Inside NASA and much more....

The Holstee Manifesto...

2011-08-09T20:30:00.000-05:00

The J-2X, NASA's new upper stage rocket engine!

2011-07-26T23:12:00.000-05:00

This week we are at the Stennis Space Center documenting the 3rd test of the J-2X engine. It is NASA's new upper stage engine, designed to lift a space craft to orbit and also to be able to restart after shutdown while in orbit. It is based on the Apollo era J-2 engine that powered the Saturn V second and third stages. Some of the changes include the removal of beryllium, a redesign of all the electronics, and the use of 21st-century joining techniques.

Here is a short video that explains a little more about what the J-2X is and what lead up to us being here this week...

Today was the big day. We came here with a regular high definition camera, a Panasonic DVC-ProHD camera with a wide angle lens and also with a new Red Mysterium-X. It's the first time we at Marshall Television have used it and I was a little nervous. It's more like a film camera than a video camera and it requires a bit more work to achieve a nicely exposed image. It's definitely not for a beginner!

After a couple hours of waiting and sweating we were awarded with the awesome engine test!

This was a 7 second test of this brand new engine. After a few more longer tests, there will be a full duration, 500 second test! That should be awesome!

Walter A Thackerson, Jr. - A man I never knew, but feel so close to...

2011-07-19T22:31:00.000-05:00

I attended an airshow while in high school and purchased a red POW/MIA bracelet to wear and to remember those U.S. soldiers missing and/or killed in Vietnam. I wore it for years and eventually the metal weakened and ironically enough, it was accidentally broken by a cute little Vietnamese baby who lived in our neighborhood.

I never knew who PFC Walter A Thackerson, Jr. was except that he was in the Army, from Alabama and went missing on May 21st, 1966.

I never forgot his name and I even found him on the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C.

Last year, I realized I could order another bracelet online and you could even request a certain name. As I searched for his name, I hoped it wouldn't be available...meaning he had been found. No such luck, he was still missing. So I ordered another one, which I wear today.

A few days ago I looked my soldier up, as I do from time to time, and this time I found a website with 2 pictures of him and another with the story of his last day. All these years, I never knew what he looked like or what really happened...

PFC Walter Anthony Thackerson, Jr. A man I never knew, but feel so close to...

Full Circle...

2010-10-14T00:32:00.000-05:00

I received my first film camera in 1982, it was a Kodak instant camera that could shoot ten photos per cartridge. I loved that camera and was very choosy about what I took pictures of because the film was so expensive.

A few years later I upgraded to a Kodak disc camera. Well, upgraded should be in quotes, that camera took awful pics but I could now shoot 15 pics. (I even have a few discs that were never developed...I wonder what is on them?)

When I bought my first 35mm camera, I was so happy to have 36 exposures to experiment with. I took thousands of photos and even though every frame had to be developed, I loved that camera.

In the late 90's I borrowed a "digital camera" to take pics of my first son and I was hooked! I could take thousands of pics and never pay for developing!

Over the years, I began taking more and more pics with more sophisticated digital cameras and never worried about how much room I was taking up on my computer...

Until....I bought my latest camera, a 12 megapixel point and shoot. I find myself being more choosy with my pics these days because the photos are so big! 200 pics can now take up 1GB of hard drive space.

So, in order to keep me from spending hours deleting mediocre shots, I am now just as choosy as I was when I was shooting my first instant pics.

I guess it's time for a name change...

2010-06-13T21:27:00.003-05:00

When I started this blog a few years ago, I wanted to be able to share my experiences of what it's like to shoot video for NASA as we began our journey back to the moon.

I was able to talk about and post pictures of the work that was being done on the Ares rocket and the J-2X engines...

A few things happened that caused me to slow down my blog posts...

#1 - It took me a long time to post an entry every few days because I always had a lot of pics.

#2 - I became concerned that I would say something or worse, post a picture that might contain Sensitive But Unclassifed information.

#3 - I began using Facebook more and more and I liked the immediate feedback I was getting and the ease of posting pics and updates.

Well, now it looks like Constellation and also Ares will be going away in favor of some "game-changing" technologies yet to be thought of....

I still shoot video for NASA, I still love my job and I still love sharing what I do with everyone.

JB

Eric's 1st baseball season...

2010-02-28T22:21:00.005-06:00

Click here to see all of the pics from this post...also, click on the pics below to see the larger versions...

Last Fall, Eric played baseball the the very first time on a real team. He was very excited about it and, to be honest, so were we.

Eric had a great time and seemed to doing really well!

His coaches were also impressed with him and surprised to hear that this was his first time playing organized baseball...

Spring ball is right around the corner and he is already signed up!

Kevin's first soccer game

2009-09-23T20:53:00.003-05:00

Click on the pics to see bigger versions.
To see all the photos from this set you can click here. Be sure to click on "all sizes" to see the bigger versions

This fall, Kevin is playing his very first team sport, soccer. He absolutely loves it! Once he get's out on the field with his teammates, he always has a blast. In just about every picture I take of him, he has a huge grin on his face.

I don't really know the rules to soccer, so I am reluctant to yell things like, "Go get the ball!" because he may need to stay in a certain on the field to guard it.

The most important thing to me is that Kevin is having fun, getting exercise and learning to be a good teammate.

STS-127 Space Shuttle Launch

2009-07-16T23:02:00.004-05:00

Please click on the smaller pics to see the larger versions.

Also, click here to see more pics from the launch.

I have always dreamed of watching a Space Shuttle launch...

I never dreamed that I would be able to take my boys with me to actually see one!

This mission was supposed to have launched in June, 2009, but was delayed because of a hydrogen leak. I had already planned our vacation to Florida before that. However, when the shuttle launch was delayed, they pushed it back to the exact week we would be in Florida!

Through some of my co-workers (Thanks Bob!) I was able to score some seats at a prime viewing area!

We traveled to the Kennedy Space Center from St. Pete for two failed launch attempts and we were hoping that the third time would be the charm and not "three strikes and your out!"

Going from St. Petersburg, FL to the Kennedy Space Center was a 300 mile round trip, so each time consisted of an entire days worth of driving there, waiting and then driving back

While there, the boys were so well behaved and waited patiently...snacks helped.

We were at the Banana Creek viewing area and the view was awesome! There were A LOT of folks here with us...

At 4 minutes to liftoff, the announcer asked everyone at the viewing area to stand and sing the National Anthem...

Finally, at 6:03 pm EDST, the Space Shuttle Endeavour lifted off the pad. I took this picture with my very own camera, with my longer lens.

It was incredible and my eyes welled up with pride as our shuttle raced skyward! People were shouting "GO!!!" and "Come on Endeavour!" The sound was not as loud as I had anticipated, but you could still very much feel the power!

In less than 1 minute it was so high that you couldn't really hear it or see it much...they boys were both very impressed (as they should be!) and we all had huge grins on our faces...

After 2 failed launch attempts because of weather, almost 900 miles of driving back and forth, back and forth and back and forth, and about $50 in dang tolls, we finally experienced something that I had only dreamed of...the launch of the Space Shuttle.

It did not disappoint!

What is Love?

2009-07-04T18:52:00.002-05:00

I think Haddaway said it best with his 1993 hit,

"What is love..."

I am learning that love is so complicated and yet can be so easy. (So I hear)

Being single was something that I never anticipated when I was married and was a stage of my life that I was glad to be past. Well, I am single again and I find myself wondering, "what true love really looks like?"

I thought I knew at one time...

Kevin's 10th Birthday Weekend

2009-06-07T22:23:00.007-05:00

Click on the pics to see the larger verisons...

Click HERE to see all the pics from the birthday weekend.

Technically, Kevin's birthday isn't until next Friday, but this is my weekend to have them and I decided to make this the best weekend ever!

The weekend started with Kevin opening up his birthday presents from me...a Hot Wheels track, some Pokemon cards, 3 Bakugan Battle Brawlers, and a remote control Mustang GT.

On Saturday morning I took the boys to the US Space & Rocket Center (thanks Al!) and we toured the new Davidson Center, where the real Saturn V now lives and watched a 3D movie!

After the movie, we went outside and enjoyed some Dippin' Dots at the base of the full sized upright replica of the Saturn V...

While touring the grounds, Eric and Kevin decided to strike some "poses" in the lunar crater.

The boys were fascinated with the rockets and really enjoyed the many features of the US Space & Rocket Center, especially the gift shop!

Later that night, after going to the pool for a quick swim, we headed to the von Braun Center (space reference there...) to watch the Tennessee Valley Vipers take on the Kentucky Horsemen.

Here the boys get to meet Vinnie the Viper...

Tickets to the game were so cheap, $6 each for the boys and $7 for me. We really need to go back (but next time eat at home! $19 for tix, $40 for food...) The Vipers won 41-13.

Finally, after going to church we headed to our local water park, Point Mallard.

Sun is no friend to the Bilbrey boys and we slathered on the sunscreen...however, after 4 hours, we still got a little burned.

They absolutely LOVE Point Mallard and we had a great day...both boys really like jumping from the high dive and diving boards. However, the highlight for them was the wave pool.

Well, that's it. Another quiet weekend at the Bilbrey abode...

Summer Days...

2009-05-31T22:53:00.003-05:00

Ahhh, summer vacation!

Summer is such a magical word...it evokes images like swimming, baseball, hot days and warm nights. To a kid, summer is that golden ring that always seems just out of reach and then one day it is suddenly here!

As an adult, summer isn't such a magical word anymore because life and work continues no matter what the outside temperature is or what the calender says...

But that doesn't mean we can't get out there and make the most of the daylight, right?

We only live once and I don't want to waste a single day (although I have been known to waste days and I am not proud of that fact...)

So with that thought in mind, I took my boys to their first minor league baseball game this season. It was a day game and we got to pick our seats, so we sat behind home plate hoping to catch a foul ball or two. Although some foul balls came close, we didn't manage to get one...

We stayed until the very end, which was a first for us. Through the years we have been to baseball, football and hockey games and always left before the end for one reason or another.

But they really enjoyed the baseball game and we will definitely be going back!

This past weekend I did not have the boys so I ventured to the apartment pool by myself. Everyone seems to know each other there and I always feel like the odd man out, but I made my mind up to introduce myself to a few folks per visit.

Last year I was in no frame of mind to be social, but now that I am officially single, I feel more comfortable mingling with folks I don't know.

Don't worry, I hope to have more actual NASA related stuff here real soon...

Ares I Parachute Test

2009-05-20T17:48:00.008-05:00

CLICK ON THE SMALLER PICS TO SEE THE LARGE VERSIONS

Greetings from sunny Yuma, AZ!

We have come out here to shoot video of the parachute test of the Ares I first stage. These parachutes are designed to slow the spent first-stage motor so it can be used again.

They drop them here at the Yuma Proving Ground because this area is almost the size of Rhode Island and there is plenty of space to drop large payloads.

Here is the video we shot and edited in one day...

Speaking of large payloads, below is a picture of the three parachutes before the drop. The parachutes are 150 feet in diameter and weigh almost 2000 pounds each.

While out here, we shot some interviews with folks who talked about what will happen and why they are doing it...

After the video and interviews were shot, Lee took all the footage and used our Tricaster to turn it into a video which we posted online within hours of the actual test.

The payload is loaded into an Air Force C-17 and dropped from a very high altitude

They dropped the payload at 6:30AM, so we had to be out there at 4AM...here I am at the drop zone waiting for the actual drop...

After exiting the C-17, the parachutes opened up beautifully and brought the 41,500 pound load to a soft landing on the desert floor.

Just another day at the office!

First swim of 2009

2009-05-13T20:15:00.002-05:00

Last weekend the boys begged me to take them to our apartment pool. I knew that the pool had recently been re-filled with water and that it would be super cold...but what does Dad know, right?

Just to prove a point, I agreed and we all made the 100 foot walk to the very inviting (yet cold) pool.

I announced that I bet the boys would last no longer than 10 minutes in the water.

While the boys inched their was into the frigid water, dear old Dad did the easy (and stupid!) thing...that's right, CANNONBALL!

Kevin and I lasted almost 15 minutes in the water...after a while I was beginning to worry because the water was starting to feel warmer. I was afraid that hypothermia was setting in!

Eric, on the other hand, only lasted about 5 minutes before he got out and covered up with his brand new towel that I got him when I went to Hawaii a few months ago.

All in all, the first swim of 2009 was a bust, but we did get wet and had fun doing it!

Flippin' Sweet!

2009-05-05T22:55:00.002-05:00

I went viral last week!

No, it has nothing to do with the swine flu...

Someone decided that my Napoleon Dynamite post was pretty cool and he (or she) decided to submit the link to www.reddit.com, which is a website that people go to see "what's hot" today. Well, apparently a lot of people go there to see "what's hot" because when I woke up the next morning, I had over 3,200 hits to my blog in a 4 hour period!

Keep in mind that I maybe have had 2,000 hits to my blog in the last 15 months!

All day Friday I kept checking the numbers and it was increasing rapidly...at the end of the first day I had 15,964 hits!

Here are some interesting facts from my 1 day of going viral...

I had people from all 50 states, with a high of 1,359 from California and a low of 12 from Wyoming.

I had visitors from 94 countries, including Afghanistan (1), Iraq (1) and China (40).

Also, I had another website link to my blog because of the reddit.com exposure...here is a website called laughingsquid.com that said some nice things about me.

The second day saw the number of visitors drop to a more reasonable 751, then it was 289 and then 134 on day 4...

Anyway, it was pretty neat to see my little old blog get some worldwide exposure. I am pretty positive that none of these thousands of people will ever come back, but that's ok. I don't do this blog to entertain the world, just the people in my world.

If you like my blog and want an e-mail telling you when it has been updated, then all you have to do is just click on the link that says "Follow" near the top of the blog.

Here is a complete list of countries who visited on the first full day of going viral, listed from the country with the most visitors to the countries with the least.

United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, Finland, France, Denmark, New Zealand, Belgium, Spain, Austria, Mexico, Switzerland, Japan, Singapore, South, Africa, Poland, India, Romania, Greece, Israel, Brazil, Croatia, Italy, Turkey, Malaysia, Argentina, Philippines, Estonia,Czech Republic, Portugal, Hungary, Slovenia, Iceland, China, Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong, Serbia, United Arab Emirates, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, Lithuania, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Russia, Pakistan, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Colombia, Uruguay, Chile, Macedonia, Bermuda, Peru, Grenada, Cyprus, Guatemala, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dominican Republic, Ukraine, Panama, Vietnam, Bahamas, Bulgaria, Malta, Latvia, Sri Lanka, Jordan, Guernsey, Macau, SAR China, Lebanon, Jamaica, Aruba, Haiti, Iraq, Honduras, Egypt, Bahrain, Venezuela, Cayman Islands, Belize, Paraguay, Afghanistan, Isle of Man, Albania, Qatar, Nepal and Kuwait.

Napoleon..............Peace out!

Napoleon Dynamite's hometown

2009-04-30T22:59:00.008-05:00

I am a big fan of the movie, Napoleon Dynamite...the movie is quirky and there are lots of great movie quotes!

The movie was filmed in Preston, Idaho in the summer of 2003. It cost $400,000 to make and it grossed over $46,000,000 in the theaters.

I am in Ogden, Utah on business and Preston, Idaho is a 90 minute drive, so I decided to make the drive and see if I could find some exterior locations from the movie.

I went online and found this website that gives the address of the movies exteriors.

In the below pics, I have the pic I took today, followed by a screen cap from the movie...

Please click on my pic to see the bigger version

To see all of the pics click here...

First on my list was, of course, Napoleon's house. It sits mostly by itself on a dirt road outside of town.

Next to the house is the area where Tina, the fat lard of a Llama lived...the fence is gone, but the fence posts are still there.

The pic below is the actual mountain Uncle Rico bet Kip he could throw a football over...good luck with that!

Next, I swung by Pedro's house, no sweet jumps to be seen here...

Literally around the corner is Preston High School...

There are a lot of scenes in the movie that were filmed on these steps, the liger scene is one...

The tetherball scene does not actually take place at Preston High School, but at a nearby elementary school...there was no tetherball to be found on this day.

This next house is Tricia's house, the girl that Napoleon took to the dance. It took him like 3 hours to finish the shading on her upper lip...

The Pop'N Pins lanes is where Uncle Rico and Kip decide to have some ID's made so they "look official, like they have all the answers."

Summer's house looks like it is being renovated...I guess she moved out.

This is Kings, which is a drug store in town. This is where Uncle Rico embarrasses Napoleon in front of Summer, telling him to go get some Pampers for him and his brother.

Last, but not least, this is Rex and Starla's house, Rex as in Rex Kwan Do and his American flag pants!

It was a lot of fun driving around town and looking for the various exterior landmarks. I felt like a bit of a fool taking pictures of peoples houses, but it's been almost 6 years since the movie was filmed and I am sure I was not the first to do it.

I am off to go get some chapstick because my lips hurt real bad, gosh!

Easter Weekend...

2009-04-24T21:29:00.004-05:00

PLEASE CLICK ON THE SMALL PICS TO SEE THE LARGER VERSIONS...

Well, Easter was two weeks ago, so I guess it's time for me to go ahead and update my blog.

The day before Easter we all went to our church's Easter egg hunt...it was a lot of fun and there were thousands of eggs to be "found".

After the egg hunt we went home and colored eggs for the Easter Bunny...I wonder how much longer we will be coloring eggs? We had a great time and there was no spillage of dye!

After Easter, I made sure to send all the egg hunt candy and the Easter Bunny candy with the boys back to their mothers house...any candy left here would have been eaten by me! That is one thing I do not need...

Flight of the Conchords in concert

2009-04-14T21:12:00.006-05:00

Flight of the Conchords...I totally missed the bandwagon last year. They have a hilarious show on HBO and since I don't have HBO, I knew nothing about them. Last Fall, my co-worker, Sarah, let me borrow her Season One DVD's and I devoured them in 2 nights!

For those of you in the dark, here is Flight of the Conchords Season One in 4 minutes...

I found out that FOTC was coming to Nashville on their music tour and I made sure to be ready to 10 am when the tickets went on sale. It was a good thing I was, because, from what I hear, the entire concert was sold out in 15 minutes!

Finally, last Friday, the day arrived. Unfortunately, my day started in Ogden, Utah. I was there on business. I had an early flight from Salt Lake City and although there were bad storms across the southeast, my flight to Huntsville was only an hour late.

I immediately headed to Nashville ( 100 miles to the north) and arrived just in the nick of time! Here are a few photos I found on the web from the very same concert in Nashville...

The concert was at the historic Ryman Auditorium. It was built in 1892 and opened as the Union Gospel Tabernacle. It was used for Grand Ole Opry broadcasts from 1943 until 1974. We were sitting in wooden pews, which is a reminder of the auditoriums origins as a house of worship

They were so funny and tried to speak with southern accents...which was hard for them to do because they are from New Zealand! At one point, they invited the audience to make fun of their accents. Because there were only 2362 of us there, they could mostly hear us talk to them. Although one drunk guy rambled and Jermaine told him, "You need to get a microphone" meaning he mumbled too much.

I had a great seat and with an awesome view...the above picture was NOT my view, but it was almost as good! Needless to say, I had a great time!

The 16th Annual Moonbuggy Race!

2009-04-04T23:32:00.005-05:00

Please click on the smaller version to see the larger ones...thanks to David and Doug for letting me "steal" these pics.

This weekend was the 16th annual Great Moonbuggy Race, here in Huntsville, AL.

Here is what the NASA press release says about the race...

"More than 500 high school, college and university students from 21 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, Germany, India, Mexico and Romania are expected to gather for the 2009 event, to be held April 3-4 at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville. "

"Each moonbuggy must be human powered and piloted by two students, one female and one male. There's no official weight limit, but just as pairs of Apollo moonwalkers had to unload and prepare their lunar rover for travel, race drivers must be able to assemble their collapsed vehicle, then pick it up -- with no help from other teammates -- and carry it some 20 feet to the start of the race course."

"The twisting, half-mile course includes sand and gravel pits, simulated lunar craters, humps and other obstacles. Top prizes are awarded to the three teams in the high school division and three in the college division that post the fastest buggy assembly and race times. A variety of other prizes, including best buggy design and rookie team of the year, are awarded by the corporate race sponsors."

Marshall TV was out there to shoot video of the races in HD so that the footage could be used for the various live shots the moonbuggy teams participated in with their local TV stations.

Here is a pic of me shooting video of one of the teams...

Months of work goes into preparing these buggies, but sometimes the course got the upper hand...

This high school team flipped over, but the got up, turned the buggy back on it's wheels and finished the course!

It was quite a weekend and I am always amazed at the complexity of these vehicles!

Back to Utah, here we go again.............again!

2009-03-24T17:38:00.007-05:00

CLICK ON THE SMALL PICS TO SEE THE BIG ONES...

Ogden, Utah...

My home away from home...

Seriously, the folks at the Marriott are starting to remember my name! How many people get a cookie when they check in?

This morning we packed up our gear and headed to ATK.

After a day of shooting video I suggested we go to a nearby town called Brigham City.

It is the closest real city to the ATK Launch System complex and my co-worker wasn't really interested, but I persuaded him and we had a nice lunch at a restaurant called the Idle Isle. I had a paddy melt on rye bread and a bowl of split pea soup. Both were really great! My co-worker was quick to point out that split pea soup makes you fart, and I told him that was fine with me. Now if I was flying the next day, I may have reconsidered!

After lunch we decided to see what was happening on Main Street...as you can see, not much.

This store made me laugh...Modern Cleaners! However read the smaller sign taped to the door. You may need to click on the pic and see the bigger version. It reads, "Sorry, we do not accept credit cards". Modern Cleaners and no credit cards? Ok...

Here are a few pics from our very short time in Brigham City, Utah...

Over b4 it bgan...

2009-03-21T13:49:00.005-05:00

First things first, Jennifer and I are no longer together.

She was perfect in every way, except I didn't love her like she loved me...I SO wanted to love her and I tried my very best, but in the end, I had to end it.

I knew I was in trouble when I began understanding how my ex-wife felt about me. Meaning, you were in a relationship with a person who adores you but you can't match the feelings. I feel like an ass, but I know it's better to end it at 5 weeks than at 13 years, like my ex and I did.

I am sorry Jennifer...I never got to explain myself and I'm sure you don't want to hear it anyway. If you ever read this, I wish you the very best and apologize from the bottom of my heart.

I am still new to this dating thing and I hated to hurt your feelings...

This blog post will be a sort of clearing house of activities from the past month...please click on the small pics to see the larger version...

First of all, Kevin had to go to the emergency room last month because he fell at the playground and he had a hole the size of a dime in his forehead...when he came to me at the playground, his face was covered in blood and I freaked out! (on the inside...). I rushed him to the hospital and they took him in immediately.

They gave him an MRI and determined that there was no skull fracture or bleeding in the brain.

The hole was deep enough to actually see his skull! The doctors cleaned it thoroughly and stitched it up with internal and external stitches.

He wore a band-aid over the stitches for about 2 weeks...

Now that his stitches have been removed, he has a pretty mean scar. We are putting Maderma on it, which will help soften the scar on his forehead. How about those glasses for Kevin, huh? Turns out Kevin's eyesight wasn't so good. Now he has these glasses to see the world a little bit clearer!

A few weeks ago, my Mom and Tom sent the boys some stuffed animals...no doubt, inspired by Kevin's obsession with Calvin and Hobbes. Turns out you can not buy an official Hobbes tiger because the guy who created Calvin and Hobbes did not want to commercialize the comic strip. Well, they were able to find a pretty good substitute...

They bought Eric a stuffed monkey which he named X-34, because he is a robotic monkey. Go figure...I have no idea where he get it from. However, the monkey recently had an upgrade and now he is known as X-44.

From a trip to Wal-mart...

A surprising number of people seem to like it when I include pictures of the food I eat while I travel. I was cleaning the pics off my cell phone and came across these pics of meals while I was in Hawaii...

This meal was at a sushi restaurant on Waikiki Beach, the food was delicious and the view was amazing! I also had to have a little Japanese beer with my sushi...

This meal was actually breakfast on my last day in Hawaii. You can probably guess it is at McDonald's...it is what they call a "local breakfast". It is eggs, rice, spam and Portuguese sausage with some Kona coffee to wash it down. Spam is HUGE in Hawaii!

The other day I came out of work to go to lunch and wouldn't you know it? A flat tire! After a bit of work and help from 2 co-workers I was on my way. At least it went flat in the parking lot and not on the side of the interstate!

This is me in front of the Dynamic Test Stand at the Marshall Space Flight Center...it was built to shake the Saturn V, modified to shake the Space Shuttle and now it is being modified again to shake the Ares I!

This was in interview I shot a few weeks ago at the Marshall Space Flight Center.

I wonder if the person who drives this car is a Florida Gator fan, an Auburn Tiger fan, or just likes the colors Orange and Blue?

Well, that's it for now...I am heading to Utah next week, so I hope to have more adventures to write about.

O'ahu, Day Four

2009-02-15T23:28:00.005-06:00

Click on the small pics to see the larger photos...

To see the rest of the day four pics click here...

My last day in Hawaii was just a lazy day...a day to just go around and go to a few places I had missed. I went all over the island and took lots of pics...Here are some of the better ones from the day.

For some reason, I always want to take a pic of my rental car...

I really like this photo...blue water, pretty girl and surfers. This picture just screams "Hawaii" to me...

Surfers coming out of the water at Waikiki Beach...

Wow, what can I say...going to Hawaii was a dream come true and I hope everyone gets to go sometime in their lives. It truly lived up to the hype and Hawaii is worth the time and money!

O'ahu, Day Three

2009-02-11T03:44:00.006-06:00

Today, I hit the big three of top things to do while on O'ahu...I toured the USS Arizona, climbed to the top of the Diamond Head crater and I went to a real Hawaiian lu'au...

First stop was the USS Arizona Memorial...I have always wanted to go there, because it is such an important part of American history. Being right there, looking at Battleship row and imagining the attack on that Sunday morning actually choked me up.

The memorial is directly over the USS Arizona and we took a short boat ride to pay our respects...

I am not listening to music...I rented the audio tour and through those headphones I was able to have Ernest Borgnine tell me all about Pearl Harbor and what happened there...

This is the base of gun turret #3...can you see the oil in the water?

They said that the ships remains leak about 2 quarts of oil a day and that survivors say that it is the USS Arizona's tears, shed for the devastating loss she suffered...

After lunch I "climbed" the Diamond Head crater...really I walked up a 1 mile path, up hundreds of steps and rose up almost 1000 feet...the views from up there were awesome.

Here you see me with all of Waikiki Beach in the background.

In the evening I went to a real lu'au, at a place called Germaine's. Everyone said that I need to go a lu'au and I was not disappointed! Here are a few pics...

That's it for day three...tomorrow is my last full day on the island and I plan on swimming in the ocean and relaxing on the sands. I feel like if I left now, I would be happy with all of the things I have been able to cram into three days!

Aloha!

O'ahu, Day Two

2009-02-10T02:28:00.003-06:00

Click on the smaller pics to see the larger versions...

This morning I got up early because I was going to Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve. I had to get there early because it is one of the best places to snorkle on O'ahu and I did not want to waste precious time waiting and waiting.

I rented my mask, snorkle and fins and headed out to the water.

The water was a bit cold at 8am, but after a few minutes, it was like being in a lukewarm bathtub. Hanauma Bay is absolutely loaded with fish of all kinds! I bought a disposable underwater camera and took lots of underwater photos. However, it uses something called "film" and I have to get it "developed" before I can see the pics...weird!

By the time I left at 10am, the place was crawling with folks waiting to get in and see what all the fuss was about!

After lunch I headed out to a must-see on O'ahu...the Dole Plantation. Pineapples have been grown on O'ahu as early as the 1500's...but it was James Dole who made them famous at the turn of the nineteenth century.

According to Dole, "pineapples are grown in rich volcanic soil with warm tropical rainfall, and kissed with Hawaiian sunshine for the best Hawaii has to offer. "

My friend, Lori, told me that I HAD to have the fresh pineapple ice cream in a waffle cone...I did and she was SO right. The pineapple flavor was extremely strong and it was absoultely a fantasic treat! Thanks Lori!

After going to the Dole Plantation, I decided I really wanted some coconut shrimp, so I headed to a restaurant called "Breakers" in Hale'iwa. The shrimp came with a spicy jelly/relish and it was so delicious. This was only an appitizer...I had just had the pineapple ice cream (and a pineapple float made with fresh pineapple juice and some pineapple ice cream...) But mainly I knew that I was very close to one of the original Hawaiian Shave Ice stores...Matsumoto's.

Actually Matsumoto's was right up the street...they are known worldwide for their shave ice and, from what I hear and read, there is usually a line to get in. Today I was in luck...no line!

I chose the "Hawaiian" flavor...made up of banana, pineapple and coconut. It cost $2 and was HUGE! You only have a blunt wooden "spoon" to eat it with, so it was a challenge to eat it without having it collapse on the porch outside. That is where you eat it...on the outside porch, watching the people drive, ride and walk by...

As I finished my shave ice I decided to see if I could get a few pics of the setting sun...well, I ran out of road before I could get around the western tip of O'ahu...yep, the road ends.

Day two is in the books and so far I have been having a blast! I have been able to do most of the things I wanted and I know that I am on track to do everything I had planned.

Tomorrow, I will visit Pearl Harbor, maybe climb Diamondhead and in the evening, I will be going to a real Lu'au...so I bet I will have some interesting photos and a full belly! It's all you can eat and I plan on going hungry! Check out the menu...

Mahalo

O'ahu, Day One and State # 43

2009-02-09T03:50:00.006-06:00

Please click on the small pics to see the bigger versions...

Also, to see more O'ahu Day 1 pics click here...

Aloha!

Hawaii, a place that I never thought I'd get to see...but I cashed in some airmiles and all hotel points and here I am! I still can't believe I am actually here...I have had a huge grin on my face all day!

I have heard from many of my friends, those who have been to Hawaii and remember it well, and those that are "mad" at me because I am here and they are not. I truly hope everyone gets to experience Hawaii some day.

I booked the cheapest room at the Marriott with my points...a city view room, which means no ocean view. However, when I checked in at 11pm Saturday, the lady at the desk informed me that I had been upgraded twice, to a junior suite with a partial ocean view! Woo-hoo! Score! Being a gold member of Marriott really paid off...

Here's the view from my room...

This morning I headed out on an adventure the would take me counter-clockwise around O'ahu.

I started the day heading out to the spitting cave of Portloc k. The spitting cave is below a cool layered shoreline. Each layer represents a different volcanic explosion and the waters are so blue! The spitting cave is where the ocean has hammered a hole in the rock and the pressure of the waves causes it to blow or "spit" back out of the hole...here is a video I found on Youtube the was shot from the exact place I was standing...check it out!

It was pretty neat, but I wanted more...

Ahh, this is more like it...Here you see some young surfers on Sandy Beach...a few guys got up on their knees, but not much more. However, that is WAY more than I could have done.

Next I stopped to take this pic of Makapu'u Beach...

I stopped at Waimanalo Beach for a break and took this photo...I like it so much that I made it my computers wallpaper!

It's funny...I started the day wearing tennis shoes and socks...then I was wearing beach shoes and finally I just went barefoot the rest of the day...I never go barefoot! But, it seemed the thing to do and it allowed me to get my feet wet and then just jump in the car!

I noticed a few things today...O'ahu is MUCH bigger than I imagined, Hawaiians really do wear flowered clothing ( I thought it was just a stereotype) and there a lot of REALLY tanned people around here.

This rock formation is at a place called La'ie Point...that hole was created in one day, when mother nature pounded a hole through the island!

Here is a pic of a Hawaiian woman fishing off La'ie Point.

I had heard so much about these shrimp trucks that are all over the North Shore, so I decided to stop at Giovanni's Original Shrimp Truck...I was a bit leery, but there seemed to be a lot of people eating...

I ordered the lemon shrimp...it is fresh shrimp boiled in lemon juice with butter on the side and 2 scoops of VERY sticky rice. I really enjoyed it and I think I will go back for the coconut shrimp!

The sun was getting low on the horizon so I decided to stop on the North Shore at the Bonzai Pipeline. The Bonzai Pipeline is a famous surf break that can form perfect barrels to surf...There were quite a few people out surfing it today, but there were no perfect waves to be seen...

As the sun set on my first day in Hawaii, I reflected on just how lucky I was to be able to be here and I thanked God for the opportunity to get out and explore the awesome world He has created!

Stay tuned for more tomorrow!

Mahalo!

Another Vacation?

2009-02-05T23:37:00.004-06:00

Last year, I vowed that I was going to get out and travel around the world. This is such an awesome planet and I always longed to get out and explore...

Last summer, I "dipped my toe" into this travel thing by going to Spain for a week and recently I have felt the pull of another trip. Actually, now is a good time to travel if you have the money. With the economy down there aren't as many people traveling and you can get really great deals on airfare and hotels!

I decided to cash in some Delta Skymiles and all of my Marriott points for a 5 day vacation in Oahu, Hawaii.

Hawaii...a place that I thought I would never, ever see...

My hotel is right on Waikiki Beach and I will be renting a car, so I will try to see the whole island in 4 days.

I am not sure what I am going to do there, but I have a few "must see's". Gotta go to Pearl Harbor, the North Shore to watch crazy surfers on the Bonzai Pipeline and I'm going to climb to the top of Diamondhead.

One thing is for sure, you can bet that there will be frequent updates and lots of pictures on my flickr account!

Hopefully this will be the first of many trips this beautiful state...

Eric's Birthday Weekend!

2009-02-04T13:11:00.003-06:00

CLICK ON THE SMALL PICS TO SEE THE LARGER VERSIONS

ALSO, CLICK HER E TO SEE THE REST OF THE BIRTHDAY WEEKEND PICS...

This past weekend my youngest son celebrated his 8th birthday. I asked him how it felt to finally be 8 and he replied "pretty good". I guess that about sums it up, huh?

First of all, Eric opened up his presents and we ate some cake...all before lunch on Saturday

After an afternoon of playing at an indoor playground, Eric decided he wanted to eat dinner at Chuck E. Cheese's. I was cool with that and we headed out to eat greasy pizza and play grimy games. Well, when we arrived, the parking lot was absolutely PACKED!!! Not a single spot to be found. I called an audible and told the boys that we were going to eat somewhere else and come back tomorrow...they put up a bit of a fight, but when I told them that there were going to be at least 5 kids at every game, they relented.

So Eric decided he wanted to go eat at Waffle House...go figure. But it was the Eric Bilbrey Birthday Weekend, so we went to Waffle House...

Eric got a blueberry waffle, scrambled eggs, sausage and some toast. Kevin and I both had cheeseburgers. When our waitress heard that it was Eric's birthday she gave both boys a dollar. I was sure to remember that when I gave her a tip...

As if eating at Waffle house wasn't enough, after dinner we went to Coldstone Creamery for dessert...

The next say was Eric's actual birthday and after church we went to go see the movie "Hotel for Dogs". It was better than I expected, although I wasn't expecting much...

After the movie we went to a cool playground called Kids Kingdom, where the boys made some new friends and had a great time running around.

Last but not least, we finally made it Chuck E. Cheese's. It was practically deserted because the Super Bowl was on and I am sure all the fathers out there FORBADE their wives from having the kids birthday party that night...

They boys had a great time and they both said it was their favorite part of the weekend!

Snowy Utah and State #42

2009-01-17T23:31:00.006-06:00

CLICK ON THE SMALL PICS TO SEE THE BIGGER VERSIONS

Also, click here to see all the photos I could not fit into this short blog!

We travel around the country on business trips all the time, but very rarely do we have to stay the weekend. This just happens to be one of those rare weekends...

Last year, I decided that I wanted to go to all 50 states and today I was able to mark off #42, but more on that later...

My coworker, Anthony, wasn't feeling well this morning...so he told me that I would have to go on this adventure by myself...

I had a nice 150 mile circular route that would take me East out of Ogden, through some high mountains, into Wyoming and then back to Ogden. I was counting on seeing a lot of snow and I was not disappointed!

Because I was by myself, in area with no cell phone coverage, I made sure to stay on the main roads...no off roading for me (although my Suburban did have 4 wheel drive...)

It wasn't as cold as it seems, well, it was 25 degrees but it seemed warmer because there was no wind...it was very quiet and peaceful at about 6000 feet.

The white flat part is a frozen reservoir that cars can drive on.

I was just about to the top of Monte Cristo mountain, at an elevation of 7200 feet and the road just stopped! Well, the road continued, but it was closed for the winter...

But, I had an even bigger surprise...snowmobiles! Right where the road stopped was a place for people to park their trucks and trailers and hit the snowmobile trails...

I know some of you are laughing at this, but I have never seen a snowmobile in action. I have seen pictures and videos, but never one up close.

They were SO COOL. They would drive these snowmobiles up really steep hills and speed down the trails. I can not tell you how bad I wanted to drive one! I am adding that to my list of things to do...

Well, I had to find another way to get to Evanston, Wyoming...so I consulted my trusty GPS and re-calculated a new route!

After a short hour of driving through beautiful snowy mountains I finally made it...

I had absolutely no plan, so I just followed my instincts and came across this city park. It was so neat to see families out ice skating on a frozen pond. The city has cleared away a nice smooth area for people to skate. I was hoping they rented ice skates, because I wanted to try that too! I have never been ice skating and if I ever do, I think I will have to wear a helmet!

While I was watching the people skate, I noticed a guy ice fishing on the same frozen pond. I walked over and we talked about ice fishing and he commented that the fish weren't biting and he needed to move to a different area but he didn't want to drill a new hole in the ice because it is a pain in the butt.

Call me crazy, but I really wanted to drill a hole in the ice...what was a chore to him sounded like a fun new challenge to me!

I worked at it for about 10 minutes and the auger finally broke through. My, new friend, Brian, asked me a few times if I wanted him to take over but I said I wanted to do the whole thing! He must have thought this Alabama boy was crazy...

After I broke through, Brian cleaned the ice hole of the loose ice so the water in the hole would not freeze as quickly.

Then Brian began fishing in the ice hole created by me! I hope he caught something...

It was getting late in the day, so I decided to head back to my hotel to rest up.

Here's what I learned to day...

1) I want to drive a snowmobile
2) I want to try to ice skate

Maybe this winter thing isn't so bad if you get to do cool stuff. Alabama just has all of the cold weather without all of the neat winter activities!

It's Great To Be A Florida Gator!

2009-01-16T23:58:00.006-06:00

What can I say...my alma mater and favorite football team won their third football National Championship last week. That is amazing to me! People go their whole lives without their team winning one...and the Gators now have 3!

I SO wanted to be at this game, but with the nose-bleed seats going for $350-$400, I decided to watch this one on tv.

I ended up watching the game in my hotel room in Cincinnati, OH. I picked this hotel because they had HD televisions there! (and because it's nice and a Marriott)...

This picture just made me laugh, I can't really explain it...

With our 2009 offense led by Tim Tebow and the entire starting defense coming back next year, the Gators are poised for yet another championship run!

GO GATORS!

Back to Utah...

2009-01-15T21:54:00.005-06:00

CLICK ON THE SMALL PICS TO SEE THE BIG ONES...

Greeting from ATK Launch Systems in Northern Utah...my co-worker, Anthony and I have come here to shoot video of various components of the new Ares I rocket.

Here at ATK they make the solid rockets for the Space Shuttle and also will be making the solid first stage of the Ares I. The Ares I first stage is the skinny white part below the orange part (aka - upper stage)

The first stage is made up of 5 segments, each filled with solid propellant. We have been following the forward segment, or the "top segment" of the 5...it is where the igniter is and the propellant is in a 13 point star shape to increase the burn surface area...

These next few pics show us shooting video of what is called sling lining. The inside of the forward segment is lined with a special liner that helps the solid propellant (which will be poured on Monday, 1/19/09) adhere to the casing.

Later in the day, we decided to head outside and take a few pics of the ATK sign and surrounding area...

Yesterday we spent the day in the "pits"...the only place I know that is colder inside than it is outside! The pits is where they lower the Ares segments into pits that are deeper than the segment. It is there that they do all of the important stuff to them.

Last night, they were lowering the forward core segment into the forward segment. The shape of the core is the opposite shape of the live propellant that will be poured around it.

It was about 25 degrees in the pits last night and we were all bundled up! I was wearing so many layers that I felt like the Michelin man...only my fingers were cold. It's hard to run a camera with gloves on...

Here is the core about to go into the forward segment. Keep in mind that the white ring is only the very top of a 40 ft segment down in the pit...

After a short 5 hours they were done! On Monday, I will be shooting video as they pour live propellant into this segment...I am a but nervous, but these guys have been doing it for over 30 years with the Shuttle!

Last summer I went to Spain and took over 1000 pictures. Because I put most of my photos in my Flickr account, it is always interesting to see where they end up.

Click here to see one of my pics used in a very cool blog for my favorite magazine!

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T21:43:00.005-06:00

Happy New Year from the Bilbrey Boys!

We wish all of you, all around the world, a very happy and prosperous 2009!

Tonight, we had a small private party that was by invitation only...just for the Huntsville Bilbrey Boys...

What started out as good clean fun...

Loud and good clean fun...

Soon turned into an all out blow thingy war!

This has been quite a year for me...I can honestly say that this has been the worst year of my life. It has been a year filled with new experiences...some good, some bad. The worst was having to separate from my wife and the best was becoming a single Dad.

Also, for the first time in my life, I left the United States and traveled to another country...Spain. I would say that it was the trip of a lifetime, but I sure hope not...I hope there are many, many more to come.

In fact, I have already booked my next vacation...but it's a secret for now.

So long, 2008...don't let the door hit you where the dog should have bit you...

I know that 2009 is going to be awesome!

Christmas 2008

2008-12-27T19:55:00.007-06:00

Please click on the pics to see the larger versions...

This was my first Christmas as a single Dad and I was looking forward to our yearly visit from Santa. My oldest, Kevin, knows the truth and my youngest, Eric, still believes...so it's quite a balancing act.

On Christmas Eve, me and the boys went to the Christmas Eve service at our new church. This is something that I have always wanted to do, but never did for one reason or another. The boys were well behaved and it was nice to sit down and focus on the real Reason for the Season...

When we got home, the boys dressed for bed and brushed their teeth in record time.

Before bed, we made sure to put out milk, cookies and carrots for Santa and the reindeer...on a Gator plate, of course!

The boys were in bed by 8:15pm and about 9:30 I went into the kitchen to fix myself a drink and Kevin lifted his head and said, "Has Santa been here yet?" I wondered if he was so sleepy that he believed again or if he was just asking if the gifts were there yet. I told him "no" and he said he was having trouble getting to sleep. I prayed with him and asked God to calm him down so he could go into a deep sleep...

Finally, at about 11pm, I decided the coast was clear and Santa made his visit...even with no chimney!

When I put the boys to bed, I told them not to wake me before 6am, but definitely not before 5:45am...and that if they woke up earlier, they could play with whatever Santa had left, but not to open any presents. Well, as expected, they woke me up at 5:45am...Kevin told me he had got up at 2am to see what Santa had left. He also checked out what was in his stocking. Then, supposedly, he went back to bed...but I wonder.

They boys each bought me a gift from a service at their school. Kevin bought me the glass dolphin and Eric got me the sailing ship...

We were done opening presents just before 6:15am...yes, everything I have has a Gator logo on it!

Before lunch, I took the boys to a big empty parking lot to try out their toys. Kevin with his skateboard...

And Eric with his new remote controlled Air Hogs jet.

At 6:30pm, their mom came to come get them so that they could have their second Christmas of the day...I was sad to see them go, but also so glad to have had them this Christmas morning.

Our visit to Mobile

2008-12-26T22:27:00.003-06:00

My Granny Bilbrey is a very young 90 and last weekend I took the boys down to Mobile, Alabama to visit her.

It's always so nice to visit her and she is doing so great! She still does at least one crossword puzzle a day...I don't think I could complete one in a week. She lives in an assisted living community with her very own 2 bedroom apartment.

As you can see, the boys have fun playing outside

My Aunt and Uncle live in Mobile as well as my cousins and their families, so it's always nice to also see them. While we were there, they had a Christmas get-together and a good time was had by all...

After a few days it was time to head home and get ready for Santa's visit!

The 24 hour Business Trip...

2008-12-18T22:43:00.006-06:00

Today we drove down to New Orleans for a quick one day trip. We are coming down here to shoot video of a new piece of equipment that is arriving at the Michoud Assembly Facility tomorrow. It will be used to produce major parts of the Ares I rocket.

When we come down here to South Louisiana, we have started staying at the downtown Marriott. We used to stay in Slidell, but by staying at the Marriott, we are on the edge of the French Quarter and the food is MUCH better!

Just up the street was a little restaurant that I had always wanted to eat at...

Tonight we had dinner at the Original Pierre Maspero's...this building dates back to 1788 and it is said that Andrew Jackson met with the Lafitte brothers here and planned the defense for the historic and epic Battle of New Orleans.

I had an aligator po-boy, a cup of chicken and andouille gumbo and a draft Abita beer...that is about as New Orleans as it gets! Needless to say it was delicious!

Here is the view of Canal Street from my room...

Last weekend I took the boys bowling...we aren't very good at it, but it's fun to roll heavy balls down a slick lane! The 8 pound balls the boys were using could barely knock the pins over!

A lot of nothing...

2008-12-11T21:35:00.003-06:00

I have wanted to write things here lately, but not much has been happening...

At work things have been slow and steady. I have been doing lots of little things that keep me busy but are quite boring. Travel has sort of been put on a back burner for the Christmas holidays...although I have been told that the first 3 months of 2009 will be quite busy. I know of trips to Detroit MI, Cleveland OH, Ogden UT, New Orleans LA and Los Angeles CA.

On a side note, I have been told that the NASA Ares Quarterly Progress Reports that we shoot and edit have been very popular on iTunes. They are up to #5 on the most popular podcast list!

How about my Florida Gators? When the Gators played in their first National Championship in 1995 I was overjoyed (although they DID get stomped by Nebraska...) Then they beat Florida State to win the 1996 National Championship and beat Ohio State in 2006 for their 2nd Championship.

Now they will be playing in their fourth Championship game against Oklahoma in Miami on January 8th, 2009. I missed the first 3 Championship games, so I looked into getting a single ticket for this one. Uh...no way! The nose-bleediest of nose-bleed seats cost over $600! I will be watching the game in HD in the comfort of my living room...

I was driving home yesterday and someone rolled down their window and threw a fast food cup right out of the window. As the cup and ice hit the pavement I thought to myself, how does someone do that? I can not even imagine doing that! It boggles my mind...

I have been planning my 2009 vacation...I can't reveal the destination, but you can bet there will be sand, blue water and palm trees!

The Soak at Doak!

2008-11-30T17:03:00.004-06:00

How about those Gators!

They defeated the Florida State Seminoles 45-15 on a field that looked more like a swamp that the Gators home field...nicknamed "The Swamp"!

Here's my favorite quote from FSU coach, Bobby Bowden...

"It was a good tail-whipping, I didn't think they would beat us like that here. The last time we had a beating like that was last year against them."

This victory makes it 5 in a row over "that school out west".

Now that Gators play the number 1 team in the country, the Alabama Crimson Tide next Saturday for the SEC Championship and a trip to Miami to play in the National Championship game...

Ares Quarterly Report # 10

2008-11-25T21:29:00.002-06:00

Here is the latest installment of the Ares Quarterly report that we shoot and edit at the Marshall Space Flight Center. This is our 10th one...so that means we have been documenting Ares design and construction for over 2 1/2 years!

Hope you like it!

Ares Quarterly Progress Report 10 from AresTV on Vimeo.

Putting up the Christmas tree

2008-11-22T22:25:00.004-06:00

Click on the pics to see the bigger version...

This year my boys and I put up our brand new tree a bit early. I have an artificial tree because...well because I have never had a real one before.

Because I am separated from my wife, we had to go out and practically buy everything from the tree and ornaments to stockings.

We went to a local store and I let the boys pick out the ornaments they wanted. Well, not every ornament...because if I had, there would be no money left for presents!

We made it with only 1 ornament breaking, so that's pretty good!

Why even do it?

2008-11-18T21:50:00.006-06:00

Sometimes I wonder why I do this blog...

Is it historical...a record of my job and thoughts for my boys to read in the future?

Is it personal? A way for my family to keep up with me without daily contact?

Is it egotistical? "Hey everyone, look how cool my job is!"

I think it's mainly the first two, with a teeny-tiny touch of the third...

I have a tracking thingamajiggy that shows me the city, state and sometimes country of a person who surfs by and it is interesting to see where people come from.

Just the other day I had my first visit from someone at a University in Iran...which I thought was pretty cool and it's always exciting to have the Googlebot stop by...But still no one from Africa!

What I have discovered is that people all over the world seem to be drawn to a common topic...

Mythbusters!

I get so many folks who stumble across my blog by finding my Mythbusters blog posts back in January and February. Same thing on my Flickr...my top 10 viewed pics are all Mythbusters pics. What's the deal? People can't get enough Mythbusters!

Anyway...I thought I would try something new. Here are a few pics from a neat shoot back in 2000. We went down to the Talladega Superspeedway to shoot video for an episode of a show called NASA Connect. It was a kids show that always had a celebrity open the show and for this show we had Jeff Gordon.

In this photo, Jeff Gordon and our producer, Mick Speer, are discussing the lines Jeff will be reading to the camera, which I was operating.

We shot Jeff's lines for about 15 minutes and when we were done, I turned around and there was about 100 people surrounding us waiting for us to finish so they could get his autograph. He was nice enough to sign our press passes first and then we cleared out so the crush of people could move in.

After about an hour, Jeff was suited up and checking out his car...we needed some video of him racing, so I was permitted to go out and get some closeups before he went out on the track.

As you can see, the stands are empty because this was on the Thursday before the actual race...

As always, click on the little pics to see the big pics!

The Boys First Gator Football Game

2008-11-09T19:17:00.007-06:00

CLICK ON THE PICS TO SEE THE LARGER VERSIONS...

Last night I took my boys to their very first Gator game! Since graduating from U.F. in 1992, I have been to only 4 other games...so this was an extra special game for me too. The boys were sick, with Kevin being sicker than Eric...but both boys absolutely did not want to miss this game! It didn't help that I had been hyping this game for months.

We arrived extra early so we could be there when the Gator football team arrived at the stadium...when we got there we came across the coolest 18-wheeler ever!

After a while the Gator band arrived with Albert and Alberta...We were lucky enough to get a picture with Albert!

Here we see the Gator band playing music and Albert and Alberta dancing...while waiting for the team to arrive...

Finally 5 o'clock arrived and the Gator football team arrived! Leading the team was the head coach, Urban Meyer!

The whole team passed right by me and the boys...literally inches away! We gave high-fives to most of the players!

After the team passed us by, we entered the stadium...only 2 hours until kickoff!

Here you see the boys watching the Gator team during their pre-warm-ups...

The 2008 Florida Gators during their pre-warmups...

Finally! Kick off! By this time we had eaten 2 cotton candies, 2 hot chocolates and a funnel cake!

One of many plays by the mighty Gators!

It was very cold, but the boys were troopers...

Although we left at halftime, we all had a great time! The Gators were up 35-0 and only scored one more touchtime after halftime...so we didn't miss much.

All in all, it was a great evening...the boys had a great time. I would call that a great success! Next time, we'll see if we can make through the third quarter!

James Bilbrey, Total Tourist!

2008-11-06T22:41:00.003-06:00

I have been in L.A since Monday attending the DV Expo, talking to venders and listening to speakers...

Today was the last day of the conference and after 3 days of intense classes, I was ready to get out and see the typical LA sights...

So we headed out to see if we could get some good pics of the famous Hollywood sign...I think we did a pretty good job!

After that adventure, we headed down to Hollywood Blvd to see what what was happening...there were lots of people waiting in line to see the Jimmy Kimmel show...

And there was some sort of awards show going on at Grauman's Chinese Theater...we couldn't get close enough to see what was really going on.

Here is the Roosevelt Hotel...a famous hotel said to be haunted by the ghost of Marilyn Monroe. It was also the site of the first Academy Awards in 1929...

Tomorrow I fly home and I can't wait! It's been a week since I've seen my boys and that is too long!

Another So Cal Sunset...

2008-11-04T23:33:00.005-06:00

I had an hour of daylight left after work tonight and decided to head to the ocean. Every time I come out here I feel like I need to see the ocean...

I don't really know the best beaches, so I headed out to my old standby...Santa Monica Beach. It's fairly easy to get to and the Santa Monica Pier is such an icon.

Here are some pics of the awesome sunset and the pier...click on the small pic to see the larger version.

Blog Post #100! Back in LA and leftover pics...

2008-11-03T21:24:00.002-06:00

Remember the song "I Love LA"? Well, for some reason I do too...I don't know what it is about Southern California, but every time I come out here I just feel so good. Yes, LA is a big city with big city problems, yes the traffic sucks but there is such an awesome "vibe" out here.

There is a million and one things to do here and the weather is almost always perfect. I could see myself moving out here some day...but I'd have to make a crapload of bucks to enjoy it!

I am here at attend the DV Expo West TV conference. Last August, my boss put our names in a hat and pulled my name!

A few thoughts from the airport...who wears flip flops on a plane? And leave your pillow at home! If you don't know how to buckle and unbuckle your airline seat belt by now, you might was to rethink the whole flying thing...

Here are a few random pics I took with my camera phone over the last few weeks...

This is an interview we shot at CSA in San Francisco...

Here you see me shooting video at the Marshall Space Flight Center. We were there to document testing of a subscale version of the Ares I Upper Stage...I have a hardhat on because they were using an overhead crane...

NASA Administrator, Mike Griffin came to Marshall a few weeks ago and this is a picture of the stage and lighting we set up.

This is just a weird bike I saw while we were in Duluth, Minnesota...not sure why it's so tall. Maybe to get above the snow in the winter?

How About Them Gators!

2008-11-01T23:24:00.004-05:00

It's Great To Be A Florida Gator!

Wow, what a game...anytime you beat someone by 39 points, it's a special thing. But beating the 8th ranked team who just happens to be the Georgia Bulldogs makes it even sweeter!

The Gators were dominating and have been since losing to Ole Miss a month ago...they are on FIRE!

Just in time too, because next week me and the boys are driving up to Nashville to watch the Gators play Vandy! It'll be my first Gator game since they played the Iowa Hawkeyes in the 2006 Outback bowl...

You can be sure there will be pics!

Stay tuned, because I head out to Los Angeles on Monday to attend the DV Expo West. I am sure I will find something interesting to blog about...

My visit to San Francisco

2008-10-27T23:55:00.009-05:00

Click on the pics to see the larger version...

Today we flew into San Francisco to shoot video at a company that is working on oscillation mitigation for the Ares I...that will be tomorrow.

Today we were tourists and after landing, we drove out to the Golden Gate Bridge. My co-worker, Anthony, suggested that we walk across the bridge...

I thought that sounded like a cool idea...it was really neat to walk all the way across the bridge and then walk all the way back!

Downtown San Francisco...

Alcatraz!

A port-a-potty for the bridge workers was painted the same color as the Golden Gate Bridge!

I am smiling, even though I realize we still have to walk all the way across the bridge to get to our rental car...

After the long walk, we drove up the mountain to get some high definition video of the bridge...

After all of this walking (almost 4 miles...) and driving up mountains, we decided that it was time for some dinner. Where better to get fresh seafood than the world famous Fisherman's Wharf!

All in all, it was a great day. Anytime you fly across the country with no delays and all of your luggage and equipment arrives, I consider it a success. Throw in the Golden Gate Bridge and fresh fish and chips and it takes it to a "whole nother level!"

Replacing the Space Shuttle...

2008-10-24T23:09:00.005-05:00

Because I shoot video for NASA, I am always thinking about rockets, engines, avionics, ullage motors, friction stir welding, aluminum lithium panels, load cells, etc. I don't understand 99% of what I shoot, but I do try to have a basic understanding...I think it helps me do a better job capturing whatever test I happen to be documenting.

That being said, I am amazed and saddened by the number of people who have no idea what will be replacing the Shuttle. Why replace the Shuttle? Well, the design is over 35 years old and was never intended to leave low Earth orbit. It was designed to perform multiple roles, launching both cargo and people while at the same time conducting microgravity experiments and repair and maintenance missions. However, because of this "all in one" approach, the cost of launching 1 pound into orbit is still about $10,000, well below other countries who just launch satellites for less than half of that.

The Shuttle will be retired in 2010 and in the meantime, a new family of rockets is being developed.

The rocket on the left is the Ares I and it will be used to launch the crew to orbit.

The rocket on the right is the Ares V and it will launch everything that is not an astronaut to orbit.

You may not hear much about these rockets right now, but NASA has been working on the Ares I for the last 3 years.

During that time, we at Marshall TV have been documenting the development and construction of the Ares I rocket. We have traveled from coast to coast, north to south, shooting high definition video and producing Ares Quarterly Progress Reports (quarterly as in every 3 months...)

Here is the most recent Ares QPR...

Ares Projects Quarterly Progress Report #9 from AresTV on Vimeo.

Here is a little about the Ares I rocket...it will launch from the Kennedy Space Center, just like the Shuttles...

The Ares I will carry 6 astronauts to the International Space Station or 4 astronauts to the moon. They will be in a capsule called Orion and it will sit on top of the rocket...no more worry about foam damage.

The Ares I is divided into 2 basic parts...the First Stage and the Upper Stage.

The First Stage is a 5 segment solid rocket (the shuttle uses two 4 segment solids...) with a liquid fueled Upper Stage. The Upper Stage engine is a J-2X, which is derived from the Apollo era J-2 engine, which powered the second and third stages of the Saturn V.

After launch, the First Stage will separate from the Upper Stage...and the single J-2X engine will power the Upper Stage to orbit.

Pretty simple, huh?

Here is a comparison of the Saturn V, the Space Shuttle and the new Ares I

Last but not least, here is some NASA animation of what the Ares I launch will look like...

The Ares V is not currently under construction...all of NASA efforts are being used to get the Ares I flying as quickly as possible to reduce the gap between the Shuttle being retired and Ares I starting. That way, we will be depending on the Russian Soyuz for a shorter time to get to the International Space Station.

States 40 & 41...North Dakota and South Dakota.

2008-10-15T23:10:00.005-05:00

Click on the small pics to see the bigger pics...

Well, we wrapped up our shooting in Minnesota and today was a full day of driving.

As you can see, we drove from Duluth, MN to Fargo, ND to Brookings, SD...a total of 433 miles.

While driving across Minnesota, we crossed the Mississippi at a point not too far from where it begins...

At this point the Mississippi is not much wider than a little river...see the little fishing boat in this picture?

After a short 4 1/2 hour drive we arrived in Fargo, North Dakota...

This city was very impressive...it was clean, everyone seemed nice and the downtown was very cool!

While in Fargo, we ate at a place called Hodo, which is the restaurant of the Hotel Donaldson.

I just HAD to have the bison burger since we were in North Dakota...it tasted very good. It was similar to beef, except that it was a bit..."earthier"? Is that a word? It was different but delicious.

After lunch, it was time to make the final push to South Dakota...

The following 2 photos were taken at the South Dakota welcome center...one represents the spartan living conditions of the native Indians in South Dakota and the other one was just a cool picture of the American flag flying in the breeze

Tomorrow, we will shoot more video of the 2008 NASA Space Exploration Experience in Watertown, SD...

The drive to Canada...

2008-10-14T21:56:00.005-05:00

Please click on the pics to see larger versions...

After enduring 4 days of overcast, rainy and cold days, I awoke this morning to only a cold day...The skies were finally clear and the sun was shining bright!

The drive up the Minnesota coast was awesome...the fall colors were so brilliant.

It was about a 4 hour drive to Thunder Bay, Canada and the road we drove on followed along the coast of Lake Superior the whole way. At various times I was able to just park the car, cross the street and take these pics...

After a while we arrived at the Canadian Border and had to answer questions like "why did our rental car have Georgia plates?" (don't know), "where were we going in Canada", "did we have weapons like guns, knives or pepper spray?". Of course we didn't, so we were off to Thunder Bay.

Well, I wish I had lots of cool pics from Canada, but I really don't. It's weird, as soon as we crossed the border, the trees were almost bare of leaves and we couldn't see the lake anymore. We wanted to go see Thunder Bay's most famous attraction, Fort William historical park (a re-creation of a fur trading post from 1815) but it was closed for some unknown reason.

We drove around and really weren't very impressed...sorry Thunder Bay! It sort of reminded me of Decatur, Alabama in the sense that there wasn't really a cool downtown area and the businesses seemed, well, exactly what we'd see in Alabama.

We ended up at a place that was sort of a cross between Target and Sams Club...

That's right, "The Real Canadian Superstore"! Lots of deals in there, eh?

Finally as we were leaving Canada, I stopped to take a pic of this lonely old Canadian barn...

Tomorrow we will be driving west through Minnesota to Fargo, ND. Then from Fargo, we will head south to Watertown, SD...should be a long day of driving, but I bet I will take lots of pics!

State #39, Rainy Wisconsin

2008-10-13T21:22:00.004-05:00

We were going to drive to Thunder Bay, Canada today, but because the weather was so rainy, we decided to take the shorter drive to Wisconsin. That was fine with me because now I can scratch Wisconsin off my list of states I have never been to...

Here is a sort of photo journal of our day, with comments as needed...as always, click on the pick to see the larger version.

This is my serious look...

That's right, we see only the biggest attractions!

The lake Superior water is so COLD!

Cornucopia, Wisconsin...I don't want to be here when you can actually park your snowmobile here.

It was so quiet out here...the only sound was the rain hitting the leaves on the trees.

Red Cliff, Wisconsin...I thought this was someone's boat, but it was full of sand!

Bayfield, Wisconsin

Tomorrow, we will be driving to Thunder Bay, Canada...so check back for more adventures!

Minnesota, Day 3 - "Cold and Sunny!"

2008-10-11T17:45:00.003-05:00

Well, finally the sun came out today! However, by looking at the weather forecast, we realized that today was going to be the only "nice" day until Tuesday. So knowing this, we decided to go out and about to shoot some "beauty shots" around Duluth.

Duluth sits right on the edge of Lake Superior, which is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area. The surface area of Lake Superior is larger than South Carolina!

So, as you can see, a lot of the "beauty shots" we shot today involve water of some sort, and let me tell you, that water is COLD! While we were shooting video at one of the beaches, we observed people out there actually surfing! What? It was 55 degrees and the winds were at least 20 mph...

Here's a few pics from today...as always, click on the pic for a larger version.

Minnesota, Day 2 - "Cold and Rainy!"

2008-10-10T23:11:00.004-05:00

So far, I have not really seen much of Duluth...today was overcast, cold and rainy. Because of this, we decided to spend most of our day shooting video in the Great Lakes Aquarium.

The 2008 NASA Space Exploration Experience is parked outside the aquarium and is open to the public...

Tomorrow looks like more of the same, but we are hoping that the weather breaks so we can get outside to shoot some beauty shots of Duluth. It looks like a beautiful city right on Lake Superior ...
Here are a few pics from the Aquarium...

Off To Minnesota

2008-10-09T23:13:00.002-05:00

This is my 3rd trip to document the 2008 NASA Space Exploration Experience.

Back in May, I spent 17 days in Connecticut and in August I spent a week in Iowa...

This time we are traveling to beautiful Minnesota and South Dakota...I am glad we are here in October and not November! It's already hitting lows in the 40's here and I am glad brought my heavy coat!

While traveling here, we had a short layover in Cincinnati and while we were in line to buy an overpriced Quizno's sub, the fire alarm went off in our concourse. So we all shuffled off to the lower levels to wait for the all clear.

Here's the line of people waiting to go back to the surface and catch their planes...

Unfortunately (or fortunately) I was not able to actually purchase the overpriced Quizno's sub...

But I did manage to get TWO snacks on the plane! That's right, peanuts AND crackers.

It pays to be Gold Medallion!

This blog needs more cowbell!

2008-10-07T21:51:00.005-05:00

On April 8th, 2000, Saturday Night Live aired a skit that would change the face of our American language...

I am speaking, of course, of THE Bruce Dickinson and the infamous cowbell...

I am sorry, but every time I think of this skit it makes me laugh! Am I the only one?

So as a service to my Mom (and my only two followers...thanks Zine and Abby!), here is the SNL skit that started it all!

More Cowbell - Funny home videos are a click away

In Case You Missed It, (and you probably did)

2008-10-02T22:28:00.004-05:00

This last weekend was a monumental weekend for a company called SpaceX. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, who made his fortune from Paypal.

SpaceX is committed to developing and launching partially reusable rockets to put cargo and eventually people into Earth orbit.

This is a big deal because this is a private company, I repeat, a PRIVATE COMPANY! Putting people in orbit! ORBIT...around EARTH!

NASA likes them so much that in 2006 they were selected at one of two companies to provide crew and cargo resupply demonstration contracts to the International Space Station (ISS)...and with the Space Shuttle coming to an end and the Ares rockets looking like they won't be ready until 2015 or so, NASA just may need SpaceX to bring crew and cargo to the ISS. Sure beats paying the Russians $20 million for a Soyuz launch...

This past Saturday, after 3 unsuccessful launches, SpaceX was able to put a dummy satellite into Earth orbit, becoming the first, privately funded liquid fueled rocket to do so.

Please keep in mind that this private company has achieved that up until now, only countries have been able to do!

Here is the video of the launch...

What a Weekend!

2008-09-28T21:35:00.004-05:00

This weekend was quite a weekend...

First I was privileged to be asked to work on the support team for a christian spiritual renewal program that was held at a summer camp in Tennessee. It was quite a weekend filled with getting closer to God and also nature.

Here is a picture of the lake...

As always, click on the pic to see the larger version.

I worked on the logistics side of the Emmaus Walk, which means I emptied trash cans, refilled toilet paper rolls and generally carried things from "here" to "there". It was a lot of fun and also hard work (especially loading all of the supplies after the walk was over!

On Saturday, I was let down by my Gators...

They looked sloppy, tired and generally terrible at times...after they lost 31-30, I was so bummed and Eric found me sitting here at my computer with my head down. I was trying my best to tell myself that "it's just a game" and "Gator football isn't what's important in life"...then Eric put his arm around me and said "It's ok Daddy, it's just a football team and even the very best football teams lose sometimes".

That was all I needed to hear...I know it's silly to get upset over a bunch of 18-21 year old kids playing a game, but it's tough when you are so mentally invested in team! Besides, I have been rooting for the Gators for alomst 20 years!

After the game, the boys and I went outside to "play tennis". Which is more like "see who can launch tennis balls the farthest over the fences!"

Here's a few pre-tennis pics...

The Glamorous Life...

2008-09-24T23:03:00.003-05:00

Thanks Abby for being my first "follower"! You rock! (and your kid's cute too!)

When I tell people I work for NASA, they instantly think I am an engineer. I thought I was going to be an engineer but little things like Calculus 1, Chemistry 1 and Physics 1 sort of got in the way...I am an engineer at heart, but I just don't have the brains!

I get the feeling that most people think that shooting video for NASA is all Shuttle launches, big gatherings of astronauts and huge paychecks! Well, after 10 years, I have YET to see a shuttle launch, I get to occasionally meet an astronaut and I do make a decent living.

Over the last few weeks I have been busy, just not really interesting enough to write about.

Here are a few crappy cell phone pics of some recent activity.

Here we see some roll control hardware for the Ares I-X.
I am not that tall...I was standing on a raised platform

This is an interiew shot in front of our green screen in our studio.

Pretty exciting, huh? Coming up next month I will have new adventures from at least 3 states I have never been to before! Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Stay Tuned!

How About Those Gators!

2008-09-21T16:40:00.003-05:00

My Gators are now 3-0 with a convincing 30-6 win over the Tennessee Volunteers.

I love football and I especially love Gator football. I am not just a fan, I am also an alumnus. As a sophomore in college, I cheered Emmitt Smith left, Emmitt Smith right and Emmitt Smith up the middle! As a Junior, Senior and 5th year Senior, I cheered the Steve Spurrier led Gators to a perfect 18-0 record at home.

I have been a Gator fan for more than half my life, and I know that I always will.

Almost time for Survivor: Gabon!

2008-09-16T22:48:00.004-05:00

I may be in the minority, but I absolutely love the hit CBS show Survivor. I remember way back in 2000 when I heard about this new show called "Survivor" and they were looking for contestants to be dropped off on a deserted island. I thought to myself, "what is this world coming to, that they would think that this was a good idea for a TV show!" Shows you how much I know about programming a network.

I resisted watching the first season because I thought it would be dumb and who'd want to watch people suffer as they try to survive. About the middle of the first season, I was channel surfing and came across this show with stunning camera work and beautiful scenery. As a videographer, I could appreciate the amount of work that went into that episode...then I realized I was watching "Survivor"! I was hooked!

The drama is not manufactured like on some other "reality" shows and it is always interesting to see how people react when put into a pressure situation with little food and everyone wanting to vote you out.

This season is Survivor: Gabon, which is the 17th edition of Survivor. That, my friends, is a LOT of Survivor! It's stays so popular because no season is exactly the same, the producers always tweak the timing of events keep the survivors on their toes.

Not to mention that this is the first season shot on high definition, so the video should go from awesome to stunning!

I really enjoy listening to the Survivors Fans Podcast. It is a labor of love by two super hardcore survivor fans (who just happen to be married). They breakdown the show every Thursday after the episode airs and then they welcome listeners feedback for a Monday night show. All of the podcasts can be downloaded from their webpage or also on iTunes. Check them out!

Survivors ready...GO!

Feeding the Homeless...

2008-09-13T21:57:00.002-05:00

Today, the boys and I went to the local homeless shelter and helped serve lunch to 80 local homeless men. Before lunch, the boys cleaned the tables and helped to set out the cups for drinks. During lunch, they directed the men to sign in and after lunch they swept the floors. It was a first for all of us and I hope they boys learned something positive about helping others.

Here the boys are in their hairnets, aprons and giant rubber gloves...

Kevin learned to sweep with a big push broom...

Eric decided he wanted to try the food the men had eaten. The chicken salad had huge pieces of onion in it, so he had a bologna sandwich instead.

The 3 of us after we were done cleaning...

State number 38 and more Utah fun...

2008-09-10T20:35:00.006-05:00

Today I was able to convince my co-worker, Anthony that eating food in another state would be a lot of fun! So after work, we headed north to Idaho to sample some native cuisine. Potatoes? Nope...Mexican. All in all, southern Idaho looks A LOT like northern Utah, who knew?

We were here to shoot video at ATK of a system that uses x-rays to check solid rocket booster segments for the Space Shuttle and soon the Ares I. It consists of plates of unexposed film being brought into the booster segment on a conveyor belt. Above the booster is a massive x-ray emitter that shoots x-rays through the solid fuel...looking for voids or foreign objects. Thankfully, they turned the whole operation off while we were shooting video, otherwise I would have been toast, literally!

What you see in the picture below is the inert forward segment of the Ares I. The black ring is called the inhibitor plate and in the middle you can see the star pattern of the solid rocket fuel. The grey is the fuel, the black lines in the middle is empty space. I have followed this segment for the last 5 month, documenting it every step of the way.

After shooting yesterday, we were able to stop by the Golden Spike National Historic site. This is where the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads were joined together with a Golden Spike on May 10th, 1869...it marked the completion of the very first transcontinental railroad.

A replica golden spike...

An artists rendition of what it looked like...

Me, next to the replica locomotive "119"

The train was in motion!

Oh so close...the next to last spike! So close to greatness!

On the way back to our hotel, I spotted this field of wild sunflowers and took a couple of pics...

It's hard to look cool surrounded by wildflowers...

Well, that's it from Utah. Tomorrow we fly home to good old Alabama!

Have you been Rick-Rolled?

2008-09-10T00:42:00.005-05:00

I found this funny graph at www.graphjam.com

Have you been Rick Rolled?

Anyway, what I really wanted to share with you all is this neat video of Muppet bloopers...

Utah, Part 3

2008-09-08T22:29:00.003-05:00

Well, here I am again in Utah, my 3rd visit since I started this blog back in February. I have been told that this should be an easy shoot...we shall see...

When we travel on business, we always try to stay at a Marriott. Because of this, we have achieved a certain level of status with them and tend to get treated like big shots...

My case in point...

That's right, suckers! A personalized cookie at check-in!

I wonder how the other people live...

Last Swim of 2008?

2008-09-03T22:10:00.005-05:00

Ahh, summer...where did you go! Seems like yesterday we were celebrating Memorial Day.

We went swimming over the weekend even though it might have been a little bit too cold...but you couldn't convince the boys of that fact. They LOVE the water and we go swimming as often as we can. Here are a few pics from what will probably be the last swim of 2008...

Click on the pics to see the bigger versions...

It's hard for me to believe this boy is 9!

NASA Edge in Ames, Iowa

2008-08-29T22:48:00.005-05:00

While shooting video of the 2008 NASA Space Exploration Experience Exhibit in Ames, Iowa, we were lucky enough to meet up with our friends at NASA Edge. They do very entertaining video podcasts (vodcasts) with NASA themes...check them out in iTunes...

Here are a few pictures of them in action...

Here's Ron pointing to the 2007 NASA Videographer of the Year...

Blair and Chris with their guest...

Chris must be saying something VERY interesting...

Gotta love the shade!

Actual work being done!

Come on Africa!

2008-08-27T23:54:00.003-05:00

I have been updating this blog for the last 6 months and I have often wondered who (besides my Mom) even reads it.

Well, two months ago I put a simple tracking thingy on my blog to let me see where my blog readers come from and I was pleasantly surprised to see so many countries represented...

Come on Africa! What's the deal?
Click on the map to see the bigger version

Iowa and a bit of New Orleans...

2008-08-26T22:36:00.004-05:00

Even though I am currently in Ames, Iowa, I wanted to start this blog with a few pictures that I took from the 25th floor of my hotel last week in New Orleans...

This is a shot of downtown right before sunrise...

And this one is a shot of the French Quarter later in the day...

We are here in Ames, Iowa to shoot video of the 2008 NASA Space Exploration Exhibit. This is the same exhibit we shot video of 3 months ago in Connecticut...

Here are a few pics.

Me and my co-worker, Mick.

State Number 37

2008-08-25T22:02:00.003-05:00

Today I traveled to another state I have never been to...Iowa.

My first impression was very favorable. The temperature was a nice 78 degrees and the humidity was low. We are staying just north of Des Moines and will be shooting video of the 2008 NASA Space Exploration Experience exhibit in Ames, Iowa.

As you can see by the map above, if I take a roadtrip up the middle of the country I'll knock out many states in my quest to go to all 50...I'll need to consider that!

Visiting Stennis and Michoud

2008-08-22T21:21:00.004-05:00

I am back from my trip to the south to visit the Stennis Space Center and the Michoud Assembly Facility. It is always neat to visit these NASA centers because of all the cool things there is to see and experience there.

The Stennis Space Center is NASA's center for testing the Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME's) as well as other smaller engines. While we were there we shot video in many different places...here are a few pictures.

We were lucky enough to be here on a day where they were test firing an SSME. The engine runs for the full duration, 8 1/2 minutes. That's how long it takes the Space Shuttle to get from the ground to orbit. The test is actually going on behind me...pretty cool!

Here we see at least nine nozzles that will be used with the RS-68 engine. These engines are currently used with the Air Force Delta IV rockets, but in the future they will be used to power the Ares V's liquid fueled first stage.

After lunch, I went to see the visitors center and came across the second of three linear aerospike engines. A few posts ago, I blogged about stumbling across engine number three behind a building at the Marshall Space Flight Center. I was told that there were only three made and the third one is in Palmdale, CA. Maybe someday I will get to see engine number one!

The next day we visited Michoud, where they continue to produce the Space Shuttle External Tank and soon will begin making the Ares I Upper Stage. I was told that it takes 15-18 months to build the Shuttle External Tank...

Here are a few pics of some tanks under construction.

This is looking straight into an external tank...

Next week I am going to be visiting a state I have never been to before...Iowa.

Stay tuned for more fun and more thrills!

Should be fun!

Down in New Orleans

2008-08-19T20:24:00.004-05:00

I am in New Orleans, La for a few days to shoot video for NASA. This evening my co-worker, Anthony and I walked to Ralph and Kakoos for some great seafood and took these pictures on Bourbon street on the walk back to our hotel.

Me in front of world famous (?) Big Daddy's Bar

Bourbon street in the daytime!

Anthony chillin' on B-street...

A streetcar on Canal street.

No thanks...

Olympic Fever!

2008-08-17T21:19:00.004-05:00

I have had the pleasure of having my boys stay with me this weekend and they are very interested in the 2008 Olympics. My youngest, Eric is especially excited. He seems to like sports more that Kevin does (although Kevin does like to watch the Olympics too...)

They have had some Olympic themed events at school and this is the first summer games they can remember.

This picture was taken after the USA beach volleyball team beat the Swiss team...who knew Kevin and Eric were so into volleyball! Really, I think they are excited that that USA won!

This photo was taken after Michael Phelps won his 7th 2008 gold medal...This is a real picture of delight and excitement. I did not stage this for the camera...Eric really jumped up with his fists raised in the air!

Awesome...

Quite the opposite of Olympic fever is quiet reading time. My heart just soars to see the boys sitting on the couch reading. Granted, they are reading comic books we got from the library, but they ARE reading them...

I Love My Job!

2008-08-12T21:26:00.008-05:00

Please click on the pictures to see the bigger versions.

Also, click on the links, they are added by me in case you want more info...

I shoot video for NASA...I love my job because everyday is different and I never know where I may end up.

I also love NASA history and being surrounded by all things NASA...old and new.

Here are a few pictures I have taken the last few days of either things I was shooting or interesting historical items just "sitting" around.

In this picture, we see a nitrogen truck filling up some tank with, yep you guessed it, nitrogen. I was there to shoot a test related to the Ares program. The "smoke" was really just a harmless byproduct of the liquid nitrogen and the humid air. At least I assumed it was harmless because the guys there didn't yell RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!

Here we see a demonstration of a process called Friction Stir Welding. It will be used to join metal pieces on the new Ares I and Ares V rockets. This set-up at Marshall is just for testing purposes. The real tanks will be welded using this process at the Michoud Assembly Facility (where they currently make the Shuttle External Tank).

These next 5 pictures are various historical engines I have run across lately...

This is what is left of an Aerospike engine that was going to used on the cancelled X-33 program. It was supposed to be a single-stage to orbit craft but the program was cancelled in 2001.

Below, we see 8 or 9 different versions of what I believe is the Fastrac engine that was going to be used to power the X-34. This program was also canceled in 2001.

Here we see an Apollo-era J-2 engine...there were actually 4 of them here. I was told they were brought out of storage to be put on display at various different places.

This is a Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME)...not sure why it was outside, although it was behind a fence topped with barbed wire...

And last, but certainly not least, an Apollo-era F-1 engine...also pulled out of storage to be put on display somewhere...This is the most powerful single-nozzle liquid fueled rocket engine ever used by NASA (so far...) It produced over 1.5 millions pounds of thrust and 5 of them powered the mighty first stage of the Saturn V! This one appears to have been in storage in two pieces...

I'm Not Crying...

2008-08-10T01:05:00.002-05:00

Flight of the Conchords!

How did I miss these guys?

Oh yeah, they're on HBO and I don't get that channel...

Well, they are quite funny and I thought this song was written just for me...

Then there's this one which I can't get out of my head! It sounds vulgar but it's not really...unless you think "mutha ucker" and "shi" is bad...

Ares Quarterly Report #9

2008-08-06T23:10:00.002-05:00

For two weeks in July, I was confined to our high definition edit suite editing our latest Ares Quarterly Report. In addition to uploading it to Youtube, we also have found a better website that allows us to upload something larger. Below you will see a smaller version...but if you click here you can see the big version. We shoot in HD, edit it in HD...you should be able to see it in HD!

Ares Projects Quarterly Progress Report #9 from AresTV on Vimeo.

If anyone is viewing this blog with a mac, would you let me know if it looks ok? I have checked the blog with all versions of p.c.'s (except Windows 98 & 95) and I want to make sure there aren't any problems. Thanks!

Fastest 2 weeks...

2008-08-04T20:44:00.005-05:00

These last two weeks were the fastest two weeks of my life!

Because I am currently separated from my wife, I only get to see my 2 boys during normal visitation times and these last 2 weeks were my summer vacation time with them...

We went swimming at the apartment pool just about everyday but we didn't get to play as much tennis as we wanted because it is dangerously hot here in North Alabama (heat index well over 100).

Much thanks to my Mom and Tom for coming up and entertaining the boys while I had to work! They were so awesome! They not only helped out with the boys, but they also cooked some awesome meals, took us out to dinner a few times and helped me get my kitchen in top cooking shape!

Here are a few phone photos I took this weekend at every kids favorite (and every parents nightmare!) Chuck E. Cheese's.

Although I personally don't feel this way, this is a pretty funny song about how most adults feel about going to Chuck E. Cheese's...

All my NASA news is pretty boring these days...but things should be picking up soon. Stay tuned!

Summer with my Family

2008-07-28T14:56:00.003-05:00

Last week and this week I have been privileged to have not only my boys stay with me but also my Mom and Step-Dad. Since I now live in a one-bedroom apartment, it has been challenging at times, but we have made it work and have had a great time.

Here are a few family photos from the last week or so...

I have been working on the next Ares Quarterly Progress Report for the last few weeks, so my NASA related blog posts have been few...it's just not that exciting to talk about how the edit is going...or is it?

Party at the pool!

2008-07-18T22:48:00.002-05:00

Tonight, the apartment complex where I live had a BBQ party at the pool. Me and the boys decided that we would go ahead and make an appearance. After some barbecue and karaoke (we didn't sing), there was a relay race...boys against the girls. Eric tried his best, but the girls were too fast!

That's ok, I was proud of him for having the courage to even try. He definitely is not shy...unlike Kevin, who is super-shy!

After the race we all sat down for some ice cream...

This was a great way to begin our 2 weeks of summer break together!

Birthday Thoughts...

2008-07-14T22:06:00.007-05:00

First of all, much thanks to my buddy, Lee Erickson at Canyonware for snapping up jamesbilbrey.com the moment the other guy let the domain name expire and then surprising me by putting my blog up on it. There was no website there, the guy was just holding on to it, waiting for some sucker named James Bilbrey to buy it.

I feel a little more important now!

Well, it's been a week since I returned from Spain and I can't help and think back to "what was I doing exactly one week from RIGHT NOW" (actually 2 weeks now...). Is that normal?

I had such a great time! Spain is such a warm and inviting country, everyone was very helpful and I never felt threatened (although I didn't feel the need to be out by myself after dark...). I will always have fond memories of my first real visit to another country.

Some of my favorite moments were when I was just walking "that way" through regular old city streets. People were living their lives and I was able to just catch a glimpse of it as I meandered through. I didn't wear my MP3 player because I wanted to hear as well as see and smell everything that was around me...

I experienced so many new and exciting things that I know I have been changed forever. I won't be satisfied with just going to the beach for a vacation. I want to go to the beach in Sydney, Australia...I don't want float down the Mississippi, I want to float down the Nile.

I am going to make it a goal of mine to go to at least one new country a year. Maybe more as finances dictate...

Thanks Rich and Madelyn, you two are the best!

Today is my 38th birthday and I was able to have my boys over tonight. I cooked hamburgers on the stovetop, which is a favorite of all three of us.

After dinner we went out to the side parking lot and played demolition derby with the remote control cars...

The boys were so sweet to give me presents...things they found at their mothers house. Kevin gave me his copy of the movie Madagascar and Eric gave me a Speed Racer Happy Meal car and one of his stuffed animals named "claws" or "clause", I'm not sure...He said "claws" was "tired of him" (meaning tired of being Eric's stuffed animal). How cute!

My last day in Spain

2008-07-06T17:42:00.004-05:00

Please click on the smaller photos to see the larger versions...

On my last full day in Spain, Rich and I decided to tour the Real Madrid Soccer Stadium. Real Madrid, or "Royal Madrid" Football club was voted the "best club of the 20th century". I asked Rich if Royad Madrid was a team like the New Orleans Saints, and he said, "no, more like the New England Patriots". Ouch, that hurt!

Last night, we attended the Rock in Rio - Madrid concert with many, many musical acts. I don't know how many people were there, but it seemed like there was more than 100,000 people! Click on the picture to see the larger version and try to count the people! The picture below was a shot behind us...

We went to the concert to see the Police in concert. They finally took the stage at 12:15 AM and rocked for the next 1.5 hours!

They played all the hits and sounded great! We were about 200 feet from the stage and could see everything just fine. It was over way too soon and we had to say goodbye to Sting, Andy and Stewart...

As I write this, I am sitting in the Atlanta airport waiting for my flight to Huntsville. Tomorrow I will wrap up my trip to Spain with my final thoughts of traveling to a foreign country and anything else I forgot.

My day in Toledo, Spain

2008-07-04T16:31:00.009-05:00

Click on the small photo to see the larger verion.

Today, I decided to take the train to Toledo, Spain, which is only a 30 minute ride from Madrid and cost 15 Euros round trip.

This is the train station in Toledo...

I took the local bus to the main square, called Plaza de Zocodover (below). The name comes from the Arabic name, "Souq al dawad" when the square was a Moorish livestock market at an earlier time. Bullfights and other festivals have taken place in this square as well as burnings at the stake by the Inquisition.

Toledo, Spain is known for it's production of iron and especially swords. Swords are for sale EVERYWHERE! But even if I wanted one, how would I get that thing home?

The thing that struck me was the narrow streets and Arabic influence.

Next, I came across the Cathedral of Saint Mary of Toledo, or just the Toledo Cathedral.

The Cathedral is one of the three 13th century High Gothic cathedrals in Spain and is considered to be the magnum opus.

Here are some pics from inside...

The rest of the day was spent literally wandering wherever the Spirit moved me...turn here, go this way. Here are a few pictures of the rest of the adventure...

Tomorrow we are going to tour the Real Madrid stadium and then we are going to Rock in Rio - Madrid concert to see the Police in concert. Should be a great last day in Spain!

Barcelona Day 3 - 5000 miles from home.

2008-07-03T17:43:00.005-05:00

Please click on the pictures to see the larger version.

I have never been so far from my home in my life, but with the internet, I still feel like I have my family and friends with me.

This morning I only had two places I wanted to go to. The first was Sagrada Familia and the second was the Estacio de Sants. When I got off the metro and turned around, this was what greeted me...

The Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada Familia, or just Sagrada Familia as it's better known. It was designed by Antoni Gaudi and construction was begun in 1882. As you can tell, it is still under construction and it is estimated to be complete by 2026. When people questioned Gaudi about why it was taking so long, even back in the 1920's, he would reply, "My Client is not in a hurry".

At first glance, it looks like a weird, trippy version of a church on drugs, but when you look closer you realize that it is a very intricate piece of art.

Construction continues using Gaudi's blueprints to continue his vision. He envisioned this church to be "the last great sanctuary of Christiandom"

This photo depicts the Passion facade on the west side and the figures were sculpted between 1978 and 2002. Look at the big picture to see the details...

These interior columns were made to resemble redwood trees, with nature a big theme in this church.

Also, the columns of the interior were made of different types of stone, depending on the amount of weight it was to hold. That's why they are different colors...

At the end of the tour, I had much more appreciation for Gaudi and his skill as an archetect and artist. With this church, he thought out every detail and everything, and I mean everything, has some sort of religious meaning.

As a side note, Gaudi is where the term Gaudy comes from, because his work is really "out there" sometimes, using wild colors.

After the tour of the church, It was time to head to the Estacio de Sants...also known as the Barcelona train station!

After 3 wonderfull days in Barcelona, it was time to take the high speed train back to Madrid for a few more days. It was so nice to be zooming along at 300 Km/h, sipping a glass or two of champagne and enjoying the views...

Riding on the train is so comfortable, with wide isles, lots of footroom and plenty of personal space.

The ride was uneventful and I look forward to a great day tomorrow!

Bye!

Barcelona Day 2

2008-07-02T13:22:00.009-05:00

Please click on the small pictures to see the larger versions.

"Hola, parla angles?"

I say that constantly here in Barcelona..."Hi, do you speak English?"

Usually the response is..."A little..." and we go from there.

Today I decided to start my day at Montjuic. Montjuic means "Jewish Mountain" and it was named after an important Jewish cemetery that existed here in the Middle Ages.

My bus dropped me off at the Plaza de Espana, which is at the foot of Montjuic. The plaza was built in 1929 on a site that used to be used for public hangings...now people seems to just use it to park their scooters.

There was some sort of convention going on...called Bread & Butter Barcelona, so I had to go around it so that I could get to the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya or MNAC.

It was also built in 1929 and it houses one of the most important medieval art collections in the world, as well as many incredible paintings...this one is called "Santa Agnes". It was painted by Massimo Stanzione in 1635.

I toured the museum for a while and I felt bad just blowing through some of the galleries...I knew that I should give these paintings the proper respect because these are world-class paintings, painted by masters who spent sometimes years painting them...but on the other hand, I was dying to ride the funicular!

So after 2 hours went by, it was time to ride the funicular! But first I had to walk 45 minutes to get there...I will NOT be gaining weight on this vacation...cabs are conveinient but EXPENSIVE!

The funicular is basically just a cable car skyride sort of thing that took me to the top of Montjuic.

At the top is Castell de Montjuic, which is an 18th century castle. The original structure was built in 1640 during the War of Segadors to resist King Felipe IV's forces.

But now it is a place to get some spectacular views of the city and surrounding areas.

See me in the picture above? See that tall metal tower next to my head? My next stop was the beach exactly where the top of the tower hits the beach in this pic. Do you think I walked?

Hell no! I'd still be walking...I took a nice 15 Euro taxi ride. Best 15 Euro's I spent today because, when I got of the taxi, this is what greeted me...

That's right, the Mediterranean Sea! I was so excited to see the sea...ha that's funny. The Mediterranean has always seemed so exotic and so far away. Well, today I took off my shoes (and socks!) and walked in the surf. It was awesome but a little nerve-racking because these beaches were topless beaches...topless for men AND women. Don't get me wrong, I'm cool and all, but I was not in a bathing suit and I had a camera around my neck. I felt like I was being watched to see if I was watching, which I wasn't! at least not much...

I didn't take any close-up photos, I made sure to stay extra-wide to protect the innocent...you know who you are...

After drying my feet off and noticing a blister on one of my toes, I decided to make the hour walk back to La Rambla, although today I was going to go from the southern entrance whereas yesterday I entered La Rambla from the northern side...La Rambla is the "main drag" of Barcelona. It is absolutely filled with folks shopping, eating and walking.

On the way I passed the Monument a Colom, which is a statue of Christopher Columbus pointing resolutely out to sea.

It was built in 1888 and it commemorates his return to Spain after discovering the Americas. He is at the very top of this 262 foot tall statue...

Well, that ends day 4 in Spain. The weather has been fantastic and the heat is no worse that Alabama this time of the year. I am drinking water and "Coke light" as they call Diet Coke.

So far I have maybe 45 pictures of my adventures, but as of tonight, I have taken over 800 photos so far. I am not sure I want to upload so many pics to my Flickr account...we'll see. What do you think?

Tomorrow I am going to visit the La Sagrada Familia, which is a church that was started by Antoni Gaudi in 1882 and construction continues today. Some say it should be completed by 2030. Here is a current photo...

After that, I will be taking the high-speed train back to Madrid.

Until tomorrow!