A blog a day

More NASA stuff, and assessing a potential career... as an Acronymologist?

Written by Bob McCormick on 2/24/2011 11:35:00 AM

Well,
As I type this, STS-133 is in its countdown to launch.  The Space Station crew did manage to move the HTV to the Nadir (upward-pointing) port - and actually a bit ahead of schedule, so the STS-133 team can do its job.

Earlier today, we docked the ATV-2 (launched by the European Space Agency from French Guiana) to one of the Russian docking ports, and later tonight, we will perform a reboost test with the ATV-2.  Busy days!

I've been on console on the ISS the past few days, but plan on handing over the the STS-133 team for what amounts to a half shift later today (assuming STS-133 launches).

By the way, I'd like to take this moment to dispel the rumors that ATV is actually a Star Wars Rebel X-Wing Fighter.

In other news/thoughts, I am considering a potential career as an acronymologist.  Coming up with acronyms has to be a growing career.  Let's face it, which acronym sounds cooler - ISS, NACHOS, COCHISE, or MAHEM?

;*)

Work happenings this week (somewhat HTV-related, at least)

Written by Bob McCormick on 2/12/2011 01:20:00 PM

This past week saw significant SPDM use.  SPDM (also known as Dextre) is robotic equipment that was used to relocate external equipment from the Exposed Pallet (brought up to the ISS via the HTV) to the SPDM itself (temporarily). 

This link details a lot of the operations that were performed.

Next week, the HTV will be relocated by the SSRMS, from the Nadir (lower) Node 2 port to the Zenith (upper) Node 2 port.  It's the first time an HTV has been relocated.  It's needed because the next Shuttle flight is bringing up a module in the payload bay - and having the HTV on the Nadir port would block the ability to remove that module from the payload bay.  Thus, the HTV will be relocated back to the Nadir port after the Shuttle flight.

What I think about Obama's proposed NASA budget

Written by Bob McCormick on 2/09/2010 10:51:00 PM

Let me answer by analogy ...  I'm sure you can fill in the blanks.

I now live in east Houston.  I used to live in west Houston.  It's no secret that I used to live in Dallas and I've traveled there before. 

I liked Dallas.  Dallas is not a perfect place, but I think it's a good thing that I could prove that I could live there like I can live in Houston.  Houston is also not a perfect place, but having people in two places is a good idea, because it would be bad if there was a natural disaster in Houston, and people only lived nowhere but Houston. 

I also don't think I need to make Houston a perfect place before I decide I need to go to Dallas, just like I didn't think I needed west Houston to be perfect before I moved to east Houston.

So someday, I'd like to go back to Dallas -  maybe for short visits, maybe to live there. Certainly others will want to go to Dallas, whether I go or not.

Dallas doesn't have everything Houston has, but it does have a few unique things that Houston probably doesn't have.  So, going to Dallas - either to visit for periods of time, or to live there - has its own merit, simply because it isn't Houston.

I'm sure that when I want to go to Dallas, I really want to go to Dallas.  I could go there by going through Austin, San Antonio, Waco, or even out of state.  All those places also have merit, but Dallas has its own unique merit, and I could get to those other places from Dallas as I could from Houston - maybe even easier than from Houston.

When I decide I want to go to Dallas, I have a number of choices on how to get there.  I could drive, I could take the bus, I could fly in an airplane.  Clearly, how I get to Dallas dictates what I can do once I get there.  But the decision on how to get there is different than the decision on going there in the first place.

My current car has high mileage, so it might not be so reliable to get me to Dallas (and back).  But, it will allow me to drive around Houston.  So, assuming I want to go there by car (because going there other ways doesn't allow me to do the stuff I want to do), I might want to buy a new car, or a used car.  If no cars existed that were reliable enough to get me to Dallas and back, I might build a car - or hire someone out who could build me that car.  I'd probably go with the least expensive option.  But notice - I needed to decide to go to Dallas before I could even decide on whether to build or buy a car! 

Whoever builds the car needs certain technologies that assured that I could get to Dallas, do the stuff I want to do while I'm there, and get me back.  This would include good tires, some sort of engine to allow the car to be motorized, heating (and most importantly, air conditioning!  This is Texas, after all) ... the kinds of things that will make it more likely for any car to get to Dallas and back, or allow me to stay in Dallas.  I could test out those technologies by driving my car around Houston (and that idea has merit).  But deciding to test those technologies by driving around Houston, even if they could be used to drive a car to Dallas, is different than deciding to go to Dallas (or Austin/San Antonio/Waco, for that matter)!

In the final analysis, deciding to go to Dallas is the most important decision.  How we go to Dallas, or what technologies to use in our vehicle to go to Dallas ... those decisions are important, but they are not (literally)the driving decision.  Even WHEN I get to Dallas is not tremendously important (especially from the perspective of getting there just to get there ... after all, I've been there before), as long as it is within a reasonable time frame for me to do the new things I want to do when I get there. And if I focused on those decisions, while ignoring the question about what to do with them once they are developed, I would be showing a lack of vision.

Other thoughts here (much of which, I agree with).

P.S.  Another good analogy ... "Operation Overlord Canceled"

No wonder Google didn't get popular until this decade ...

Written by Bob McCormick on 8/29/2009 11:03:00 AM

It took quite a while for its service to really take off. If it had been designed in 1960, it probably would have looked something like this ...

H/T: Dane Carlson/Business Opportunities Weblog

Sometimes, it's just better NOT to kill the bug ...

Written by Bob McCormick on 8/23/2009 10:08:00 PM

OK,

So, this is kind of a lame post, but here it goes ...

One day, I was at work and I went to the men's restroom. I noticed other people in the restroom, as I went into the stall to take care of personal business.

As I was in the stall, I noticed a reasonably-sized bug just outside my stall area, in the adjacent stall.

My first inclination was to stomp on the bug.

Then, I thought the other people in the bathroom, and about Larry Craig.

Obviously, the right thing to do in this situation was to leave the bug alone.

That's one lucky bug!

Written by Bob McCormick on 8/21/2009 11:32:00 PM

This is just a short text message that I'm spamming to twitter, facebook, & my blogsite simo, via ping.fm!

Isn't technology great? Now I can spam like the big guys!

Lunar landing "hoax" - enough already!

Written by Bob McCormick on 7/20/2009 10:15:00 PM

With the 40th anniversary of the 1st landing on the moon, you'd think that most folks would finally drop the lunar hoax conspiracy theory.

If they did, I think I'd shout "Whooppie"!

Or maybe I should just shout ... "Whoopi"?

You see, Whoopi Goldberg did it again. On the July 20th taping of ABC's "The View", Whoopi insinuated that NASA faked the moon landings, based on the obviously fictional movie "Capricorn One". Even Barbara Walters had to set her straight, with the weak "evidence" Whoopi Goldberg presented, since the landings were done SIX TIMES.

But in my opinion, I think the coolest "evidence" (as if I needed more) of the Apollo Lunar landings came from NASA's next attempt to get back to the Moon. Three days ago, NASA's Lunar Reconnaisssance Orbiter provided detailed images of the Lunar surface - images that are much more detailed than could have been obtained back in the Apollo years. As you can see from these photos, the LRO flew over the old Apollo landing sites, capturing images of the lunar descent stages still sitting on the landing sites!

Perhaps Whoopi Goldberg and her pseudo-intellectual "lunar hoax" crowd can argue with those images.

HAT TIP: Mark Whittington/Curmudgeon's Corner and Debbie Schlussel

A face only a mother could love ....

Written by Bob McCormick on 7/19/2009 03:23:00 PM

I had to have a bit of surgery on my forehead ... turned out, it was skin cancer. It was squamous, so it shouldn't be a serious issue, as long as I look after it.

I managed to take 11 stitches, and I developed a nice shiner on my left eye.

"... but you should see the other guy!"

- Bob

Here's a nice, semi-blurry picture of me from my blackberry.

"We Witness News" material

Written by Bob McCormick on 7/16/2009 11:30:00 PM

Back in my Middle School and High School Daze, some friends and I put together a mock newscast for our Middle School and High School's talent show. We called it "We Witness News" ... as a parody of a local TV channel's newscast (Eyewitness News). We had all sorts of jokes, puns, and sight gags in the skit - folks loved it.

Every once in a while, I come across some news story that's so funny, it would have been perfectly designed for our We Witness News skit.

Back in December, I came across another one, courtesy of Boing Boing.

What really cracks me up are some of the comments to the story - particularly, #14.

Truth is stranger (and funnier) than fiction!

Time for a restart

Written by Bob McCormick on 7/15/2009 09:08:00 PM

It's been too long since I've posted.

Stay tuned ... more posts are coming!!!

An inspiring picture

Written by Bob McCormick on 1/24/2009 11:53:00 PM

I saw this one in NASA's 2009 "Healthier You" Calendar (in October), and then later, through ProBlogger Blogging Tips.

Either way, I think it's from Tyler Westcott, and I think it's inspirational. What do you think? Let me know in the comments.

I really feel uninspired right now, but I think I know why ...

Written by Bob McCormick on 10/20/2008 04:07:00 PM

It's the wrong time of day to be doing this - it's been scientifically proven.

I'll try again in about 6 hours.

But I won't blog from my shower or bathroom.

Really.

Not understood - local Houston utility prices

Written by Bob McCormick on 10/19/2008 11:51:00 PM

I'm the biggest advocate of de-regulation, and yes, energy prices have gone up (although not extremely lately), but even I can't understand why the prices are so high.

This article from the Houston Business Journal in August tells us that we had the highest home utility bills in the nation. It compares Houston to Portland, which isn't a fair comparison at all in July. What it doesn't say is what the average price per kilowatt-hour is ... which is the real valid comparison.

What is true is that customer service can really suffer, as one of my co-workers now knows.

Even more amazing is that Texas electric provider deregulation doesn't seem to be uniform across the state. My in-laws in Austin and Huntsville didn't realize that they have to choose their electric providers ... do they not have a choice?

If you live in the Houston area, or in Texas (or for that matter, anywhere), what's been your experience? Let us know in the comments.

Hurricane Ike ... Thanks for the memories

Written by Bob McCormick on 10/16/2008 09:33:00 AM

It's been about a month since Hurricane Ike hit us. And while everyone in the Houston area certainly has not gotten completely back into their pre-Ike routine, there's still some funny memories from the MSM buildup for Ike.

In closing, I'm left (and am leaving you) with three images for Ike. Then, I won't blog about Ike anymore. Really.

1. Some dude in a bear outfit playing on the Galveston Seawall while the storm surge was coming in ... (Hat tip: Mike McGuff)

2. A streaker over in Beaumont (Hat tip: Lou Minatti)

3. Last, but not least ... Geraldo Rivera biting it on the Seawall.

Welcome back to the ISS, Mike Fincke!

Written by Bob McCormick on 10/14/2008 09:34:00 PM

Work was great yesterday. I got to see the 17 Soyuz crew dock to the International Space Station, which they managed to do about 5 minutes ahead of schedule (and since I happen to manage and monitor that schedule, I should know ...).



The 17 Soyuz crew consists of the new Expedition 18 Commander, Michael Fincke, as well as the Expedition 18 Flight Engineer Yury Lonchakov (who is also a veteran on the ISS, albeit with a visiting Shuttle). It also includes the 17 Soyuz Visiting Crewmember Richard Garriott (who is the son of the Apollo and Skylab Astronaut Owen Garriott).



Soon after the docking and ingress, the crew had a public relations event with visitors at Mission Control in Moscow (where, naturally, the docking was also being closely monitored). There, Mike's wife Renita and his children (Chandra, Tarali - who was born on Mike's first tour to the ISS, and Surya) were able to speak and see Mike again on orbit.



After my last experiences with Mike on orbit, the whole thing brought me a sense of deja vu. I'm definitely looking forward to his latest upcoming expedition.

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Related links:
Space.com, New Crew, Space Tourist Arrive at Space Station

The experiment is over, and the results are in ...

Written by Bob McCormick on 10/11/2008 04:15:00 PM

... Blogger is a better place to blog than the free version of wordpress (wordpress.com).

I didn't realize this until I started blogging there. Blogger seems to have quite a bit more flexibility in what I can add to the site than the free version of wordpress.

Any other bloggers out there agree with me ... or have a different opinion? LEt me know in the comments.


BTW - I've decided to repost all the postings I had at wordpress over on this site.

Alt.energy roundup: Wind power

Written by Bob McCormick on 10/05/2008 03:44:00 PM

As I’d mentioned earlier, Texas is actually an early adopter of wind power (and my school’s positioning itself well). Now comes news out of Norway that they are looking to build a floating wind turbine there. Also, CNN says that T. Boone Pickens is looking to get into wind energy as well.

However, look before you leap in investing in wind energy. FuturePundit reports that wind turbine costs are up for both offshore and onshore sites, with offshore sites being much more expensive.

As just an average guy, here’s some questions I have:

1. What would happen in a hurricane to all those offshore sites? (Granted, the situation is no different than for offshore oil rigs. And of course, onshore sites are not immune to weather problems.)

2. How is the energy generated by the windmills transmitted to the power grid? (I’m assuming some sort of AC power conversion, much like existing high-tension lines.)

3. Is there a larger issue of grid support costs? That is, the wind energy is collected out on the Great Plains but the electrical load is on the coasts – how much investment in the electrical grid is required to get the wind energy to play a significant role in offsetting the overall electrical national electrical load?

Let me know if you have any thoughts in the comments.

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Related links:

Slashdot (5/27/08) Giant Floating Windmills To Launch Next Year

Slashdot (5/23/08) Oil Billionaire Building World’s Largest Wind Farm

The best space news last week

Written by Bob McCormick on 10/02/2008 03:43:00 PM

Catching up: My Mom and Dad’s 50th

Written by Bob McCormick on 10/01/2008 03:43:00 PM

TeenACTS retreat -July

Written by Bob McCormick on 9/30/2008 03:42:00 PM

This past year, I was fortunate enough to go on two ACTS retreats - one as a retreatant, and one as a “retreatee”. My wife was also fortunate enough to do the same thing (men and women go on separate retreats).

“ACTS” is an acronym which stands for Adoration, Community, Theology, and Service. An ACTS activity typically consists of a weekend retreat where retreatants engage in discussions, activities, and prayerful reflections centered about the Sacraments and Roman Catholic liturgy/catechism. It is a powerful event for both the retreatants and the “retreatees” (former retreatants who assist in all preparation and execution of the retreat).

Most ACTS retreats are for adults. However, in July, both my wife and I were fortunate enough to assist in our parish’s first ever Teen ACTS retreat, with our oldest son being one of the retreatants. It was a beautiful experience that I highly recommend any adult or teen take the opportunity to do if they get the chance.