| Watch NASA tv Thursday 10-11am Eastern time! |
[01 Apr 2008|02:36pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 excited |
] |
Thursday at 9:30ish Central time (10:30ish eastern) the European space vehicle I have been working on for 3 years (!!!) will be docking to the space station! NASA TV (and nasa TV online- google it there's lots of streaming sites) will cover it. The ATV launched... oh, a month ago. March 6th. And I have been working in mission control since it launched on and off. I've worked 9-11 hours every day since last Tuesday. tired! my shift has slowly moved early over the last two weeks, so for this week my shift is from 1am to 10am. So if this makes little sense, that's probably why.
Its going to be really neat to watch (it moves a little faster than the space shuttle dockings, plus there's the added nevousness that comes when you realize that it is flying all by itself- no one on board). It's doing really well and we're all very excited.
Since I haven't posted in forever, here's a quick catch up. Not much detail b/c it's almost my bedtime (3-4pm. how lame is that!)
My sister moved to New York City! She works in the international department at Sesame Street!! How cool is that!
Jeff is getting hired by NASA directly as a civil servant, away from the contractor he has been working for. It is a really big promotion and we're very happy about it. Most of the leadership jobs at NASA are civil servant only positions, so it opens doors for him.
I'm taking a tap class. I tried out the adult class but it was way slow, so my teacher put me in the 'teen' class. It's the highest tap class at the school, so I thought the girls were all senior/junior/college even. Just found out last week that most of them are 15/16! Some younger! To put this in perspective, I started dancing before any of them were born! I don't think they know that.
One of my good friends here had a baby about a month and a half ago, and another of my friends is in labor right now!!! Babies all over the place! It's really exciting.
ok, that's all I got update-wise.
With my goofy schedule I've been watching a lot of daytime tv- I just don't have much energy for anything else (not even Smash Brothers- which is awesome btw). There's a lot of weird crap on TV. Been watching a lot of Discovery Health/TLC- afternoons are all Babies all the time. (Catch the fever- baby fever!) What's with the TLC show where I guy 'talks' you into losing weight? without changing your diet or exercise? wtf? It's on after I go to sleep, so I haven't seen it but every commercial break there's an ad for it.
I just talked about babies a lot. I don't want to leave the impression that we are pregnant or are trying to get pregnant. just throwing that out there.
|
|
| for all you Buckeyes: |
[02 Dec 2007|06:31pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
surprised |
] |
Our house is 5 1/2 hours away from the Superdome in New Orleans. just saying...
I can't believe OSU is going to the National Championship again this year- a 'rebuilding' year. I can't believe it's only 5.5 hours away. I can't believe I might be on a business trip IN JAPAN that week- stuck in meetings during the game with NO internet access.
So. Who's going to the game?
|
|
| Launch Day!!! |
[23 Oct 2007|10:19am] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
excited |
] |
The first Space Shuttle mission that I'm working is launching today in ~20 min as long as the weather holds!!!
Mission: STS 120/ISS 10A
We're bringing up Node 2 which is a little module that will act like a connector piece to hold the European Columbus Lab and Japanese JEM Lab onto the US Lab. The space station will become much larger in the next few months, but only if we are able to launch and get this Node attached. It also has storage space and avionics and all the connections to connect the Intl.Partner labs to the ISS thermal, environmental, electrical, and data systems. This is the first pressurized module (a module the crew can go in) that's been brought up since I think 2001 (the Airlock was the last one).
That's only half of our job on this flight. Usually a new module would be enough, but this flight is also going to be relocating one of the solar arrays from its current location on top of the station to its final location at the end of the Port truss segments (the ones that launched on 12A and 12A.1). We had to have a solar array for power generation long before we got the truss built, so we stuck it on top of the station on a special temporary spot. Now it's moving out to it's final spot. There is only one solar array segment left on earth now, and it will launch on 15A next year. Then the power system will finally be complete.
My shift is from 7pm to 4am starting today and for the next 13 days. It's nice that we got the weekend before launch. I'm kind of really nervous about working my first flight. I don't feel like I know enough, but everyone says that's a common feeling. Doesn't help much. I think I can do ok but I want to be excellent.
10:28 Still GO for launch... Yesterday they thought weather would suck but I guess the front pushed through and it's going to be good weather.
T-9min. I wish I was there for the launch- looks like a beautiful day. Seriously- you should try to see one in person before we stop flying shuttles (very soon- 2010).
Holy crap I think we're really going to go. We were pretty sure there'd be weather slips. That means I go in to work TONIGHT!!! gotta study.
T-6:30. Still GO. We've retracted the arm.
T-4min What a beautiful sight- a shuttle on the pad. Only thing better is a launching shuttle and a landing shuttle.
3...2...1... Liftoff!!!!!!!!!!
There are few things I can think of that are more beautiful than a shuttle launch. I don't know why it effects me so much. I cry every time.
well. better get to work.
Go Discovery!!!
|
|
| random thoughts |
[20 Sep 2007|01:55pm] |
|
It's finally finally finally starting to cool down a little here. It's just barely in the 90s now and at night it cools down all the way to the low 70s! Though it's not quite as cool as I thought it was when I decided to sit outside and do this...
I was in a sim with the Europeans and the Russians last night from 11pm to 9am. ugh. the weird times are to accomodate close to normal business hours in Russian and France. Sure sucks for us though. Did I sleep this afternoon? no.
I started taking tap class again. I started my first dance class before any of the girls in my class were born. how old am I?
I have to head out soonto buy a leotard and pink tights. oh. lord.
Is there anything better (food-wise) than Graeter's icecream? nope. Thank God for dry ice. PS. airlines apparently won't let you check styrofoam. live and learn.
Our neighbors are going to buy the extra patio pavers we mistakenly bought for our patio (we bought about 50% more than we needed. whoops) which means I won't have to lug them to the garage! sweet!
Ursuline has stairs now. and an elevator!
The program that I spent most of college working for was featured heavily in a "beauty and the geek" video tryout as proof of geeky-ness. mixed feelings about that. Fun to see Luke on tv though, and the robot lab- and incredibly sureal.
I love having my sister here in Houston with the rest of us. Don't know how long that will last.
My dad got a job right here in Houston (in fact, right down the street).
I would love to have a high-school/college friends reunion.
If we rented a beach house for a long weekend this fall or next spring, before it got warm up north, would anyone want to join us?
It's humid out. time to go inside. I think Riley's getting antsy for the AC. He's a big AC fan, but I guess that's cause he wears a fur coat all the time.
|
|
| coming to Ohio |
[08 Sep 2007|09:58am] |
We'll be in Ohio next weekend. We fly into Columbus Thursday night and drive to Cincinnati. Friday morning-afternoon we're busy doing stuff, but the rest of Friday is free. Then Saturday is free- we're looking to watch the game somewhere. Sometime on Saturday we'll be heading up to Columbus and then flying out Sunday afternoon.
So- let's get together- yeah yeah yeah...
|
|
| nothing important |
[20 Aug 2007|08:39pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
good |
] |
So, Dean isn't going to hit us after all. The latest preditions don't even show us getting any rain bands... I really feel for the people in it's path- they think it might be a Cat 5 by the time it hits the Yucatan, not good.
We undocked the space shuttle a day early and are landing early, just to be safe- don't want to make people stay in Mission Control if their families need to be evacuating. It was a really good mission- all of the objectives were completed without much trouble. We had two scratches- one on the belly of the shuttle caused by falling foam(not good!) and a scratched EVA glove (really not good!). The scratch in the glove didn't go all the way through (which would have meant a leaky suit) but it is the second time in a the last few flights that a guy outside has ripped a glove and we haven't figured out what the sharp thing(s) is that they're catching on.
My sister is coming back to the US on Friday! yay! She turned in her thesis today- thanks to everyone who took her surveys. Her birthday is Sunday and I have NO idea what to get her!
Work is really ramping up for me. I am working the next mission (due to launch Oct 23). We are launching a new module (Node 2) and we're moving one of the solar arrays (the one that sits on top of the station) out to its proper place on the side truss (next to the arrays we installed recently). Maybe that's all gibberish, I don't know- I've lost touch with the 'outsiders' perspective. It's a really complicated flight, and it's only 2 months away!!! oh lord.
|
|
|
[17 Aug 2007|05:53pm] |
well. Don't know if you've been following the weather news, but Houston just got visited by tropical whatever Erin. The streets flooded in my area and the grocery store a block down the street had it's roof cave in. SO I guess I won't be shopping there for a bit.
Course, with Dean maybe thundering our way, might not be shopping in Clear Lake much at all soon. We'll know more this weekend, but if the hurricane looks like it's heading our way (and it looks like it's going to be a big 'un) we'll be evacuating to my parent's house in Kingwood (north east houston- well outside of evacuation zones). We're taking this storm pretty seriously at work- we may be landing the space shuttle early so that the people working this mission (Jeff!) can prep their houses and families for the storm. oy. The gas station closest to NASA was already running out of gas (but I don't know if that was just bad timing- hurricane news right before the truck came to refill or something...) We've already gotten a foot more rainfall than normal for this time of year
We're going to spend the weekend prepping (well, I will- Jeff is working). If the storm manages to miss the Yucatan peninsula, that's super bad for us.
So think happy hurricane-shrinking thoughts in our direction.
My sister is finished with her paper for her masters and is coming home on the 24th- Hooray! she's going to move back in with our parents until she (or her fiance) lands a job.
The space shuttle mission is going really well. We're not so much worried about the chip out of the tile in the belly of the shuttle- lots of testing and analysis. Of course, the media thinks that we're being rash AND took too long to decide (not sure how it's possible to do both) but we're not worried anymore so who cares what they say (whatever we decided, it would be wrong).
Football season is almost fully here (pre season games don't fully count). Waiting on baited breath to see if Comcrap-I mean cast- is going to pick up the Big 10 network. I really hope so. We finally get to put Riley's "Touchdown" trick to good use. Need to get him an OSU bandanna or jersey or something. Did anyone get tickets? our game was the first one again (bleck) we didn't order any.
|
|
| stuff and things |
[07 Aug 2007|08:23am] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 awake |
] |
1) My sister has another survey she needs people in their 20's to take. It's only ~3 questions, no essays, should take 2minutes. Please take it if you've got the time, it's for her Masters Degree. You'll have to copy/paste the whole link.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=GuGxpEDES1FHbj 7tLGdo_2fw_3d_3d
2) We're launching a space shuttle tomorrow evening 6:36 EDT. You should watch it. 70% chance it's go (weather-wise). If you have an HD tv, I hope someone is broadcasting it in HD b/c I think that would be breathtaking. Jeff's working this one, I'm not.
3) I just got back from 2 weeks with Katie in the UK. Stories and pics to follow. We went to Edinburgh, Newcastle (where Katie lives, where the beer comes from, though you cannot buy it on tap anywhere- stupid!), York, Tynemouth, Belfast, and Cumbria (the Lake district).
4) We'll be in Cincinnati Sept 14-15, and maybe Columbus 15-16. Would love to see people.
|
|
| O-HI-O |
[12 Jul 2007|07:17pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
hopeful |
] |
Jeff and I will be in Ohio next weekend (19-23).
We get into Cincinnati airport late Thursday night. We're in Cincinnati all day Friday. Saturday we'll be in Dayton for a wedding. Sunday we're heading to Columbus, and then Monday afternoon back to Cincinnati. Jeff will be flying home and I'll be flying to visit my sister in England!
So. any of you in these cities on those nights available to hang out? Friday afternoon and Sunday night we will be with Jeff's family, but the rest of the time is free for the hanging out. We'll have a rental car, so we can meet up somewhere.
I know that this weekend is apparently the 'in' weekend to be in Ohio, but we're coming next weekend. also the weekend Harry Potter comes out. hopefully those who are addicted can tear themselves away for a bit to visit.
Oh, and at some point we have to go to Graeters to 'pay' my parents for dogsitting Riley.
sorry for the last minute-type notice, but we couldn't start planning the trip until the shuttle landed.
|
|
|
[23 Jun 2007|12:25pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
thankful |
] |
Wanna help my sister get her grad degree? She's working on her dissertation and needs people between the age of 20 and 30 (and American) who will take this online survey:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=8N_2fg96mKW3DGheKi5OUJqg_3d_3d
It is totally anonymous. Please be completely honest, and take it seriously (it is for her graduate degree and all...)
The more the better! She says it should take about 15min.
|
|
| arg! |
[21 Jun 2007|08:45pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 annoyed |
] |
I posted with a link to my france pictures, but for some reason it's not showing up in friends pages.
why? If you want to see, you'll have to click on my journal first. seems dumb.
|
|
| France! |
[21 Jun 2007|08:35pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
calm |
] |
St. Etienne
Originally uploaded by Molly Radigan.
I recently travelled to Toulouse, France (it's in southern France) for business. I've posted a few pics. I didn't take very many, unfortunately. If you want to feel like you've been to Toulouse, go to this page www.panomir.com for 360degree views of a lot of the cool spots.
|
|
|
[21 Jun 2007|07:09pm] |
Since Emily posted the movie list (AFI's top 100) I got curious and decided to see how many of them I had seen. Only 28- I thought I would have more than that. Apparently I need to subscribe to Netflix...
I am finally getting to go to England to visit my sister. I'm going to be there for almost 2 weeks! Unfortunately the only way I can make the trip is to leave Jeff at home- his schedule combined with mine was too constraining. So it's a Donovan Girls weekend. In the UK we are seeing: Edinburgh, York, Newcastle (where she lives- excellent beer as well), the Harry Potter Castle, Tynemouth, possibly the Lake district. I have already been to London, so no need to repeat.
We're trying to decide where to go outside of England for a short trip (3 days or so) in the middle of my vacation, if we can get cheap enough plane tickets (though I'm also happy to spend the whole time in England/Scotland).
Any suggestions?
Katie is quite the traveller, and I'd like to avoid places she's been (which is a long list) so we can rule out: Italy (all of it), Germany(pretty much all of it), Ireland (all of the Republic), Paris, Cannes, Monaco, Prague, and she's heading to Norway soon.
Our list of possibilities so far was Barcelona, Spain (might be super hot and crowded- all of France is on holiday in July, and they love spain); Brussels, Belgium; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Belfast, N.Ireland (July is 'marching season'- when the Loyalist celebrate conquering the island by marching through all of the Catholic neighborhoods... not the most awesome time to be there);
|
|
| big news!!! |
[12 Jun 2007|09:47am] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
excited |
] |
!!!!!!!!!!!MY BABY SISTER IS GETTING MARRIED!!!!!!!!!!
|
|
| Matsumoto castle |
[26 May 2007|08:48pm] |
Matsumoto castle
Originally uploaded by Molly Radigan.
So, I spent the last two weeks of April in Japan. We were having some important technical meetings with JAXA for the HTV vehicle (H-II Transfer Vehicle, unmanned spacecraft that will bring supplies to the Space Station, hopefully in 2009). I am one of the leads on the NASA side for this vehicle (well, in my group). JAXA (Japanese space agency) is located in Tsukuba, Japan (not far from Tokyo). We spent the first week and a half in Tsukuba, then went to Yokohama for the rest of the trip (meetings with Mitsubishi, a prime contractor). It was really great to meet the Japanese team in person. We have a great working relationship with them, and it is awesome. On our weekend off, we took a bullet train to Nagano (where the olympics were). We toured Nagano and Matsumoto (one hour train ride outside of Nagano). This is a picture of the castle at Matsumoto. We lucked out and the cherry blossoms were still blooming in Matsumoto/Nagano since it's north of Tokyo. The cherry blossom season is a huge deal in Japan- they go nuts about it. It is very beautiful, and since everyone else is so excited you get excited about it too.
Been very busy. My parents are in town for a couple weeks. They are moving to Houston in July! It will be really nice to have them closer.
Work has been really busy too. We have a shuttle launching (hopefully!!!) June 8th. (this is the one that was supposed to go in March, but got damaged at the launch pad by a freak hailstorm. It has been all patched up- but it's kinda ugly- the normal foam on the tank is orange, and the patch foam is white.) I'm not working this mission but Jeff is. I'm being sent to Toulouse, France the first week of June to work with ESA (european space agency) on their autonomous supply spacecraft (ATV). They are running a full up test on the actual vehicle and I'm going to watch their flight controllers. I'm not quite as excited about this trip, since I'll be traveling alone, I don't speak French, and they don't like us as much as the Japanese do. The ATV is "supposed" to launch this November but I don't really think it has a chance. More likely to launch next year. I sure hope so b/c I'm assigned to a shuttle mission in mid October and I don't really want to work console for 5 straight weeks (plus it's breaks a bunch of rules).
Jeff is also working the next mission which launches in August. My sister is moving back from England in August, so some time between the June mission and her leaving we are hoping to get over there to visit her. It will probably be tight, expecially since we can't buy tickets until the shuttle launches (could slip all the way through July if there are any problems or bad weather). Oy.
|
|
| projects! |
[26 Mar 2007|09:27pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 busy |
] |
The "Great Radigan Backyard Improvement Project" of 2007 is officially started. Our yard is basically a totally clean slate, since there is only one tiny concrete patio, one large-ish but ugly tree, and a mix of grass and weeds (about 50-50 right now- ugh).
I am trying to document the transformation. Pics can be found here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/molly_radigan/sets/72157594209392903/
Our first step was to take care of the swamp that fills the middle of the yard after every heavy rain (water sits there for days after- very annoying when you have a shaggy dog that loves mud). So this weekend we built a french drain (basically a ditch filled with gravel, covered with grass). 560lbs of gravel, to be exact. Awesome. One project done. Or almost done- soon as we buy a few more bags of topsoil and get rid of the mounds of useless clay-filled mud stuff that we dug up. (I'm a little worried we will have a stripe of the most beautiful grass going across our yard where the really good soil is, and crap grass everywhere else. But not too worried, because the crap tropical stuff is insane and will take over quick anyway.)
Next we are building a paver patio to enlarge the existing teeny concrete one. Maybe even this weekend if we can pull the supplies and helpers together in time. We are doing the work ourselves (unless the nice people at Lowe's or Home Depot don't charge much for install- doubtful). We're trying to fit it in before the weather gets too hot (aka May) but this is tricky since next weekend is Easter and the rest of the weekends in April I'll be in Japan. So this weekend it is, hopefully.
Next we're trying to get rid of as much grass along the fence as we can, since it's weird running stuff that will climb the fence, requiring weekly weed-whacking doesn't do the fence any favors. So we're putting beds of tropical plants in- mostly palms and bamboo, and a corner area with one of those covered swings. We're going to use some kind of rock instead of mulch to keep Riley from digging (hopefully!) probably lava rock or river rock- lava will probably work best as a riley-preventer since it's rough and sharp.
Then I want to build some raised planters (this will probably be a fall or next year project) to keep Riley out of them, and to add some more seating in the yard. The center planter will have a fountain of some kind- probably the kind that's like a huge pot with water bubbling out of it and down the sides into a bunch of rocks. (this kind is best for dogs and kids since there is no standing water they can drink/fall into, except inside the tall pot.)
When Jeff told his brother what we were up to he said "Jeez- every time I talk to you, you sound more like Dad!"
|
|
| Life of Riley |
[14 Mar 2007|06:36pm] |
Life of Riley
Originally uploaded by Molly Radigan.
Posted a few more pictures to Flickr. Some pictures of Riley and a few of the house. Realized I hadn't taken any pictures of the house once we moved our furniture in. Plus we finally bought dining room furniture. (Posted those pictures mostly for our parents...)
We have had severe thunderstorms every night since Sunday. Only experienced one storm in Cincinnati that was worse than a big Houston thunderstorm (and it was a record for lightening strikes). lordy. Last night the thunder shook the house, shook us awake. Riley sleeps through it all, but I wake up. It always sounds like the strikes are in our neighborhood, and I'm always worried our house will be hit. Today I know the lightening hit really close- I saw the flash as I heard the thunder. Freaked me out. Our yard is pretty waterlogged (so is our dog, unfortunately). So after I got home from work today, when it started to pour the yard filled up and a river of water was flowing from the back yard to the front and into the street- which looked like a lake. I was flooded into the house (water never came anywhere near the house, but the street was impassable for my little saturn.) Luckily I got home just before. Took less than an hour for the water to drain after the storm stopped, but it was still impressive. Never been flooded in before. darn- rain just started again.
|
|
| Happy St. Patrick's Day! |
[14 Mar 2007|06:30pm] |
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Originally uploaded by Molly Radigan.
We're having a party for St. Patrick's Day. This is the first real party we've had at the house. I'm really excited, but I have no idea how many people are coming right now. My parents used to have a huge party every year, so we're starting that tradition back up again. (There was a reason we had a tap in the wall in Cincinnati- too bad we moved away before we all turned 21.) I've made 2 batches of Bourbon Slush (family requirement for all parties and/or holiday gatherings). I'm making Bailey's Chocolate Chip Cheesecake later this week. We're going to have Skyline dip and Montegomery Inn bbq soaked meatballs. I think someone is bringing green mashed potatoes. I think I'm making potato biscuits. Other than that (and a bunch of Guinness) I'm not sure what else we should have. mmm. now I'm hungry again.
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
|
|
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=88.8){kind=small}
spacegeek0's journal
