do one run.

Mt. Bachelor Ski Map for 2019-2020 season

Looking back, there were a few things about Mt. Bachelor that I really liked. First, I liked the ski rental process. When we arrived, we were helped by a joyful young lady who was full of energy and enthusiasm. My excitement combined with hers and I was completely fired up to go hit the slopes. The funny thing is that in all the excitement, she forgot to get our pictures for our passes and then forgot to give us our paperwork for the rentals. I guess we all had skiing on the brain! Second, I enjoyed the Woodward Mountain Park Zone areas; especially Family Cross. The zones offered things like ramps and rails and a gigantic half pipe. The Family Cross was a winding run with large banked corners. And finally, I liked the runs under the Cloud Chaser lift. The runs featured short, steep drops followed by flat areas with wide, sweeping turns. It was exhilarating, quickly gaining speed down the grades, then using the momentum to effortlessly cruise over the flats and take in all the fantastic views.

Crater Lake

On Wednesday, we took a break from skiing and headed down to Crater Lake National Park. The drive down was much longer than it could have been due to the North Entrance being closed for the winter. We entered the South Entrance and drove up to Rim Village. Mom and Susan went inside while Andrew and I went hiking along the rim. It was so peaceful and quiet. I wanted to keep walking all the way around, but the size of the lake is very deceiving. The road around the lake is 33 miles!

Crater Lake National Park from Rim Village

After our hike, we met the ladies and had lunch. Afterwards, we explored the area a little more, including a short walk to the hotel and a stop at the Park Information Center.

Lunch in Rim Village

On the way back home, we made another stop. We noticed a really cool mountain on the way south and wanted to stop and visit on the way back north. The place was Lava Lands. The sun was just about to set, so Susan, Andrew, and I jumped out of the car and ran to the trail. Andrew captured the picture below.

Lava Lands; photo by Andrew

Bend and Other Side Trips

After skiing on Monday, Andrew wanted to get some drone footage near Mt. Bachelor, so we stopped at the Kapka Butte Sno Park. It was getting late, so the mountain was backlit and not as nice as we hoped. We decided we should come back in the morning when the light was better.

After skiing on Thursday, we drove into Bend to look around. We ended up driving around all the parks along the Deschutes River. We stopped at Farewell Bend Park and Andrew flew his drone around.

Cool sculpture in Farewell Bend Park

After skiing on Friday, we explored Bend again. This time, we drove through some beautiful neighborhoods before heading back to the mountain for some final shots. Once back at the resort, we cashed in our free ice skating tickets and had a few beverages, including a local microbrew and hot chocolate.

Local microbrew by the fire at WorldMark Bend - Seventh Mountain Resort

To see all the pictures from this trip, see my photo album.

Andrew posted a video of his pictures and drone shots. Check it out on YouTube.

SpaceX Crew Dragon In-Flight Abort Test

Today we witnessed an amazing test of the SpaceX Crew Dragon and Falcon 9 booster. In preparation for the return of manned space flight, NASA requires a demonstration that the crew capsule can safely separate from the rocket. To demonstrate this capability, SpaceX decided to perform the separation at the most dangerous point in the ascent – just after throttling up after passing the point of maximum dynamic pressure.

We started the day by driving up to Cherie Down Park in Cape Canaveral. We arrived before dawn and watched the sun rise from the beach. As the launch time approached, we walked up and down the beach. The weather wasn’t great, but it was better than yesterday, when the launch was postponed. The launch was delayed, but eventually was cleared for lift off. After lift off, the rocket quickly disappeared into the clouds. I lost sight of it for several seconds, then I saw what looked like an enormous explosion. The Falcon 9 booster had exploded, reminiscent of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. Less than a minute later, I saw something streaking downward and heard a sonic boom. The falling object hit the ocean with another giant explosion!

The test was a complete failure, or was it? The booster explosion was expected. Due to the separation of the Crew Dragon, the booster was no longer aerodynamic. The force of the air was so great that it ripped the rocket apart. The object that I saw streaking toward and eventually hitting the ocean was the second stage booster. What I did not see was the Crew Dragon separating from the second stage moments before the first explosion and accelerating out of harm’s way.

When we returned home, we watched the replay of the mission on YouTube. From the video, we learned that the mission was a complete success. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t have a clear view of the launch and the capsule slowly descending below its four large parachutes.

For additional information, photos, and video, see the Space.com article and photos.