The Troubadour: A Merry Christmas to All Current and Past Staff and Volunteers and Proof I was a Good Boy Back in the Day. Space News. Theater Imaginarium.

Sunday, December 24, 2017

A Merry Christmas to All Current and Past Staff and Volunteers and Proof I was a Good Boy Back in the Day. Space News. Theater Imaginarium.

Landon, Soren, Charlie, Bryson, Brady, Matt, Bryce and Randy Kneeling
2002

It is Christmas time. Are you embracing the spirit of the holiday (or at least enjoying some time off work)?

Teachers and students relish every minute of every vacation day because they know each passing hour brings them closer to January 2nd and the start of the longest stretch of government-sanctioned torture allowed by law and the International Court of Justice in the Hauge. I'm talking about the marathon of time between Christmas and Spring Break where the hearts of teachers and students grow faint due to cramped enclosed classrooms, bitter temperatures, polluted air which in turn bring multiple inside recess days, and a serious lack of celebrated holidays. We are all possessed of near-fatal cabin fever come Spring Vacation.

Honor's Night Back in the Day

I want to thank you current and past staff and volunteers for the time you've spent in the space edventuring cause. I consider you friends, coworkers, and overall amazing people. I'm grateful for the time given to help with the missions and classes at the many space education centers and InfiniD labs. I'm honored that you respect these programs enough to make them a part of your lives. What a blessing a simulator based experiential education program would have made in my life had one been around when I was a teenager in South Dakota back in the pony express days. I would have been that super annoying youngling needing to be kicked out the door at the end of every mission. I feel rewarded and humbled to be associated with such outstanding young men and women. Thank you, and for you pre-drivers, please thank your parents for their time and gas to get you to the simulators and back.

Metta, Dustin, Chase, James, Rio, and Ryan Kneeling.

The space centers are a collective work of dedicated volunteers and staff united in an effort to increase people's interest and knowledge of space. Over time, our efforts may help create a space-faring civilization willing to invest in the colonization of the solar system. From there, we will explore the farthest reaches of the observable universe. If you wonder what keeps me working and volunteering in this field day after day - – there it is, and you thought it was the money. For shame.

As you can tell by my healthy appearance I've never been in want of sweets. It was
one way to keep me quiet. That's me in my mother's lap wondering why Granny hasn't rewarded me
for sitting so nicely for the picture, 1959.

I want to take a minute and wish all of you a very merry Christmas. I hope Santa has you on his list of approved stops. I hope you find your stockings filled with sweets and toys. I hope you remember that giving brings more blessings than receiving. Don't forget the greatest gifts you can give are friendship, love, respect, and devotion. Give those gifts to those you care about this holiday season and to those who may be next door or around the corner who are in need of an act of random, anonymous kindness.

Mr. Williamson 1961. A Good Boy for Santa then and now.

Tonight I'll be settling down to a long winter's nap hoping Santa remembers my little cottage nestled on a hillside in Pleasant Grove. I should be on his list - it is one of those defined benefits outlined in every teacher's employment packet; as long as Santa uses the broadest definition of the word "good".

I got a vase for Christmas. Perhaps 1960 wasn't a good year for me.

Well, now that I think about it, there was the .......
And I can't forget about that time when..........
Then there is the time that ..........
I shouldn't of said that about...............
........ Well, at least I'll have enough coal for the fireplace. Yes - there will be enough coal.

Mr. Williamson and Older Sister Kim 1963. Santa's Favorites. I'm told by reliable elves that a copy of this
photo proudly hangs in Santa's front parlor as examples of children practically perfect in every way.
This was originally a black and white photo. My Grandma Violet painted the photo.
She went a bit too heavy on the lips.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO THE OUTSTANDING STAFFS AND VOLUNTEERS OF THESE ISLANDS OF IMAGINATION SURROUNDED BY THE DESERT OF "BEEN THERE" AND "DONE THAT" EDUCATION.

Mr. Williamson

Space News
By Mark Daymont
spacerubble.blogspot.com

Christmas visitors at ISS

Soyuz FG rocket lifts off the pad at Baikonur into a wintery blue sky.

On Sunday, Dec 17, the second half of the Expedition 54 team left Russia for a two-day chase to the International Space Station. On board the Soyuz MS-07 spacecraft were Soyuz Commander Anton Shkaplerov (Roscosmos), Scott Tingle (NASA), and Norishige Kanai (JAXA). They docked at the station on Tuesday morning.

Before the launch, at the simulator (L-R): Kanai, Shkaplerov, and Tingle.

This is Shkaplerov's third trip to the ISS. This time he will take over as station commander when the current lead crew returns to Earth. FOr Kanai, though this may be his first spaceflight, he previously made a two-week stay in the seabase off the Florida coast in 2015, simulating communications protocols in a future Mars mission with long signal delays. Scott Tingle has been a Navy test pilot and also flew as a member of the elite Blue Diamonds demonstration team. He has 54 combat missions to his credit, and joined NASA in 2009. This is his first flight to space.

Current spacecraft docking locations at the ISS.

November and December have seen a busy schedule of flights to and from the station. The Cygnus resupply spacecraft arrived on November 13 for a three-week stay. After delivering its supplies, the spacecraft undocked on December 6 for a 12 day period of free-flight testing, before entering the Earth's atmosphere on December 18 for a fiery end. During that time it also launched 14 Nanorack Cubesats.

Cygnus OA-8, named SS Gene Cernan.

SpaceX launched another Dragon supply ship CRS-13 on Dec. 8. This time, both the capsule (C-108) and the Falcon 9 rocket are being used a second time, as part of SpaceX's reusable spacecraft system. It is currently docked to the US-built Harmony module.

CRS-13 docked to the Harmony module.

On Thursday, Dec. 14, Soyuz MS-05 undocked from the ISS for a return to Earth. In Command of the spacecraft was Sergei Ryazansky (Roscosmos), accompanied by Randy Bresnik (NASA) and Paolo Nespoli (ESA). Bresnik had been Commander of Expedition 53 before leaving the station in the capable hands of Misurkin, commanding Expedition 54.

Beautiful picture of returning Soyuz capsule over Kazakhstan.

Sadly, it has been reported that astronaut Bruce McCandless II has died. He was made famous around the world for the image of him in the shuttle EVA suit flying tether-free around the space shuttle. Most people are unaware, but he served as Houston Mission Control communicator during the historic moonwalk of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on Apollo 11 in 1969. He also was part of the crew that launched the Hubble Space Telescope on STS-31 in the shuttle Discovery.