Looking Up

I had a pretty amazing experience last night. Actually, I had two.

I went outside mid-evening to take a look at the blue moon (second full moon of the month). It wasn't up yet, but I could see a glow from behind the neighbors' trees that indicated it was on the way. I went inside to finish watching something on television and then I went back outside at 10:00.

Since we have a tree in our front yard, I had to walk down the front sidewalk and along the street a little to see the moon. It was definitely worth it: a big globe of white against the dark sky, framed by a few wispy clouds. I admired that sight for some time, the first amazing experience.

Next I let my eyes roam the sky, taking in the few stars I could see (our streetlight makes most of them invisible). Then I noticed movement and focused on that. There was a gold-tinted dot of light moving steadily over my head, from the southwest to the northeast.

I had only seen it for a few moments when I knew what it was, although I couldn't quite believe that was possible. It's been a few years since I last saw it, but I remembered the experience well: I was seeing the International Space Station!

What are the odds that I would walk out at that particular time, look in that particular direction, and recognize that particular dot of light???

I knew it, though. I was positive! The way it moved made it obvious it wasn't a plane and its size made it obvious it wasn't a satellite. I tried to comprehend that there were humans soaring above me, even while I was scurrying down our street to follow its path. It was visible for a few minutes before it sank out of sight to the northeast.

Only when it was gone did I rush into the house and turn on my laptop. I first checked the HDEV site, which showed me that the trajectory was correct to take the ISS over Kansas. I then checked the NASA site that lists times when the station will be visible for various locations. Both of them confirmed that I had seen the ISS.

If you want to check when you can see the ISS in your area: spotthestation.nasa.gov

If you want to see the view from the ISS: NASA HDEV

July can be a long, hot month, but its last evening was pretty cool for me this year.

New Horizons

This is the week that New Horizons will fly by Pluto and we'll have the first close look at it in history. I think that's pretty exciting!

There have been images released already, but this week's images should be better and give scientists much more information about the dwarf planet. Who knows what they will learn?

Here's a site by the Planetary Society that gives more information about what will be happening this week, as well as links to other sites that will have news about the flyby: New Horizons Info

So what will it mean to us? For me, it's the equivalent of when you're taking a hike in the mountains and you see that the trail curves ahead of you. You might have been hiking for a while, you might have a vague idea of what's around that curve ... but you can't know for sure. How many of you would turn back with a shrug and say, "Oh, it can't be anything that new or exciting"? And how many of you would realize you can't lose: no matter what you see, even if it's not new, it should be worth a look?

I'm definitely in the latter camp. Maybe Pluto is a chunk of rock. Maybe there won't be any amazing features (like the so-called "face" on Mars). But it's still something we've never seen before! It's like when you visit an art gallery for the first time: some art you'll like, some you won't, but you'll enjoy exploring it because it's new. Maybe Pluto isn't a work of art, but I'm willing to take a look.

Speaking of new, I've added a new page to my blog. I am certainly not an authority on writing or publishing, but I've learned a few things along the way. Every once in a while, I try to share what I've learned, because other writers have done the same and helped me. So if you look to the right under Pages, you'll see the new one: Advice for Writers. If it helps only one writer, I'll be happy with that.

Thanks again for reading.

Magical

I sat by our back window last evening, gazing at nothing in particular, admiring the green spaces of our back yard and letting the stress of the workday fade. Then I saw it: a yellow-green blink of light. Seconds later, I saw it again, and I smiled. It's June and the fireflies have returned.

At first it was obvious there was only one of them out there, shining his little light alone, here and there. It was only when the sun got a little farther below the horizon that others blinked around him. Before long, they were all over the yard, small beacons of light and life.

It doesn't matter to me that I know these are little bugs and it's a chemical reaction that causes the flash. Knowing and understanding something doesn't make it any less magical. Sometimes the opposite is true.

When I say "magic," I don't mean flying dragons and unicorns, I mean that wonderful, amazing thing that makes you stop and gasp with joy. It can be something as common as a dandelion or a cardinal ... or a firefly. The magic comes when you feel it in your heart and it makes you smile.

Science and magic aren't exclusive. Scientists often reveal the magic to us, when they discover new lifeforms, show us how to understand what we see, find new explanations that change how we see it. And scientists know as well as anyone the feeling of magic. If you want proof, look at the video below. These are scientists and engineers who spent years working with numbers and facts, building a craft and calculating how to get it to another planet, speculating on what environment it would find there and how it could react to that environment. Yet, after all that figuring and postulating, they weren't 100% sure they would succeed. So when the word came in, their reaction was ... well, magical.

Don't ever ignore the magic in your life. Look for it and embrace it.

Taking Flight

My name has already traveled to Mars, which I think is pretty amazing, and now I'm sending it to an asteroid. Thanks to NASA and The Planetary Society, my name will travel to asteroid Bennu, spend 500 days there and then return to Earth. However, my name will also stay in space with the spacecraft that went to the asteroid.

Something about having my name in space is very satisfying. It's not that my name can send me any photos or texts to tell me what it's seeing. It's not that I might get the best postcard ever. It's more a feeling of joining the push to get Out There, the quest to understand what's beyond our planet, our solar system, our galaxy. I've put my stamp of approval on the quest, telling anyone or anything that happens upon the spacecraft in some distant future that I want to see farther. My home planet has a lot going for it, but I want to know what else there is. Since NASA hasn't yet come knocking at my door with an invitation to travel out there myself, I send my name instead.

After the launch in 2016, I can close my eyes and imagine I'm out there with my name, soaring through the darkness toward a new perspective.

If you'd like your name to join mine, here is where you can sign up:
http://www.planetary.org/get-involved/messages/bennu/   If you don't want emails from The Planetary Society, be sure to uncheck the box. When I signed up, I got a cool certificate that I can save and print.

Let's go exploring!

Summer

It's Summer! (I know it's felt like summer in some places for quite a while, but now the calendar agrees with the weather.)

Summer is good and bad, I know, but I prefer to think of it the same way I think of Spring Training for the Cubs: anything is possible and you might as well bask in it before ugly reality hits. Ha, ha. Okay, maybe not "ugly" reality, but reality anyway.

Among your other plans for the summer, you might want to look up occasionally and remind yourself that there are humans soaring over our heads daily, gazing down at this incredibly beautiful planet and realizing how amazingly lucky they are to be aboard the International Space Station. We might not be able to join them, but we can either see the view from the station (through the link in my May 17 blog) or we can actually see the station itself! I've done it twice so far and it's really worth it! I was surprised at how exciting it was to see a gold-colored dot of light soar over my head and to recognize that there were people up there. The station can be seen with the naked eye. No binoculars or scopes are necessary. For details on how to spot it, go here: http://spotthestation.nasa.gov/

Otherwise, have a safe and wonderful summer. May it live up to all of its promise.

Perspective

I've been spending too much time lately staring at the images produced by the cameras aboard the International Space Station.  Here's what I've learned about Earth:
1) It's beautiful.
2) There are a LOT of clouds.
3) The people living on it had enough ingenuity to put a station up there so I could see these amazing views. I'm so lucky!

Another thing I've learned is that no matter what my mood, I will feel better when I look at our blue and white planet from above. For one thing, darkness lasts less than an hour up there, so the sun is going to rise again soon.

And the funny thing is that this is a big theme in my third novel! It couldn't be more timely for me to see the embodiment of darkness giving way to light.

It's dark and scary over there to the left, but all of that is shrinking away against the returning light.

Darkness has its purpose and is not always bad, but it's only part of the equation. The trick is to pass through it without becoming part of it.

And down here on this part of the surface, the days are getting longer.
Enjoy your summer.

Recollection

Happy Memorial Weekend! It's the unofficial start of summer, but it's also a time to remember ...

I started to think about those I remember, and it saddens me that the list is longer than I expected. I guess we can't escape that unless we have no human contact whatsoever, which wouldn't be worth it. The sadness is accompanied by a feeling of gratitude to have known them as long as I did. Family and friends, you are not forgotten.

I plan to use this weekend to make as much progress as I can on my third novel. Yes, there is a third, and yes, I have a rough draft. I'm in the polishing stage. That's when I read over what I have and wonder, What was I thinking when I wrote that???
Then I fix it (at least I hope so). I enjoy jumping back into that world temporarily, especially when this "real" one gets a little hectic.

Speaking of different worlds, how would you like to know what it's like to be aboard the International Space Station, gliding peacefully over the Earth? I don't know about you, but I would spend the whole time staring out the window ... and now I have the chance to do that! No, NASA hasn't invited me up there (although I would accept the invitation, NASA! Call me anytime). Instead, the Internet has come up with yet another way to suck up my time. Look at this.

How would you like that view out your window? Here's your chance to see it! It's here: http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/HDEV/  (If you go there and the image is gray or black, give it about 30 minutes. The station orbits in and out of darkness several times a day. One orbit takes a little over 90 minutes.)

So while we remember the ones we've lost, we can also remember what an awesome planet we live on and how much it's worth saving.

Bookmarks & Spacesuits

I know that seems a rather unlikely combination, but I have news about both so that's the common denominator.

First of all, I have new bookmarks for Another Shot! The people who made the bookmarks for Outsider did such an excellent job that I went back to them ... and they didn't disappoint. They didn't need to change the design very much, but the color is royal purple instead of dark blue. I chose that because there's a tiny bit of purple in the cover image and the purple background really brings it out. I think it works. Unlike the first bookmarks, these include my blog address and Facebook page, so people can find me if they want to do that. (By the way, I tried to scan a bookmark so I could show part of it to you, but the scanner doesn't like it and keeps distorting the color.) I'll be handing out the bookmarks at various events and I'll probably donate some to the local library. What better place to find people who might use a bookmark?

I discovered the other news today on cnn.com: you can now vote for the design of the next NASA spacesuit! That's right: there are three potential designs and they want you to vote for one. However, when I read more carefully at the site, I learned that these suits will only be used for testing here on Earth, not in space. (So why call them spacesuits? Hmmmm... These will lead to the next design, which could be used in space, I guess.) Anyway, if you want to check out the three designs, they're here: http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/z2/  (If you have trouble seeing the designs, refresh the page.) I'm leaning toward the Technology design, but I haven't voted yet. Feel free to leave a comment about which one you like or dislike the most. By the way, you can only vote until April 15, so vote soon!

Thanks again for your support.