![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Off to a good start...
Feb. 25th, 2007 10:43 pmMy week long assignment got off to a good start, as the end client decided to take the Russian delegation to... the Johnson Space Center!
Actually, they were taken next door, to "Space Center Houston," which is a privately run entertainment/education enterprise that works closely with JSC, the most salient example of which is running trolley trains filled with tourists from their facility to the MCC and Building 9 (the mockup facility).
The last time I was at Space Center Houston was back in early 1998, when Omega, the Swiss watch company, launched a new line of watches designed with space travelers in mind. To mark the event, Omega rented the auditorium at Space Center Houston and also the time of both Talgat Musabaev and Nikolai Budarin, who were the crew aboard Mir at the time, for very nearly two orbits (which must've cost a small fortune, which in turn explained the high price of the - to my eye - rather ordinary-looking watches Omega had designed).
I recall that Alexander Kaleri and Tom Stafford, among a sizeable crowd, were present for the product launch, which was interpreted by - guess who? - yours truly and simulcast to Cthulu-knows-where, around the world or something. The event was the one and only time I conducted a lengthy voice exchange directly with an orbiting space station, even if it was for the purpose of relating what someone else had said (if you don't count the time spent checking the comm link during the early part of the crew time rented).
In any event, today's visit went well. I never realized that folks with JSC badges can get into the Space Center Houston facility for free (so it was probably a good thing I brought along my badge, especially since the 8 other people in the group got a discount for being "with me").
After the tour and some time for souvenir shopping, the group went to Kemah for a late lunch at the Aquarium, one of a number of Landry's restaurants around town, and everyone got way too much to eat. The main attraction at this restaurant is a cleverly arranged "aquarium" that rises through the center of a spiral staircase from the ground floor to the main dining hall, where there is a large "aquarium in the round" with a number of salt-water fish, including specimens that look like small tuna, some redfish, and a handful of sharks.
I'm now expecting to be picked up tomorrow from here at 5 am instead of 6 am, but I figure I can sleep in the limo if push comes to shove. On the other hand, I probably shouldn't try to go to sleep too late, especially since I've sent off the large job I finished yesterday and finished translating the shorter job that's due Tuesday.
I need to double-check the stuff I'm taking with me, as I'll be gone for pretty much the whole week.
Cheers...
Actually, they were taken next door, to "Space Center Houston," which is a privately run entertainment/education enterprise that works closely with JSC, the most salient example of which is running trolley trains filled with tourists from their facility to the MCC and Building 9 (the mockup facility).
The last time I was at Space Center Houston was back in early 1998, when Omega, the Swiss watch company, launched a new line of watches designed with space travelers in mind. To mark the event, Omega rented the auditorium at Space Center Houston and also the time of both Talgat Musabaev and Nikolai Budarin, who were the crew aboard Mir at the time, for very nearly two orbits (which must've cost a small fortune, which in turn explained the high price of the - to my eye - rather ordinary-looking watches Omega had designed).
I recall that Alexander Kaleri and Tom Stafford, among a sizeable crowd, were present for the product launch, which was interpreted by - guess who? - yours truly and simulcast to Cthulu-knows-where, around the world or something. The event was the one and only time I conducted a lengthy voice exchange directly with an orbiting space station, even if it was for the purpose of relating what someone else had said (if you don't count the time spent checking the comm link during the early part of the crew time rented).
In any event, today's visit went well. I never realized that folks with JSC badges can get into the Space Center Houston facility for free (so it was probably a good thing I brought along my badge, especially since the 8 other people in the group got a discount for being "with me").
After the tour and some time for souvenir shopping, the group went to Kemah for a late lunch at the Aquarium, one of a number of Landry's restaurants around town, and everyone got way too much to eat. The main attraction at this restaurant is a cleverly arranged "aquarium" that rises through the center of a spiral staircase from the ground floor to the main dining hall, where there is a large "aquarium in the round" with a number of salt-water fish, including specimens that look like small tuna, some redfish, and a handful of sharks.
I'm now expecting to be picked up tomorrow from here at 5 am instead of 6 am, but I figure I can sleep in the limo if push comes to shove. On the other hand, I probably shouldn't try to go to sleep too late, especially since I've sent off the large job I finished yesterday and finished translating the shorter job that's due Tuesday.
I need to double-check the stuff I'm taking with me, as I'll be gone for pretty much the whole week.
Cheers...
