L-2

It was off to the KSC Industrial Area this morning. Departure was scheduled in such a way as to preclude an early morning dip. I got my revenge, though; upon our return I managed to shoehorn in a short swim in the course of my lunch hour. (Now that should be the way things work every day!)

The Russian gentleman I am working for this morning - he is Deputy Program Manger for Safety - was on site to ask questions about a particular experiment that will be carried on board the ISS. I got the short course on how crystals are grown under microgravity conditions, and we're scheduled to go back tomorrow morning to clear up some final items.

I'm off in a few minutes to attend the preflight Mission Management Team meeting, where all of the major players, whomever they represent, basically will give their final approval for STS-106, which is scheduled to launch around 8:45 am EDT on Friday. The crew won't be at this meeting for a number of reasons, two of which are: (a) they are in a kind of quarantine, to prevent them from being exposed to sick people, and (b) they are living in a sleep-shifted environment (roughly equivalent to Moscow time), so they'll be asleep during the meeting.

After today's MMT, there are a few other activities on the program, culminating in a Space Flight Awareness reception. The SFA program is something that NASA does to recognize above-and-beyond performance by individuals in support of the space program. The Russians are invited, so me and my crew will be there as well.

All is going well.

Cheers...

SFA redux

The SFA reception is over and everyone has retired back to the hotel to recuperate and regenerate for tomorrow. It was a swell bash, held at one of the terminals at Port Canaveral - one of those facilities used to help folks onto and off of the large cruise ships that call this place their home.

There must have been around 500 people in attendance. These represent the cream of the crop among people working in the space program, and that's saying a lot. I think that, besides the space program, the closest I have ever come to working with folks who give 100% and more on a day-in-day-out basis was when I worked in the software industry. (One of the basic differences appears to be that the folks who work for the space industry are not in line for lucrative stock options or any of the other golden opportunities afforded to silicon workers.) At any rate the folks at tonight's fling were the superhigh performers, and NASA was honoring them for their dedication.

A number of bigwigs were there (a couple of the Russians were up on stage, too) and appropriate remarks were made all around. A number of astronauts were in attendance, too, and spent most of the evening talking to people and signing autographs. A string quartet played Bach, traffic was directed by ROTC cadets, and a good time was had by all.

Due to some bureaucratic snafu, the badges for the interpreters were not delivered with the badges for the Russian delegation, so we did the proactive thing and appropriated the badges of some folks we were working with who were definitely not going to be at the reception. (A number of members in the Russian delegation had been invited to and were attending a crew barbecue that coincided with this event.) I spent the evening impersonating a retired Russian cosmonaut, begging off requests for autographs and declining numerous amorous advances.

(I am tempted to punctuate the foregoing with "Just kidding," except it would not be clear just what I am kidding about, so I will refrain and let the gentle reader guess. :^)

At any rate, I've got to be on the street tomorrow at oh-dark thirty so that Mr. V. and I can be on site before the protein growth experiment is closed out and loaded aboard the Shuttle. It promises to be a busy morning.

Cheers...