NASA Edge in Ames, Iowa

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!

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...

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

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

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

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!

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!

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...

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

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...

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!