Posts Tagged ‘dreams’
More Bitter Than Sweet
What can you say? It is the end. The last launch of the most successful American Human Space Flight Program, in fact the most successful HSF program in world history, after thirty years. Fourteen people have given their lives riding these magnificent birds striving to [Read More]
We Do All We Can Do-Space Shuttle Workforce Tribute
Below is a music video (hat tip goes to Mark Bray of Braynstorms.com) giving tribute to the Space Shuttle Workforce written and performed by Dan Keenan and Kenny McLaughlin who both worked at Kennedy Space Center. I know many of the people in the video and you [Read More]
Rocketman Featured in Smithsonian Air & Space Magazine
The October/November issue of the Smithsonian Air & Space Magazine has done an article called “Throttle Down” by Tom Harpole. The article is written about the end of the Space Shuttle Program and the economic devastation it will cause to Brevard County [Read More]
Start of Discovery’s Final Voyage
Today, Space Shuttle Discovery (OV-103) rolled over to the Vehicle Assembly Building to be stacked and mated in preparation for being rolled out to Launch Complex 39A. This will be Discovery’s 39th and last mission. Though Discovery launched on her first mission August [Read More]
01-31-10 Sutter Gold Mine
We spent the day today at Sutter Gold Mine. It is a functioning gold mine, but sections of it are open to public tours. Gold is found inside the mine in veins of crystal that can be up to 8 feet wide. The crystal was left over from seawater that flowed in the rock bed [Read More]
Off Topic, but Important
Though this is a blog chronicling the misadventures of the crew of RV-103, many of you know I am retired from Kennedy Space Center and Human Space Flight is near and dear to my heart. A major event recently occurred that I want to comment on. It is not a launch, but [Read More]
12-19-09 Launch day for Mission #2
As we were closing out the condo, we discovered Commander Merlin hiding under…errrr…doing a final walk down under the bed. It took both crew members to coax her out so she could report for duty on the bridge of RV-103. We loaded her up in her own little special [Read More]
11-14 to 11-29-09 Completion of Mission #1 Shakedown
We stayed at the Philadelphia West Chester KOA while doing our research work at Drexal University Library Special Collections. This was our first time staying at a KOA and it appeared well run. Nothing special about it as we learned about all the KOA’s we ended up [Read More]
11-14-2009 Houston We Have A Problem The Sequel
It was a Saturday and we prepared to leave NY for Philadelphia to continue our research work. The previous Monday I had gone to Camping World and bought a Master Tow Dolly for $1,400. Camping World said they would have to have one brought in from another store and [Read More]
11-09-2009 Commander Merlin Orders The Crew To Stand Down
We had a free day today thanks to Commander Merlin. She had decided we all needed a down day and of course led by example by laying in bed all day watching TV. The crew decided to try out their new gold panning kit in the local creek. Though New York is not known for [Read More]
10-30-09 New York New York!
Evergreen Trails Campground does not accept any club discounts, but with it being off season, the campground manager Mark did give us a nice discount. The weather up here was already cold with temps getting down into the 20’s at night and they had already had some snow [Read More]
10-28-09 There Is A Reason For Rules
We had established two rules and have found during our travels if we broke them, life became more difficult. Rule #1 Never drive at night if you can avoid it. Rule #2 Never set up your campsite at night. By the evening of Oct 28th we were in Virginia and it was already [Read More]
10-27-2009 3…2…1…LAUNCH!!!!!
“The clock is running! We have cleared the tower!” Sorry, I had to quote Commander Lovell in Apollo 13. Yes folks, after all this time, we are finally on our way. Mission #1 of Discovery RV-103 is a shakedown cruise for the ship and the crew. With our fearful [Read More]
10-25-2009 Moving to the Launch Pad!
Today is the day! We packed up RV-103, closed out the condo, and proceeded to our “launch pad” for the shakedown mission of Discovery. We traveled from our home in the Clearwater/Tampa Bay area to the Port Canaveral Campground in Cape Canaveral FL. There we got [Read More]
Satellite TV: Dish Network or Direct TV?
RV-103 is blessed with a satellite dish and had an old Dish Network receiver. It took me awhile, but eventually I learned how to manually point the dish in the right direction and choose the correct azimuth. Once I was able to lock into a satellite, that’s when we [Read More]
Fall 2009 To Present Let’s Go Clubbing!
We have found with our research, if you are going to do any serious RVing, then you should have a club membership to get discounts at the RV parks. There appear to be many RV clubs, both big and small, and many of them require some sort of yearly dues. We ended up [Read More]
10-16-2009 But Can You Color Inside The Lines?
The last major item that needed to be taken cared of was the carpet. RV-103 used to have a light brown/golden colored carpet that really didn’t match the rest of the décor very well. It appears that sometime in the past, someone had tried to clean the carpet with a [Read More]
09-20-09 Picking up RV-103
Gypsy found a 2004 Coachman Santara 37 ft long for sale in TN. She found it through the RV Dreams site which connects you with private sellers. The price was right, the downpayment was right, and the terms right. What was left was knowing if the RV was right or not. [Read More]
