The Holstee Manifesto...

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

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...

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...

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...

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...

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

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

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?

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

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...

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

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

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!