Day 4770

Today's Falcon Heavy launch was a resounding success and ended up being one of the most beautiful launch events I have ever witnessed. What a difference a day makes. It was warmer today, the skies were clear, and there was no wind. The timing for this mission was perfect. The launch took place right at sunset, and as the rocket rose through the atmosphere, the exhaust plumes from the three boosters glowed with fantastic sunset colors. 

You could see the two side boosters detach from the center core high in the atmosphere and begin the boost back burns that would return them to landing zones LZ-1 and LZ-2 at Kennedy Space Center. Shortly after the side boosters landed we heard the two very loud double sonic booms that have become a signature of Falcon Heavy launches. From our vantage point at the NASA Press Site, you could hear these sonic booms ricochet off the nearby Vertical Assembly Building making a strange high pitched ringing sound each time the sound hit the building.

It was worth waiting an additional day to see this launch, but I'll be glad to be back in Dallas tomorrow. Traveling is tiring for me. I never sleep well while traveling and according to Fitbit my resting heart rate goes way up along with my heart rate variability. Not good. I'm sure a lot of this is caused by the lack of sleep, but my poor travel diet might have something to do with this as well. It's nice to see rocket launches and look at stars under dark West Texas skies, but I think I do better in familiar surroundings, leading a somewhat dull predictable life. I eat much healthier meals when I'm home and certainly sleep a lot better. All in all I think I prefer my simple life of long walks and predictable days to unexpected surprises and excitement.

I certainly had a few unexpected surprises today. I found myself locked out of my e-mail account because the laptop reverted to the old passwords I used to use before I updated everything recently. I couldn't access the new passwords on my desktop computer at home and much to my chagrin I discovered that I never bothered to set up e-mail on my phone. Since Space X only communicates with me using e-mail, I drove out to the NASA Press Site this afternoon not knowing whether the launch had been canceled or not. 

Luckily the launch was right on schedule. The iPhone app I use to remotely trigger my cameras is such a battery hog that my phone completely died shortly after the launch. I did get the photos I need though. When I was putting my equipment away I thought my phone was broken, but then I remembered that the battery was probably dead. It did feel a bit weird to drive back to Titusville realizing that I had no way to communicate with anyone. I had a brief scare when the rental car automatic transmission wouldn't go into gear at the Press Site and then I noticed that I hadn't closed the driver's side door completely. Strangely, the warning light on the dash didn't say "door open" or anything remotely understandable. It just said "transmission not engaged." That seemed alarming, but everything ended well and I'm back at the Airbnb now.

Even though it was a busy day out at the Press Site, I still managed to get my Fitbit steps and close all three rings on my Apple Watch. I even found time to get started on my article for SpaceFlight Magazine. I kept wondering why I was seeing other people out walking today and then I remembered it was Sunday. The last time I stayed at this Airbnb during the middle of the week and didn't see anymore. They were all at work. I just walked around the neighborhood today, even though there was a hiking trail nearby. I was curious about the hiking trail but was afraid I'd run into an alligator. 

I was determined not to eat any more restaurant food, so I got a chicken Caesar salad and a small quiche for dinner at the grocery store and ate in my room after I returned from the launch. I often forget how lucky I am to live in Texas. Food and gas prices are higher in Florida and I hear that Florida prices are still much better than the rest of the country. It's hard to buy for one. Most portion sizes are too large and when you can find a single serve size of just about anything, the price is always $4.99. It's easy to spend more than you think on a simple meal. Picking up something at a grocery store is still much cheaper than going to a restaurant though. What ever happened to $5.00 hamburgers? A burger and a beer will cost you more than twenty dollars these days.

I'm ready to come home and resume my simple life. Hopefully Dawn will be glad to see me again. You never know with that dog.

Betty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4710

What a way to start the day. The Artemis-1 launch was spectacular. The launch team must have learned a lot from their previous attempts because the entire countdown went very smoothly this time. There was some drama along the way, but it was clear that NASA was determined to launch Artemis today if at all possible. At one point everyone thought the launch might get scrubbed when a small hydrogen leak was discovered with only about twenty minutes left in the count. 

They didn't stop though. A special red team trained to work under hazardous conditions was sent to the launch pad to fix the leak. Evidently this is very dangerous because when a rocket like this is fully fueled, a spark near a hydrogen leak could cause the whole thing to explode. The red team fixed the leak like it was all in a days work. A little later a tracking radar down range wasn't sending data and stopped the count again because of a faulty ethernet switch. This was quickly fixed and the count resumed. There was still some caulking on the Orion capsule that came loose during Hurricane Nicole, but the launch team didn't seem to think this was a problem.

It's weird to think that the launch was almost stopped by a few loose bolts and a faulty ethernet switch. I guess low tech can trump high tech on just about any launch. The thousands of people who have worked on the Artemis program must have felt vindicated today. The rocket has received a lot of criticism lately, but almost everything worked perfectly this morning. The Orion capsule is on the way to the moon right now. 

This was the most spectacular launch I've ever witnessed. The huge rocket turned night into day during liftoff. The exhaust flame was so bright that it literally looked like the sun has risen. Artemis was also extremely loud. I'm sure this launch could be seen and heard for miles. I was hesitant about going to this launch because there was a good chance it wouldn't succeed. There were literally thousands of things that could go wrong. I'm glad I went though. It isn't everyday you get to see the most powerful rocket in the world heading toward the moon. The next Artemis will have people on board. Hopefully I'll be around to see that one too.

I didn't get back to the hotel after the launch until almost 4 AM. I immediately began to wonder why I was staying another day in Titusville and changed all my reservations again. I was lucky to get the last seat on an afternoon flight back to Dallas and I'm home again now. Brr. It's cold here. The weather was a lot nicer in Titusville. I saved some money by cutting a day off my stay, but unfortunately not enough to pay for the furnace repairs. Yikes. The special variable speed motor the furnace required was four times as expensive as an ordinary electric appliance motor. 

Tomorrow I'll unpack and write my article for SpaceFlight magazine. For now, it's time to get some sleep. I doubt if there will be any more launch trips this year. Hopefully there won't be any more broken appliances either. 

Alvin is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4709

I'm back at Kennedy Space Center for another Artemis launch attempt. The launch is technically tomorrow morning, but it's going to seem like late tonight to me. If all goes well, liftoff will be a little after 1 AM. Everything looks good so far. The countdown is proceeding and there doesn't seem to be any weather problems.

The day got off to a very early start. My flight departed at 6 AM, so I had to be at the airport a lot earlier for all the TSA stuff. I must be getting slower because I cut it pretty close this time, arriving at the gate just fifteen minutes before boarding. I've been to Kennedy Space Center so many time by now that this trip is getting to seem very routine. I don't even need a car with GPS anymore. Titusville is a small town and it's starting to feel very familiar. 

I had to pick up my credentials before noon today, so that left me with a lot of free time. I went out to the Press Site to see what was going on and was surprised that the place seemed relatively empty. There were definitely a lot fewer people than were at the first launch attempt. I'm sure there will be a more folks arriving later tonight, but so far this launch seems a little subdued. All the scrubbed launches probably just wore everyone out. 

I got my Fitbit steps walking around the Press Site parking lot and then went to the space center Sonny's BBQ for a smoked pork sandwich. Sonny's has some great bartbecue and I always enjoy eating there. Before I left the Press Site to check in at my hotel I heard that the Artemis launch team had completed their final pre-launch meeting and had given the go ahead to begin fueling the rocket. 

My hotel isn't as bad as I thought. It's not the place I would have picked, but it's clean and relatively convenient. There must be a lot of people who are planning to show up at the Press Site later tonight because all the hotels in town are completely booked. I was actually lucky to get a room here. 

I've been told that the journalists covering the launch should plan to arrive that the Press Site by 7 PM tonight. That leaves a lot of time to sit around doing nothing. I guess I could go later, but there's no point in staying at the hotel. There's not a lot of point in going our for dinner either. After my big lunch, I couldn't eat another thing. I didn't run into anyone I knew this afternoon, but I'll probably see a few familiar faces tonight. I hope my camera works. I've been having problems with this camera lately. Actually the problems are mostly with me. It's hard for me to adjust the camera and focus properly in the dark. I always forget something on these trips. This time it was a flashlight.

I hope the furnace is getting fixed back in Dallas. Janet said the repairman was coming back this afternoon with the new blower motor. There will still be problems when this is fixed, but at least I'll be warm. One one the problems reoccured last night while I was finishing packing. Another roof leak. I was surprised. We haven't had to deal with a leak in months. Oh, well. It's always something.

I really hope that Artemis is successful this time. I'm sure the launch team learned some things from the first two attempts. It probably didn't hurt to have a chance to completely inspect the rocket while it was inside the VAB as well. So far, people seem optimistic. There's only a few hours left until launch time. I'll let you know what happens tomorrow.

Honey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4630

I ended up seeing the Space X Starlink launch last night. It was still raining when I drove to the Press Site. There weren't a lot of people setting up cameras and most of them thought that the launch would get scrubbed. It did get delayed, but eventually the skies started to clear and the launch took place around 11:41 PM. I'm glad I stayed optimistic and didn't drive back to town. It was another spectacular launch. Unfortunately, I didn't get any good pictures. The remote shutter release I use locked up just before the launch and I didn't have time to reboot everything. It's no great loss though. I already have plenty of pictures of Falcon 9 rockets launching at night.

I spent a lot of time today trying to figure out what went wrong so it won't happen again when the Artemis rocket launches tomorrow morning. I suspect the problem was user error. It's really hard to see the camera controls in the dark and sometimes I press the wrong buttons by mistake. At least tomorrow morning the skies will be getting brighter as we approach launch time.

My interviews didn't go well today. Basically, I didn't get any interviews. The Italian astronaut had a flight delay and couldn't make his Sunday morning interviews. The German astronaut decided at the last minute to skip his last interviews of the day and go on a tour of a NASA clean room facility instead. It's just as well. I never look forward to interviews because I don't think I'm very good at it. I do much better as a fly on the wall, just quietly observing things and sharing my thoughts.

The journalists who were doing interviews were having a feeding frenzy. On air media people seem pretty aggressive. They all have deadlines to meet or are on the air live and don't have time for slow moving people like me. I saw some of them even filming other people's interviews. I actually learned a lot by just wandering around and listening to other journalists interview people. I don't think I'm cut out to be a broadcast journalist. I forgot to pack two of journalism's most important tools: a pen and a notebook. I didn't even take a recorder, although I guess I could have used my phone to record an interview. Before my astronauts canceled out on me, I was looking everywhere for a ballpoint pen. There were lots of free hats, but no pens. 

I've been eating at my Airbnb instead of going to restaurants. Every day I stop at a grocery store on my way back from the space center and pick up a few things. I've discovered single serve cereal packages where you just pour milk in the little plastic cup the cereal is packaged in. I thought about getting single serve beer and soft drinks but they are much more expensive than getting a six pack. Anything with organic on the label is more expensive too. I don't want a lot of food left over when I leave, but I still don't know how long I'm going to stay. It all depends on what happens tomorrow morning.

I think I like staying at an Airbnb. The house I'm staying at is located in a nice quiet residential neighborhood. I took my daily walk through the neighborhood this afternoon and kept thinking that this would be a nice place to live. Titusville is a pleasant little town. There are lots of retired people and many of the younger ones work for NASA. Actually my Airbnb host is an engineer on the Orion program. I met he and his wife today and it looks like we'll both be heading to the space center in the middle of the night for tomorrow's launch.

I really hope that this launch goes off on schedule. This mission is so complicated that it seems like a miracle to me if everything works as planned. Ill just be watching tomorrow, but some of the people I've met down here have spent their entire careers working on Artemis or the Orion capsule. Good luck guys.  I hope your efforts are successful.

Mandy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4283

Today got off to a good start. I woke up early enough to have some French Toast for breakfast and take a shower before making the sunrise drive from Titusville to Kennedy Space Center to set up remote cameras for the launch. I don't set up remote cameras myself because I don't have any I can afford to lose. I've heard too many stories about cameras that were ruined by being out in the rain overnight or by wind blown rocket fuel during the launch. This is always your best chance to get close up pictures of the rocket though. If you are lucky, you can get really close to the pad. 

We were lucky this morning because Space X allowed us inside the fence at Pad 39A. This rarely happens on NASA launches. Space X definitely does things a little differently than NASA. Usually there is only a small handful of photographers setting remote cameras on a NASA launch. This morning there must have been almost a hundred people waiting to get on five large busses. 

I was surprised that we were riding in busses to the launch pad. I've been to one NASA launch during Covid and we all formed a convoy and followed a NASA vehicle to the viewing location in our own cars. We even had to social distance our cars when we got to the location. A photographer waiting to get on the bus with me said he thought it was too early for busses. He said he got on a Space X bus during a recent Starlink launch and the bus driver had Covid. Apparently the entire bus had to be quarantined for 14 days. We all wore masks while we were out at the pad this morning but a lot of people in Florida don't. 

Our bus was delayed this morning because somebody forgot to call the bomb sniffing dog. We unloaded all our bags and waited. You can tell the handlers really love their dogs. Most military dogs are Belgian Malinois. They look a lot like German Shepards, but are stronger and more athletic. Today's dog was smaller than usual and looked very young. He was extremely well trained though. I'm always impressed by these dogs. 

I asked if we could come later to view the launch this evening than the 3 PM arrival time mentioned in one of the Space X messages I received. The earliest the rocket was scheduled to launch this evening was 8 PM. That's a long time to be out in the sun. "You can come whenever you want," the Space X representative told me. "If you don't come early though, you'll probably get caught in a traffic jam and end up waiting over an hour to get through the guard gate." I decided to leave early.

I should have waited because the crowds were apparently all Space X VIP's and they went somewhere else to view the launch. I sailed through the guard gate. We could see the VIP's off in the distance in their own special tent. I think Elon was there. When I got to the launch site I saw the astronauts driving to the launch pad in their white Teslas. Unfortunately, I hadn't gotten set up yet and my camera was still in the trunk of the rental car. The guys who were doing the Netflix documentary about the launch were there with a satellite truck and and an elaborate enclosure for their gear and on-camera talent. They were going to live stream the final episode of the series. My setup was pretty simple by comparison, but I did find a good place to take pictures and was very happy with the results. Everything seemed to go perfectly on this launch. There were no delays at all. The launch took place right on schedule and it was quite beautiful.

I enjoyed this trip. I reconnected with some space photographer friends that I hadn't seen in a while and at least for the moment, it kind of seemed like I was back in the game. Now I"ve got to go write my article,
 

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3871

We knew it was going to be a hot day so we got an extra early start on this morning's walk. You could still see a few stars and several planets as we left the house. Mars was almost directly overhead, reminding me that the Mars 2020 launch would take place while we were walking. I watched it all on video later after I finished my breakfast. Watching a launch on the computer makes it seem kind of weird that I used to travel so far to see these launches in person. The entire event was over in just a few minutes.

Our timing was good this morning. We reached the halfway point in our walk before the sun rose and there was a nice gentle breeze the entire way. Things heat up quickly once the sun is above the horizon unfortunately. It quickly became warm enough for Dawn to choose the shorter route home.

When I was watching the launch coverage on my computer this morning I looked for familiar faces in my Facebook feed. I recognized a couple of launch photographers I'd met earlier who still seemed to have media credentials. There always seems to be a race to see who can get their pictures on the Internet first. These guys were definitely fast. I wonder who you have to know to maintain media accreditation these days? I'm definitely not in the loop. Oh, well. Maybe some day things will return to normal.

After breakfast I decided to go up on the roof and remove the standing water from the rain we got a few days ago. It was so hot that I was surprised that the water hadn't evaporated yet. The metal handle of the push broom I keep on the roof was almost too hot to touch. The white surface of the roof itself was hot enough to burn your hands. I had to bring a wet rag with me to place on the edge of the roof that I use to steady myself when I lower myself down after I'm done. There was no rain in the forecast when I cleared the water away this morning, but ironically there is a thunderstorm headed our way right now. This always happens. We'll have rain again before I go to bed tonight.

It doesn't look like I'll be getting a Bronco any time soon. I read an article today that Ford already has well over 200,000 reservations for the new 4x4 and the entire 2021 production run is sold out. Seems weird that so many people would decide to buy a car based entirely on pictures and reviews they see on the Internet. What happened to kicking the tires? It's probably just as well that there will be nothing to tempt me at a dealership for a while. At the rate I'm driving these days, my current car will last forever. Eventually, I'd still like something reliable and easy to service for trips to West Texas. Hey, a guy can dream.

My days are still extremely slow. I've got to think of a project for now instead of for later. Right now I occupy a lot of my time thinking about telescopes I might buy for future dark skies, cars I might buy for future travels, and future launches I'd like to attend when I can get my media credentials restored. Nothing wrong with this of course. I guess it just tells me that there is very little about Dallas that intrigues me anymore.

Penny is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3699

It's launch day. I got really close to the rocket this morning. I went out to Pad 41 with a group of photographers who were placing remote cameras near the launch pad. I was amazed at how close the United Launch Alliance people allowed the cameras to be placed. Some were less than the length of a football field from the rocket. The smart photographers stayed a little farther away. I heard all kinds of tales about remote cameras being destroyed during a launch. Almost everyone protected their cameras in some way. Many used plastic bags. Others created special containers from Tupperware. They would usually cut a round hole for their lens in the Tupperware lid. I saw some photographers set as many as six cameras, but most only left one of two near the launch pad.

The reason remote cameras are so popular is that this is the only to get a close up view of the rocket during lift off. There is always such a danger of explosions and hazardous fumes that people are kept at least 2-3 miles away during a launch. Remote cameras can get closer, but a lot of them have been destroyed over the years. Wind and rain get some, but the real danger is rocket fuel. The fumes from the solid rocker boosters are extremely toxic and can eat the coating off the front of your lens or fuse the segments of your tripod together. Everyone hopes that the wind is blowing away from their camera. Several people have been become badly burned just by touching equipment that had become coated with rocket fuel when they return to pick up their cameras. Needless to say, I didn't attempt to leave a remote camera at the pad this trip. I just don't have any cameras I can afford to lose.

I could afford to lose a few pounds. I've been having barbecue and fried foods ever since I arrived in Florida. I had some exceptionally delicious barbecue this afternoon, which will serve as both lunch and dinner. It's a good thing I don't travel much. It's hard to eat healthy when you're on the road. Right now I'm so full that I don't feel like eating again until I return to Dallas. I'll probably have heartburn for the next month.

I was wondering why the traffic was so light today and then remembered it was Sunday. I've totally lost track of time. I haven't turned on a TV or even listened to the radio since I left Dallas. It's kind of nice not hearing about impeachment or the coronavirus. I end up talking to a lot of people at these launch events and nobody ever talks about politics. Democrats and Republicans actually get along with each other. People will talk about their family or their dog, but mostly they just talk about rockets. It's a time to forget about the world and learn an enormous amount about space travel.

It was interesting meeting the other photographers this morning. Some of these guys seemed to be permanent road warriors. They were always traveling somewhere and most had been everywhere. Surprisingly, there were very few young guys. A lot of the photographers seemed even older than I was. Many of them had little interest in social media. I think the magazine guys realized that they were the last of their kind. Maybe that's why NASA is making such an effort to recruit social media influencers. Social Media is how younger people get their news these days. I'm glad newspapers and magazines still exist, but I have to admit that even I learn about most things on Facebook now.

I'm going to take a little nap before I head back to Kennedy Space Center for tonight's launch. It's going to be a long evening. Liftoff is supposed to take place around 11 PM. I've been told to dress warmly, but you have to take what Florida people tell you with a grain of salt. It's not that cold here. I hope the launch doesn't get scrubbed. It's been a great week, but I'm ready to go home and meet our new houseguest. Janet says that Dawn is doing great.

Jazz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3469

The weather looks beautiful and the launch is still on for tonight. Amazingly, we were granted direct access to Pad 39A today and got a close up look at the Falcon Heavy rocket during final preparations for launch. To get this close we went through laver after layer of security. When our group got off the bus, everyone was astonished. Nobody gets this close. We were all very careful to follow instructions. When we were told not to cross certain lines, nobody did. 39A is the same launch pad where dozens of space shuttle flights began their journey. Numerous Apollo missions were launched here as well. Now, Space X has a long term lease on the pad and many future missions will begin here. There is a lot of history in this place and a lot of history yet to be made.

Launch Complex 39 was built during the Apollo era. Pads 39A and 39B were originally identical and were meant to be used for the Saturn 5 program. After the Apollo program ended, the facilities were modified to be used for the Space Shuttle. Every shuttle launch began their journey here. Now these historic launch facilities are being modified again. 39A has been reconfigured by Space X to be used for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches and 39B is currently being refurbished to be used by the new Space Launch System that will take us back to the moon.

We got very close to 39A when we were looking at the Falcon Heavy rocket on the pad. We got even closer to 39B. The director of the launch complex took us right up on the pad itself and we got to walk around on it. The size and scope of both these facilities is impressive. There are huge round tanks for liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen fuel. Some of the steel used in the facility is three inches thick. Each pad has a large water tower that is completely emptied during each launch to cool the pad and provide noise suppression. At one point we found ourselves standing in the blast pit where flames from the Saturn 5 booster were directed during liftoff.  If you saw the movie Apollo 11, you know how intense these flames were. We were standing right there.

It was a very busy day. There were other presentations by payload specialists. Many of them started making preparations for tonight's launch over ten years ago. It takes a long time to turn a dream into a reality. 24 different satellites will be along for the ride tonight. An amazing amount of work and effort went into each of them.

We also got to see the astronaut crew quarters where every astronaut stayed prior to launch. Some people took videos of themselves walking out the famous doors where we used to see astronauts in space suits get in their Airstream van for the short ride out to the pad. We also got to meet the folks who recover the capsules after splashdown and provide emergency medical services if necessary. The complexity and number of people required to get a rocket to it's destination and back again is almost unbelievable. The space program we know today is only here because of the commitment of thousands and thousands of talented and extremely dedicated people with almost unlimited resources.  Every one of them were determined to beat the Russians to the moon. I don't think something like this could happen today.

I'll be heading out to view the launch in about an hour. We won't get back to town until well after midnight, so you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see if the launch was a success. I don't usually stay up this late, but today I think I'll make an exception.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1873

Today's photo shoot went well. I think everybody involved was very happy with the results. In a couple of weeks or so, these images will be featured on thousands of posters and postcards. The young puppies and kittens I photographed were surprisingly well behaved. Nobody tried to chew the leather saddle. Nobody peed on the backdrop. And nobody chased the cat. The little kitten was fearless and clearly wasn't intimidated by dogs. Doing a photo shoot with puppies is always a dicey proposition. The won't stay in one place more than two seconds and seem to pee every five minutes. To even attempt something like this, you need a wrangler for each animal. The small cowboy hats were constantly falling off and needed to continually be repositioned. Puppies and kittens get tired quickly too, so there is always an optimal moment between crazy exuberance and deep sleep were you get your best pictures. All in all, I think I did pretty well today.

The SMAP spacecraft had a successful launch this morning. The four or five people from our group who had flexible enough schedules to stay in the area for the launch all said it was spectacular. I wish I could have been there too. I did get up early and watch the launch on TV and everything seemed to go perfectly. The network news channels only showed a few seconds of the launch, but NASA TV broadcast the whole thing live for over an hour. I was mesmerized. I don't think I'll ever look at those short clips of satellite launches on the evening new the same way again. Now, when I see a rocket go up, I'll be thinking of the hundreds and hundreds of people that it took to get it off the launch pad.

The animal rescue community is all abuzz about the new GoDaddy commercial depicting a puppy who falls off the breeder's truck, gets lost, and eventually finds his way home, only to discover he's been sold. It didn't take long for rescue advocates to get this spot pulled. I saw the commercial and agree that this definitely looks like a puppy mill breeder. A responsible breeder would never ship a bunch of puppies of in a truck and wouldn't sell them online either. Many rescue advocates think all breeders are evil and that you should always get your dog from a shelter. I've been involved in animal rescue for many, many years and I don't necessarily agree with this position. Responsible breeders are wonderful people who understand their dogs, keep them healthy, and always find them great homes. It's easier to buy a house than it is to purchase a dog from a very good breeder. They are very particular about who gets their pups. Dot and Dash were both rescued from shelters, but we've gotten dogs from breeders as well. If your have your heart set on a particular breed, there is nothing wrong with getting your dog from a good breeder. Puppy mill breeders are cruel to their animals and should be eliminated, but responsible breeders should be your friend. They are actually some of the biggest supporters of rescue efforts. Nothing is black or white, except Dalmatians of course. I hate to see issues like these polarize people.

I don't know who to root for at tomorrow's Superbowl game. Neither the Seahawks or the Patriots are teams that I'm particularly fond of. If Dallas couldn't be in the Superbowl, I'd much rather root for Green Bay or Pittsburgh. I'll watch the game and eat more than I should like everybody else, but what I'm really interested in is the Culwell and Son Superbowl sale. These guys were a client of mine for many years and once a year they mark everything down up to 75% off for just a few hours on Superbowl Sunday. Since it's the only time I can actually afford these expensive clothes, I never miss this sale.

Cooper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1871

Today was another big adventure. I left the hotel around 4 AM this morning to look for the illusive viewing site where we were all going to watch the launch. I had the longitude and latitude of the site, which I was able to enter into the map app on my phone, but that was all. The GPS in the car was useless, because the back roads that led to a weather station on top of a small mountain near the air base weren't even listed. Most of these roads were just used for fire safety. Did I mention it was pitch black. As I was driving up the mountain, I eventually saw a few people wandering around in the dark with flashlights, so I stopped the car and joined them. We came to a clearing in the trees and off in the distance to the West was the rocket, bathed in the light from some incredibly bright spotlights. We were about three miles away from the tower, which was as close as anyone was allowed to go. There was a guy with a Mohawk haircut just ahead of our small group who seemed to know where he was going. One of us asked him where the viewing location was and he didn't know either. I knew who he was though. This guy was Bobak Ferdowsi, NASA's famous Mohawk guy from the Mars Curiosity landing. You never know who you're going to run into in the dark. We could all see the rocket quite well from where we were standing, but everyone wanted to find the "official" viewing site, because NASA had promised an audio feed of the countdown that everyone could listen to on speakers.

Looking at the longitude and latitude mark on my iPhone map and comparing it with my own position, it seemed that the site was further up the mountain. We walked uphill for about half a mile and there it was. There were some small concrete bleachers and a growing crowd of people. Even the mayor of one of the nearby towns was there. For some reason the entire Grand Jury for the city of Santa Barbara was there as well. By the time the launch was about thirty minutes away, there were close to two hundred people on the mountain with us.

Everything looked perfect. The sky was clear and full of stars. I've never seen this many stars in Dallas. The city glare is just too bright. As the countdown progressed, we heard one person after another give mission control a go on their area of responsibility. Mission Control said that there was over a 90% chance that the launch would take place at 6:20 AM. The only problem were reports of high winds in the upper atmosphere. The winds would come and go, so they sent up a final weather balloon to get a reading with about five minutes left on the count.  The telemetry came back indicating that there were 70 mph winds in the upper atmosphere. This was considered dangerous and the launch was scrubbed at T-minus 4 minutes and counting.

There was only a three minute window to achieve the proper polar orbit, so the launch was rescheduled for Friday. Everyone was so disappointed. Some were able to change their schedules and stay another day. Others, like myself, had their chances of seeing the launch scrubbed as well. There are only two flights a day in very small prop planes to the town I flew to on Tuesday. I didn't want to fly standby and there were connecting flights in Los Angeles to deal with as well. It proved too difficult and way too expensive to change plans on such short notice, so I am back in Dallas now. There are no guarantees that the launch will take place tomorrow either. It might get scrubbed over and over again until the conditions are perfect. It took an entire year to get the spacecraft ready, so I don't think they're in any hurry to launch it when something isn't right.

I'm sorry I missed the launch, but I'm definitely not sorry I went to Vandenberg. This is the most fun I've had in quite a while. You guys keep on watching the NFL and the MBA. I want to watch the Space-X Dragon launch when it is certified for manned flight a few years from now.  I think I'm officially a space geek now.

Spirit is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day