The GRAIL NASATweetup Experience Part 3

Originally published 9/25/2011

Last week was an amazing week.  As you know, I was one of 150 selected by NASA to attend the GRAIL launch and Tweetup.  First of all, I have to apologize for not being able to update the blog with my experiences before today: it was the first chance I’ve had to sit down and formulate an entry for you.  So without further ado: my NASA Tweetup experience.  Parts One and Two, I told you about the Tweetup and the first launch attempt.  In this entry, the actual launch.

Part 3: Sometimes it Pays to be Lucky

I arrived home late in the day Thursday September 8^th.  I was tired and disappointed that I wasn’t going to get to see the launch, but quite pleased to have participated in the Tweetup. 

Friday September 9^th.  I got up Friday morning and went through my usual routine of checking emails and the web for news before getting ready for work.  I was surprised to learn that the Friday launch for GRAIL had already been scrubbed so that the engineering team could investigate an anomaly that popped up as they were taking fuel off the rocket Thursday evening.  The NASATweetup people let us know that, since the busses wouldn’t go Friday that they *would* take the group out to a viewing site Saturday, if we could make it.  So it looked like I would have one more chance to see the launch.  Woo hoo!

So Friday afternoon after work (ok, I left a little early…with permission) I headed home, threw my things back in my bags (I had pretty much unpacked Thursday night when I got home) and I headed back north to Titusville, this time with my wife Monica in tow.

Saturday, September 10^th.  Once again we all gathered at the parking area to be bused to the launch viewing area.  We had a bit smaller group since not everyone was able to stay over to Saturday, but several of the in-state people had come back for the Saturday morning attempt.  We were told that we wouldn’t be going back out to the causeway on Saturday, since the prevailing winds might blow noxious fumes that way from the launch (or from a malfunctioning, exploding rocket if it came to that).  So we went off to a different site: KARS park, about 5 miles directly west of the launch complex.  To me, it seemed like it was slightly further away than the causeway viewing site for Thursday, but the view was better (fewer buildings in the way).  There were also far fewer people in the park Saturday morning than on the causeway Thursday.  Our viewing area was right next to a small harbor with a boat ramp, and in between jockeying for the best viewing spots we soon discovered that there was a small herd of manatees bobbing about in the water right next to us (and yes I looked it up: a group of manatees is actually called a “herd”).  Most of the non-Florida contingent of Tweeps hadn’t ever seen manatees up close, so everyone was thrilled with the bonus attraction offered from our viewing site.

As with Thursday, the first few weather reports weren’t promising.  There was a 60% chance of favorable launch weather (as opposed to 40% Thursday) and two windows for launch at 8:29 and 9:08, but we were all hopeful.  We kept track of the latest weather reports and tried to listen to the audio feed, although the speakers in the park were pretty mushy).  Once again, the weather balloon close to the 8:29am attempt came back red, so the 8:29 attempt was scrubbed.

Several people with tight connections had to leave, so they jumped in their rental cars and headed out. Meanwhile the NASA weather people sent up a couple more balloons and tweeted that they “may have misinterpreted” the data from the last ones. (How does one misinterpret wind data?)  Best tweet of the morning: “Hey NASA, stop sending up Red balloons…Send Green ones.”  At 9am we got the final weather report: the next to last balloon indicated that the winds were 40% over allowable limits, but the last balloon indicated that the winds were 16% in the green.  The 9:08 launch was a go!

The Delta Heavy rocket carrying the GRAIL spacecraft finally lifted off at 9:08:52am to the cheers of everyone in the park.  It headed pretty much straight up from our vantage point (since it was taking off slightly south of due east).  The rocket rose silently for the first 30 seconds or so until the rumble of the engines finally reached us.  It then pierced a high level of clouds, leaving a shadow of the rocket’s contrail forking off to the west.  The first six solid rocket boosters strapped to the bottom of the rocket burned out and dropped off slightly more than a minute into the launch, and the three remaining SRB’s lit as planned.  As the rocket trailed off in the distance, the GRAIL Tweetup group burst into applause.  You can see the video I recorded of the event here.

No one wanted to the experience to be over, but it was. No one wanted to leave, but we did.  We piled back into the busses and were dropped off back at the parking lot.  I met my wife (who got to watch the launch from Jetty Park in Port Canaveral--actually almost 2 miles closer to the launch than I was) and we headed back to Naples and the real world.

It was a wonderful experience.  If you ever get the chance to go to a NASA Tweetup, I can tell you it’s well worth the time and investment.  Thanks to NASA, thanks to JPL, and thanks to all the people that made the Tweetup happen.  Thanks to all my fellow Tweeps that made the experience so enjoyable.  And finally, a special thanks to my boss Christine Richards for allowing me to attend the Tweetup (and for calling me Thursday afternoon to offer to let me stay over for Friday).

For a sampling of the pictures that I took, head on over to my personal photo-sharing site on Flickr.  The GRAIL Tweetup group also has a communal Flickr account here.

The GRAIL NASATweetup Experience Part 2

Originally published 9/14/2011

Last week was an amazing week.  As you know, I was one of 150 selected by NASA to attend the GRAIL launch and Tweetup.  First of all, I have to apologize for not being able to update the blog with my experiences before today: it was the first chance I’ve had to sit down and formulate an entry for you.  So without further ado: my NASA Tweetup experience.

Part 2: The Thursday Launch Attempts

Last weekend I got an up close and personal view of the launch of the GRAIL lunar mission.  In Part One, I described the NASA Tweetup I attended prior to the launch.  In this part, I’ll tell you a bit about the run up to the launch attempt on Thursday. 

To begin with, the launch weather was not predicted to be particularly good.  During the day Wednesday the chances for good weather on Thursday morning were only rated at 40%, and there was talk that the first launch attempt might even be postponed until Friday.  We got a tweet from NASA Wednesday evening that, although the weather conditions hadn’t improved, the launch attempt for Thursday morning was a go.

Thursday September 8^th.  Thursday morning came early as all of the NASA Tweetup attendees were asked to arrive at 6am to catch the bus to the launch viewing area.  Our arrival area was the parking lot just to the east of the Astronaut Hall of Fame in Titusville, about 6 miles west of the KSC Visitor Complex.  NASA had arranged for four busses to take us all to the viewing area on the NASA Causeway, a popular spot for viewing launches.  The morning was humid but dry, and even though there were scattered clouds Neil DeGrasse Tyson was holding court by the bus pointing out celestial features that popped into view between clouds.  At 6, we boarded our bus and waited for the last few stragglers to arrive.  Shortly after 6:30 when we had collected all the stragglers, we began the trip to the causeway.

It was still dark when we got onto the west end of the causeway, but we could see the Delta rocket with the GRAIL spacecraft lit up in the distance.  We were dropped near the east end of the causeway (viewing area “D”) and everyone scrambled for a good viewing spot. 

And then we waited.  There are a series of speakers mounted on poles all along the causeway, so we could hear the audio feed of the launch team going through their checks.  The first launch attempt at 8:37am got close, and everything was green to go *except* the winds at 25,000 feet.  About 10 minutes before the intended launch time the first attempt was scrubbed: they would try again at 9:17am.  We  all settled back to see if the weather would improve.  The NASA weather people launched another few weather balloons, and let us know that they would be reviewing the launch parameters again at 9:05am.  Unfortunately, the winds at altitude hadn’t lessened, so the second and last attempt for that day was scrubbed.  We all loaded back up in the busses and were dropped off at the parking lot.  We were told that, for those that could stay over, another attempt would be made Friday morning and that the drill would be repeated.  If the launch didn’t go Friday, everyone would be on their own for viewing, since the tweetup had only arranged the busses for two trips out to view the launch.  I reluctantly let the Tweetup organizers that I wouldn’t be able to stick around for Friday.  I had to be back at work.

I was disappointed, but realistic.  I assumed I’d miss the launch: so it goes when watching events controlled by the weather conditions.  I made my way to the KSC Visitor Complex for the remainder of the day.  I took in all the exhibits (they held over the Star Trek Experience exhibits for the week), got to have “Lunch with an Astronaut” with Charlie Duke, Apollo 16 Lunar Module Pilot and one of the 12 people to have ever walked on the moon.  I touched a moon rock from Apollo 17, rode the Space Shuttle Experience, saw the IMAX 3D Hubble movie, took lots of pictures, and--since I apparently looked official in my long pants, blue shirt and GRAIL ID--got asked directions from a lot of tourists. (My favorite line of the day was from Charlie Duke, when asked what he tells people that are convinced the moon landings were faked: “If we were going to fake it, why did we fake it nine times.”) At the end of a long day I got in my car and headed out for the long drive back to Naples.

Continued in Part Three…

The GRAIL NASATweetup Experience Part 1

Originally published 9/12/2011

Last week was an amazing week.  As you know, I was one of 150 selected by NASA to attend the GRAIL launch and Tweetup.  First of all, I have to apologize for not being able to update the blog with my experiences before today: it was the first chance I’ve had to sit down and formulate an entry for you.  So without further ado: my NASA Tweetup experience.

Part 1: The Tweetup

Tuesday, September 6^th.  After work Tuesday, I drove up to Titusville to attend the Tweetup.  I actually arrived early enough that I was able to go to the dinner that had been set up for early arrivers.  We all gathered at the Dixie Crossroads in Titusville (I was one of the last to arrive) to begin our experience.  About 80 or so of the 150 tweetup participants were able to attend, and we had a great first meeting (and a great dinner).  Since the restaurant closes at 9pm, I was back at the hotel in plenty of time to rest up from the 4 ½ hour drive up from Naples.

Wednesday, September 7^th.  Registration for the Tweetup started at the Kennedy Space Center’s Visitor Complex at 7am.  I wasn’t the first to arrive, but I was close.  I showed my two forms of ID, picked up my badge and swag bag, and then hung out in the parking lot with the arriving tweeps until the Debus Conference Center opened at 8:30.  At 8:30, we were all ushered into the conference center (which was still being prepped for the afternoon session) for the initial meeting, where we were introduced to our hosts from NASA and JPL and to each other. Everyone got a chance to stand up, introduce themselves (and their Twitter handle) and state an interesting fact about themselves.  Needless to say with 150 people, this took the better part of an hour and a half, so we were a few minutes late getting started with our tour of KSC.

Since we had such a large group NASA arranged for four tour busses, each of which went to the same places but in a different sequence so as to not overwhelm the facilities at each stop.  On my bus, Bus 4, we visited Launch Complex 41 first.  This is the Atlas launch complex, and was the launch site for the recent JUNO mission to Jupiter.  It will also be the launch site for the Mars Science Laboratory mission in November, sending a new rover called Curiosity to explore Gale Crater.  Along the way we passed by Launch Complex 40, where SpaceX is setting up shop for their launches.  After LC17 we continued on past Launch Complex 39, from which the Apollo program and Shuttle program launched.  Since the Shuttle program was retired this summer, NASA is still working on taking apart/reconfiguring LC39 in anticipation of the next program, so we weren’t allowed to stop. We had to settle for a drive by on our way to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).  We spent quite a bit of time there, and they let us go inside for a look around.  The massive transport crawler that moved the Saturn V rockets and Shuttles to the launch pad was parked inside, as was (surprise) the Shuttle Endeavor, looking less-shuttle like with parts of her nose and reaction control pods on the back removed as it’s being transitioned from a working spacecraft to a museum piece (well, it was supposed to be a surprise but earlier busses who had visited before us had already tweeted about it).  We also learned that the final resting place of the lost Shuttle Columbia is in the VAB, available for study by researchers and engineers.  Our bus missed the next stop (the Countdown clock) since we were running behind, so we moved on to the final stop of the morning, Launch Complex 17: the Delta launch complex from which GRAIL would be launched.  We couldn’t see much of the actual rocket, since the servicing tower was still protecting it.

After lunch, we all headed back to the Visitor Complex for an afternoon of presentations.  You saw on the event schedule who we heard from (I was going to live-blog it, but NASA didn’t anticipate there would be 150 people with computers, iPads smartphones all competing for a small pool of wireless IP addresses, so I never was able to get connected).  The highlights were Charlie Bolden, NASA administrator, Nichelle Nichols, Lt. Uhuru from Star Trek TOS, Maria Zubar, the PI from MIT for the GRAIL mission, and, of course, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Director of the Hayden Planetarium in NY and television personality.  We wrapped up with a group photo in the lobby of the Debus Center (it was pouring outside, where the picture was supposed to be taken) and headed back to our hotels to try to rest for the launch attempt Thursday morning.

Stay tuned for Parts 2 and 3 coming later this week…

GRAIL – 7 Days and Counting

Originally published 9/1/2011

A week from today (if all goes according to plan) I’ll be watching NASA’s GRAIL mission blast off on the last-ever Delta II launch from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.  I’ll be updating this blog between now and next Wednesday, when I’ll begin a new blog entry from the NASA Tweetup.  I’ll keep you up to date with what NASA has planned for us as we learn about it.  So far, all we have is a cryptic tweet from @NASATweetup yesterday saying that they were “trying to finalize the awesomeness” before they let us know what’s up.  Sounds…awesome!

In the meantime, our Tweetup badges have been printed, the patches sewn, and the poster printed that we’ll all sign and leave as a “thank you” to NASA.  For your viewing pleasure, here and here are a couple of very cool picture galleries from NASA showing the GRAIL hardware being prepped for launch.

All we need now is an itinerary!

Grail Countdown – T-Minus 15 days

Originally published 8/24/2011

It’s now just two weeks until the start of the NASA Tweetup for the GRAIL moon mission.  I’d like to bring you up to date about the developments that have occurred during the last week.

Group Organization -- Patches, Posters and Snacks: It’s been interesting to watch the group of nearly 150 attendees organize themselves. That’s a pretty big group, and exactly at the Dunbar Number.  Prior NASA Tweetup groups have organized informal outings away from the formal scheduled events, and this group has as well.  There will be a dinner Tuesday night for those arriving in the afternoon or early evening (sadly, I’ll miss this since I’ll be driving up from Naples after work).  There’s also a barbeque planned for Thursday afternoon after the launch--which I suspect they mean “grill” not actual slow-smoked barbeque, but I’ll let it slide.  I should be able to attend that event, at least for a while, before driving home Thursday night. The group has also come up with a patch that’s being made for everyone who wants one (or several).  Despite some initial analysis/paralysis around patch design, the group voted one as their favorite (several possible designs were submitted, discussed, and tweaked). And finally the group is currently voting on a poster that we can all sign and leave behind at the conclusion of the Tweetup.  And all this was done on Facebook with very minimal organization (I almost said “adult supervision”).  I think that’s pretty impressive for a group that size.  This is obviously a group of smart and enthusiastic people.

Guests: We’ve learned a bit about some of the guests we can expect to meet at the Tweetup.  In a press release shared with the media yesterday NASA announced that one of the participants would be Dr. Sally Ride, America’s first woman in space.  Also, Nichelle Nichols, the original Star Trek’s Uhura, announced on Twitter that she would be attending the launch (so at least that part of the rumor turned out to be true). 

The Long Way Around:  I was initially puzzled after reading through the GRAIL mission material available on the web.  It’s going to take 3-4 months for the twin satellites to arrive at the moon, and I wondered why it was going to take so long (after all, if you could drive to the moon in a car at 70 miles an hour, that’s about how long it would take to get there).  The manned moon landings in the late 60’s and early 70’s only took a couple of days to get there, so the 3-4 month schedule sounded…odd.  And this week I found out the answer: I assumed it had something to do with fuel savings (it does) but I wasn’t prepared for the circuitous route the GRAIL satellites are going to take.  They are both going via the L1 Lagrange point between the Sun and the Earth (Caution: Science ahead!).  What’s a Lagrange Point, you ask? Well, there’s a special case in what’s known as the multi-body problem in celestial mechanics (short version: if there are more than two objects you can’t in general predict how all the objects will interact with one another) discovered by Joseph-Louis Lagrange, an 18^th century mathematician and astronomer. He discovered that when you had three celestial bodies (two relatively big, one tiny) there were five stable configuration points for the three: one with the tiny one between the other two, one with the tiny one on end or the other of a line connecting the two ones, and one 60° out on either side of the two big ones. Called Lagrange Points, these five places are points where a tiny satellite can “park” and stay with very little effort between the Sun and Earth (or Earth and Moon) because the gravity of the two big objects are at equilibrium.  So in an effort to save fuel, the GRAIL satellites are going to the moon via the L1 point between the Earth and the Sun, which is approximately 3-4 times further away than the moon is.  This requires a minimum amount of fuel to get to the L1 point, allows the two satellites to arrive at the moon in different orbits, and requires a minimum to insert them into the proper orbits when they arrive at the moon.  So that mystery is solved. 

So far, we haven’t gotten official word of what activities NASA has planned for the group (other than the general “tours in the morning” and “activities in the afternoon” for Wednesday).  I’ll let you know what they tell us in a future update.