Space

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Quick Post: I'm Profiled in Philadelphia Weekly / WHYY

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The news stories are starting to roll in regarding my participation in the NASA Tweetup for the Shuttle Endeavour - the links are below. Share the love!

 

Local Philly Guy to Live Tweet NASA Shuttle Launch | PhillyNow  by Matthew Petrillo (Philly Weekly)

West Philadelphia resident will live-tweet the Endeavor launch by Shannon McDonald (WHYY)

NASA Tweetup: What I've Learned #1

 

So, it's been a little over a week since I found out that NASA selected me and 149 other NASA Twitter followers to live tweet the shuttle Endeavour launch on April 19th.  Aside from the sheer awesomeness of witnessing history, one of the best parts is interacting with the other winners via twitter. You can check out details on this fantastic group of people at this website, or join in on the real madness and follow this list on Twitter.

I'd lke to chronicle a bit of the journey in a new series of posts. Here are some of the fellow tweeps:

  • Jumped on a webmeeting with Karen Lopez (@datachick) and we talked about social media, NASA, telecoms, and other data nerdy issues
  • Met a ton of other New Yorkers, including Shelley Bernstein (@shell7), the Chief of Technology at the Brooklyn Muesum.  I lived near this museum and spent plenty of time there during my mid 20s.
  • Picked up a great iOS app called DropVox (syncs voice memos to DropBox) thanks to Linda Seid Frembes (@AVWriter)
  • Got my gadget talk on with Dave Schumaker (@rockbandit), the community manager for gdgt, an awesome site that I was a member of before I even heard of NASA Tweetup.
  • Watched in awe as HuffPo writer Mike Yarbrough (@mikeyarbrough) organized housing for a billion people.
  • Found out that a few celebrities will be joining us - mainly Jordi and Scott Evil.

Good stuff so far - interacting with great people is definitely helping to bide the time before the launch!

I Have Front Row Tickets To The Next Shuttle Launch!

 

I used this pic on my first post a while back, but I have a great reason to bring it back!  I'm ... well, you read the title already.  I'm so excited!!!

From my website header, you can probably tell that I'm interested in space. A major part of my childhood revolved around Star Trek (TNG is my favorite) and reading / watching 3-2-1 Contact, which featured tons of space stories.

One of my favorite classes as a kid was an astronomy summer program I attended at the local community college. And of course, there was the Space Camp essay contest that I was erroneously disqualified from for cheating that I'm TOTALLY not bitter about anymore.

Well, the past is in the past! Like many science folk, I follow NASA on Twitter.  Recently they tweeted out that they were holding a Tweetup at Kennedy Space Center, and that they would select 150 random followers to attend events culminating in watching the launch from the closest possible distance with the press!

I was selected. I am lucky. More than that, I am honored to be able to witness history. Sending men to space is truly one of mankind's greatest feats. I get a front row seat to the second to last shuttle launch.

I'll leave you with this excerpt from my first blog post (that I'll have to edit soon because it'll be out of date!)

Today was the final launch of Discovery.  I have never been to a shuttle launch, but I felt a part of the action today thanks to SpaceFlight Now's live coverage.  People may have become used to Shuttle launches, but think about - we've developed a reusable peace of technology that's been active for over 40 years.  That's pretty amazing.  There has been human loss, but considering the amount of shuttle launches performed by NASA, it has been a successful use of technology.

The closest that I've been to a shuttle was the Enterprise at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.  If you haven't been and you have any positive thoughts about planes, I would strongly recommend that you visit.  In addition to the Enterprise, they also have a Concorde, the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, and the Enola Gay.  I spent a day after a business trip in Reston, VA walking around the facility and came away impressed with the collection.

Some day I'll make it to a shuttle launch!

The Moon Was Huge Last Night!

It was hard to miss the size of the moon last night! I was driving to the bowling alley in my latest attempt to break 100 and had a great view of the moonlight. While I couldn't snap a picture from behind the wheel, I've included a great shot from NASA. Their description is below:
The full moon is seen as it rises near the Lincoln Memorial, Saturday, March 19, 2011, in Washington. The full moon tonight is called a super perigee moon since it is at its closest to Earth in 2011. The last full moon so big and close to Earth occurred in March 1993. Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls