A Welcome Back to the Space Center's University Student Staff and Volunteers.

And from their dark lairs they emerge. Emily, Brittney, Nicole, Mason, Christine, Alex, Brent, Spenser, Bracken, Julia Anna and Stacy (and that one I'm bound to forget).

One by one they creep toward the light of day. Some, nearly blinded by months robbed of sunlight, stumble to and fro toward the smell of Autumn and the sounds of holiday cheer.

Just as Springtime comes with the release of Persephone, so comes holiday cheer to families worldwide when the Woeful Gods of Academia begrudgingly set their captives free. This short respite in the world of the living reminds these tormented souls that life waits for those who master the art of leaping through the hoops which form the barrier between worlds.

Divert thy gaze as they ascend, for their unnatural appearance rivals Medusa's.
Wait a short while before that loving embrace. Let the Sun and Autumn's crisp air displace the prison pallor and bring color to their skin and form to their faces.

Then embrace and keep them near, for their time is like a winter's day, gone all too soon. Academia will again sound its horn, and heed the call they must. Back into the dark and across the Styx, to roam the musty fields and marshes in a quest for life's meaning.

Hello Troops,
The Space Center's university students are happy their semester is over and finals put to bed. They get to experience the joy that comes from filling in the last multiple choice answer on their last final exam and walking away from the testing center to find the world a much happier place.


They may claim they are not just "Another Brick in the Wall" but they are. Let them not deceive themselves. They are a very small cog in the great machine of post high school education. They have been poked and prodded and grilled and flayed and then spat out for a fortnight, only to return to start the process all over again.

But, for a brief moment, let them leave their campuses with heads held high thinking they have 'stuck' it to the Man. They've earned their moment of Victory! They've earned the right to Be A Boss!


Welcome back to the real world! Enjoy your holiday vacations.

Mr. W.

50 Years Ago Today: Titan 1 Test Series Concluded

Titan 1A at launch.

Fifty Years ago the Air Force concluded its series of launches of the Titan 1 rocket from the Atlantic Test Range at Cape Canaveral. There had been 40 launches, out of which 4 had been failures. The Titan 1 was an important development in the design of multi-stage InterContinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) for America's strategic rocket forces. The launches had taken place from launch complexes LC15, LC16, LC19, and LC20.

Titan-1 had a range of 5500 miles. As an ICBM, it could carry a nuclear weapon of 3.75 megatons of TNT. It became operational in our Strategic Missile Defense System in 1962 and was active until 1964. It was the first of our ICBMs to be launched from underground silos hidden in the western USA. There were difficulties with the first silo designs, needing an elevator to lift the rocket for launch, too long a time for fueling, and the command necessity of grouping them in threes, possibly making them vulnerable to a nuclear attack. During deployment, there were about 60 missiles available for launch at any given time. In 1965, as the new Titan 2 and Minuteman 1 missiles came on line, the Titan 1's were retired.

For NASA, the tests enabled engineers to prepare for the successful Titan 2 missiles, which would be used to launch astronauts later in the Gemini series.

There were 33 Titan 1s given to museums, Air Force bases, and government installations as memorials. You can see one at the Cape Canaveral US Air Force Museum in Florida, on one of the bus tours that you can board from the Kennedy Space Center. Sorry, I didn't get a picture of it when I was there earlier this year.

Posted by Mark Daymont

Helping Those in Need this Holiday Season

All Things Considered, my favorite radio program on NPR, recently played this beautiful and haunting Franz Schubert song, "Hurdy-Gurdy Man". A Hurdy-Gurdy Man was someone (either a street vendor or someone seeking charity) who played a stringed instrument to attract attention to his wares or to get charity. On the show, "Hurdy-Gurdy Man" was recommended by a son remembering his father trudging 10-miles through cold and snow to a menial job to put food on the table.

This is the song sung in German with an English translation.

There are many this Holiday season who are unfortunate, many through no fault of their own. This recession has taken a terrible tole on many families. In this season of extra giving, it is well to remember them and donate either our time, food or money to worthy charities.

If you are searching for a good charity, may I recommend "Covenant House"? It is my favorite charity for holiday giving and does much good for runaway teens trying to survive in America's large cities.

Mr. W.