Astrobiology resources

SETI Astrobiology curriculum There are multiple curriculum with various age groups

Astrobiology education links and graphic novels here

New Focus

I've decided to resurrect this mostly dead blog. I'm changing the focus to more of a personal clearinghouse for all things related to our homeschool.

Tweetup Agenda STS-133

Sunday, October 31/L-1: Day 1

8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. – Registration at the Kennedy Space Center Press Accreditation Badging Building on State Road 3

12:00 - 12:45 p.m. – Travel to the press site, set up, meet fellow participants

12:45 p.m. – Welcome and introductions by @NASA team member John Yembrick

1:00 p.m. – Demonstrations (Group 1* - Robonaut 2 in Press Site auditorium; Group 2 - ACES suit demo with media in the Tweetup tent)

1:45 p.m. – Demonstrations (Group 1 - ACES suit demo in the Tweetup tent; Group 2 - Robonaut 2 in Press Site auditorium)

2:20 p.m. – Welcome video from Nicole Stott (@Astro_Nicole) followed by Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters

2:40 p.m. – Astronaut Ron Garan (@Astro_Ron)

3:00 p.m. – Stephanie Stilson, NASA Discovery flow director, Launch Vehicle Processing Directorate, Kennedy Space Center

3:20 p.m. – Head to buses for tours

3:30 p.m. – Tour of NASA's Kennedy Space Center, including visits to the International Space Station Center and Apollo Saturn V Center and a drive by the Shuttle Landing Facility and the Mate-Demate Device.

6:00 p.m. – Arrive at cafeteria for dinner break

6:40 p.m. – Drive by Orbiter Processing Facility, Vehicle Assembly Building and Mobile Launcher Platforms.

7:30 p.m. – Arrive at press site for break

8:00 p.m. – Depart press site and travel to Launch Pad 39A to view space shuttle Discovery and retraction of the Rotating Service Structure, scheduled for 8:30 p.m.

*We will notify you which group you are in when you check in and get your badge

**For the tour, you must wear long pants and closed, low-heeled shoes. Tank tops are not permitted.

Monday, November 1/Launch: Day 2

11:00 a.m. – Arrive at Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 Press Site

11:30 a.m. – Astronaut Janice Voss

12:00 p.m. – Group picture beside the countdown clock

12:50 p.m. – Astronauts depart their crew quarters for Launch Pad 39A

~1:00 p.m. – Tweetup participants assemble along the road across from the Launch Control Center to wave to the crew as they drive by in the astrovan on their way to the launch pad

1:30 p.m. – Jason Goldman (@goldman), vice president of Product, Twitter

2:00 p.m. – Lt. Col. Patrick Barrett, 45^th Weather Squadron, U.S. Air Force

~3:00 p.m. – STS-133 Closeout Crew member (Discovery’s hatch is closed and latched for launch at 2:35 p.m. EDT)

4:40 p.m. – Launch of space shuttle Discovery on the STS-133 mission

~5:30 p.m. – Post-launch news conference on NASA TV

Following the launch, you are free to depart on your own schedule. If you leave immediately, be prepared to sit in traffic for quite some time.

Payload Information

This evening I will be on AstronomyFM as a guest on the 9pm show.  We will be talking about Discovery and her payload on STS-133.  Click on the "Listen Now" Link in the far upper left corner.

AstronomyFM

Please join us tonight!

I'm In!!

I have been chosen for the NASA Tweetup for the launch of STS-133.  Ideally the launch will be on November 1st at 4:40 pm.  The 2 day event will have so many amazing opportunities.  I invite everyone who comes across this blog to follow along with me on the final launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery.

PRESS RELEASE

NASA Invites Reporters To Next Space Shuttle Launch And Tweetup

WASHINGTON -- At the next space shuttle launch, NASA will host 150 people from around the world and provide them with a behind-the-scenes perspective to share with their followers via the social networking service Twitter.

Reporters are invited to cover the NASA Tweetup and the liftoff of shuttle Discovery, targeted for 4:40 p.m. EDT on Nov. 1, from the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. To cover the launch on-site, U.S. reporters must request credentials from Kennedy by Wednesday, Oct. 20. Media representatives should submit requests online at:

https://media.ksc.nasa.gov  

Participants at the NASA Tweetup on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 will tour Kennedy and meet with shuttle technicians, managers, engineers and astronauts. They also will get a demonstration of Robonaut, a human-like robot similar to the one that will be delivered to the space station with this mission. The Tweetup culminates with the viewing of the shuttle launch. At 2:15 p.m. EDT on Oct. 31, NASA will use UStream to broadcast an hour of the Tweetup program at:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-television  

People are expected to attend from 38 states, the District of Columbia, Australia, Canada, Chile, England, Japan, Latvia, New Zealand and the Philippines.

Tweetup participants are coming from Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. Attendees were selected randomly from more than 2,700 online registrations.

Reporters interested in interviewing Tweetup attendees should contact Stephanie Schierholz at 202-358-4997 orstephanie.schierholz@nasa.gov .

To follow the Tweetup participants on Twitter as they experience the prelaunch events and shuttle liftoff, follow the #NASATweetup hashtag and the list of attendees at:

http://twitter.com/nasatweetup/sts-133-launch  

NASA also has a website where anyone -- including those not on Twitter -- can follow along with the events:

http://buzzroom.nasa.gov  

To follow NASA on Twitter, visit:

http://www.twitter.com/NASA  

For more information about space shuttle Discovery's STS-133 mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle  

To follow STS-133 crew member Nicole Stott as she tweets during the mission, visit:

http://www.twitter.com/Astro_Nicole  

Cardinal

The birds are migrating and October is the peak here.  This pretty cardinal came for a visit and a snack.

Russell Cave National Monument

We headed over to Russell Cave Shelter and completed the Junior Ranger Program. One of the rangers took us under her wing and did her entire demo for school groups. She went through all the weapons that had been used in the shelter from 10,000 BC to 1800 AD. The kids got to try out spears, atlatls, blow guns, throwing sticks, bow and arrows. This was all before we ever even took the boardwalk over to the cave shelter! Fascinating day that was enjoyed by all.

Russell Cave National Monument Continued

Apollo, The Next Generation

The kids posing in Apollo space suits at Tellus!

Rocks and Geodes

I have to say that we spend a lot of time talking about rocks, minerals, volcanos, and geodes in our house. Nathaniel loves rocks...I mean LOVES rocks! The part that's so funny is that we live somewhere with NO rocks. We have plenty of marsh and sand. This 7' tall geode is at the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, GA. They have only been open about 18 months but it is the best little science museum. We love it and stop by every time we are up that way.

FLL and FIRST World Championships

We went to the FIRST and FLL World Championships in Atlanta. What a fantastic experience! There was so much to do and see, that I can't even begin. What I can say is that each child found the things that they love. A life-size Mindstorm robot, A Lego Cinderella, and a live Stormtrooper! Note the hat that Alexander is wearing. He won it by playing a game with the team from Peru. Awesome experience!

STS-131 Contrails Over Disney

We were in Titusville but a Disney photographer got this shot just after the launch. It really was a beautiful launch!

STS-131

How many trips have we made to Titusville or KSC for launches? I dunno, but it's a fairly high number. Given that we are only a few hours away, I have worked in down to almost an art. I have my favorite locations and my routines. I will say that I have driven down for many more scrubs than I have for actual launches, but my comfort and needs are not the priority here! LOL

Ralph was not able to join me on this trip but Katie (our 16 year old sometimes babysitter, sometimes just additional family member) was. I also had friends that were camping about an hour or so away that were planning on meeting us.

Ralph helped Katie and I load up and we left on Easter evening at about 10:30pm. Eliza was already asleep so Ralph just carried her to the car in her jammies. The boys finally went to sleep at some point. Katie kept a close watch of Twitter the entire was down so we could turn around if need be. We arrived after 2:00 am and set up on the side of Indian River Drive, near to the entrance of Space View Park. We set up an area on the side of the road and all the kids, plus Katie, got some sleep. Our friends showed up about 15 minutes before the launch.

It was a breathtaking launch! The ISS passed over just a few minutes before launch and it was as bright as I've ever seen it! WOW, it looked like it crossed right over the launch pad! The launch was fabulous and then the contrails in the breaking dawn...oh my...There was no way to get a good picture of it. It was amazing. There is a picture from Disney that shows the light on the contrails. I will see if I can find it.

Then it was a sleepy drive home. We were back in our driveway by lunchtime. What a fabulous time!

Peeps

Funny how there is science even on Easter morning! So, the question was raised, "What happens to a Peep if you put it in the microwave?" Well, that's easy enough to find out. After a couple of tries we got the timing down pat. Then it was time to discuss things like heat expansion and air volume. I couldn't get a shot at it's max but this was close. They did turn into about the size of a good navel orange.

Eliza Starts Riding

Eliza has started horseback riding lessons. Pink cowboy boots...that's all I have to say about that!! LOL

The Bandit Arrives For Spelling

Signs of Spring

There is a sign that spring is eminent...birds...everywhere. Coming home this afternoon there were at least 20 American Robins feeding on the ground in the backyard. I snapped this shot of the little guy eating. Here is some of what we are learning about robins this week.

• An American Robin can produce three successful broods in one year. On average, though, only 40 percent of nests successfully produce young. Only 25 percent of those fledged young survive to November. From that point on, about half of the robins alive in any year will make it to the next. Despite the fact that a lucky robin can live to be 14 years old, the entire population turns over on average every six years.
• Although robins are considered harbingers of spring, many American Robins spend the whole winter in their breeding range. But because they spend more time roosting in trees and less time in your yard, you're much less likely to see them. The number of robins present in the northern parts of the range varies each year with the local conditions.
• Robins eat a lot of fruit in fall and winter. When they eat honeysuckle berries exclusively, they sometimes become intoxicated.
• Robin roosts can be huge, sometimes including a quarter-million birds during winter. In summer, females sleep at their nests and males gather at roosts. As young robins become independent, they join the males. Female adults go to the roosts only after they have finished nesting.
• Robins eat different types of food depending on the time of day: more earthworms in the morning and more fruit later in the day. Because the robin forages largely on lawns, it is vulnerable to pesticide poisoning and can be an important indicator of chemical pollution.
• The oldest recorded American Robin was 13 years and 11 months old.
• American Robins eat large numbers of both invertebrates and fruit. Particularly in spring and summer they eat large numbers of earthworms as well as insects and some snails. (They have rarely been recorded eating shrews, small snakes, and aquatic insects.) Robins also eat an enormous variety of fruits, including chokecherries, hawthorn, dogwood, and sumac fruits, and juniper berries. One study suggested that robins may try to round out their diet by selectively eating fruits that have bugs in them.
• American Robins are common birds across the continent. You’ll find them on lawns, fields, and city parks, as well as in more wild places like woodlands, forests, mountains up to near treeline, recently burned forests, and tundra. During winter many robins move to moist woods where berry-producing trees and shrubs are common.
• When foraging on the ground, the American Robin runs a few steps, then stops abruptly. In long grass, robins may hop or fly just above the ground powered by slow, powerful wingbeats. American Robins often find worms by staring, motionless, at the ground with the head cocked to one side. It looks as if the bird is intently listening, but scientists believe the birds find worms by sight, watching for signs of digging. Robins sometimes fight over worms that others have caught. During fall and winter robins often roost in large flocks and spend much more time in trees. In spring, males attract females by singing, raising and spreading their tails, shaking their wings and inflating their white-striped throats. When pairs are forming in spring, you may see a display in which a male and female approach each other holding their bills wide open and touching them. American Robins are strong, straight, and fast fliers.

Name this lichen!

No golf today

Golf lessons have started again for us. This time our youngest is also playing. There is a narrow window between the the oppressive heat, the dreary cold, and the gnats, so we started back three weeks ago. Today was to be our lesson day but the pro called and said he wasn't feeling well. Here is what we did our first week back.

It's Been A While

I'm going to try to bring this blog back from the brink of death! Lots of updating could be done but I am going to just start where we are...

WORK

Ralph continues to work his same schedule and that is a blessing as my job changes with the wind. Over the last 6 months or so, our bed space at the Psychiatric Crisis Unit that I work at has doubled. Then we moved to a new location that was farther from home for me. Next, I was asked to start making psych rounds as well as medical rounds. The most recent change is that I am now taking psych call for a week every other week. This has left me in a state of disorder. I have had a steep learning curve with a lot of new added job stress. This has affected our home school but I feel like the tide is turning and we are all getting settled into a new routine. Working 12 out of every 14 days and home schooling is not the easiest of paths to take.

SCHOOL

We have had our ups and downs in school over the past year. Toward the end of last school year, I had to put my foot down with Alexander and give him an ultimatum. He could either chose to work and cooperate, or I would enroll him in a school outside of the home. It was tough but it was to the point that we come. Now this year he is working and his attitude is much improved. I would have put him in school and it would have broken my heart, but thankfully, he chose to stay with us. As things go, I am struggling with Nathaniel much the same way this year. It is exhausting, but I see progress with consistency and high expectations.

I feel like Eliza has been shorted given all the drama going on with the boys. However, her reading is coming along nicely and her handwriting is much improved.