Day 4769

No launch today. The USSF-67 Mission was scrubbed right after lunch and will be rescheduled for tomorrow. I began to suspect that something might be wrong when we went out to the launch pad and the rocket wasn't vertical yet. There's a lot that still needs to be done once the rocket is vertical on the pad and they were running out of time. Space X had no real explanation for the delay. They just said that the rocket wasn't ready yet.

These type of delays happen surprisingly frequently. They are frustrating but there is nothing you can do when a launch is scrubbed. I scrambled quickly and changed all my reservations. I got the last seat on a Monday flight to Dallas and was able to extend my stay at the Airbnb as well. I've got plenty of time, but the trip will be more expensive than I was planning on.

At least the weather is still good for tomorrow. The wind is dying down as well. Hopefully these are good omens. It will still be very cold unfortunately. The weather forecast says it will be 34 degrees at sunrise tomorrow morning. Yikes. I was already freezing this morning when the temperature was 37 degrees. This is two coat weather for me and unfortunately I only brought one coat with me. Temperatures this low are rare for this part of Florida. I guess the weather is crazy everywhere these days.

Since there was no launch today, I went out to the Canaveral National Seashore instead. It's a beautiful place and I always like to visit when I've got the time. You can see the space center from the beach and I noticed that the Falcon Heavy rocket is vertical now. That's another good sign. There were a few brave souls swimming in the ocean today. This seemed strange since a lot of people on the shore were wearing parkas. Who knows. Maybe the ocean water was warmer than the air.

My diet always suffers when I travel. I had barbecue for lunch and a hamburger for dinner. I have no willpower. I guess I could have ordered a salad, but restaurant salad dressings are full of fat as well. I'm really glad that Janet fixes healthy meals. She's probably added years to my life. My original plan was to fix all my own meals at the Airbnb, but boredom set in and I went to a restaurant instead. We'll see if I can stay more disciplined tomorrow and Monday. Probably not.

I'm always surprised at how many changes take place between my trips to Kennedy Space Center. They've moved the Artemis mobile launch platform outside and are beginning to refurbish it for the next Artemis flight. Space X has almost finished the giant Starship launch tower standing next to launch complex 39A. There are rumors that they are planning on building a second Starship launch site as well. Blue Origin keeps adding to their huge manufacturing facility near the visitor center, but I'm not sure if they're actually making anything yet. It may not be like the Apollo days, but there's a lot going on down here.

I'm glad I don't have to get up early tomorrow. I'll probably sleep in. I'm not sure what I'm going to do tomorrow morning, or Monday after the launch for that matter. It's really quiet here at the Airbnb. I'll probably end up going to the Press Site way too early tomorrow and end up sitting in my car again to stay warm. I still can't get over how cold it is in Florida. I hope the launch is successful tomorrow. This is a long trip to make if nothing happens.

Kasey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 4765

I received a notice today that my application for press credentials was accepted, so I will be heading to Kennedy Space Center soon to attend the USSF-67 Falcon Heavy launch. These last minute notices make me nervous, but the Space X folks are probably doing the best they can. Things change rapidly with almost any launch and they probably weren't even sure the launch would take place until today's successful static fire. Hey, at least I got credentialed. The weather looks good so far as well. Airfares look terrible though. I thought Southwest would be offering some deals to win back customers after all the problems they had a few weeks ago. Nope. The current fare to Orlando was the highest I've ever seen. The Airbnb I like was open though, so that's good. I've really got to stop fretting about this stuff. There are many launch opportunities and I can only afford to go to a few of them anyway. It wouldn't have been the end of the world if I missed this one.

The laser pointer accessory I ordered for one of my star trackers arrived today but I couldn't figure out how to assemble it. I wrote the company a letter saying that I thought a part was missing. A few hours later I noticed a video on the company website with operating instructions. My bad. I just needed to unscrew the top of the unit so it would fit on the star tracker adapter. I felt kind of stupid, because after looking at the video I felt that I should have been able to figure this out myself. These type of things are going to happen more frequently now. Growing old isn't pretty.

It was foggy outside when we took Dawn on her early walk this morning. Ground fog in the park is often very pretty, but cameras and dogs don't mix well, so I didn't get any pictures. We had a nice walk though and since we started a little later, we didn't even need our flashlights.

I got a late start on my long walk today because I needed to make all my reservations for the Florida trip. By the time I left the house it was warm enough to wear shorts again. I think we set an all time temperature record today. It got up to 83 degrees. I'm sure it will get cold again, but I'll take this warmer weather whenever we can get it. It didn't feel like January at all today. It felt more like April.

I hope all these long walks are actually helping me. Sometimes I wonder. I'm certainly not building any muscle. They say building muscle mass is much harder as you grow older. I'm probably going to have to get serious and spend more time lifting weights. I'm thin enough as it is. I wish I enjoyed going to the gym, because I've certainly got the time. I prefer walking though because I can daydream and let my mind wander. I'd never make a good gym rat.

I can't decide what to write about on this trip to Florida. The USSF-67 Mission is almost identical to the USSF-44 Mission which I've already written about. I doubt that the magazine is going to be very interested in another article about the same thing. I already have a Falcon Heavy article in the January issue. Hopefully, I can think of something interesting in the next day or so because I'd like the magazine to stay interested in me.

Dawn is finally starting to relax around me. It's about time. Maybe we'll eventually end up being best buddies after all.

Murphy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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