once-in-a-lifetime opportunity

we are on our way down to FL right now to see the shuttle launch. thankfully we have internet access, so i thought to myself "i should blog". that thought was followed with "but what do i blog about!?" then it dawned on me "why not blog about why we are driving to FL on a thursday and back on sunday like crazy people..." good point. we are crazy. never-home-traveling-DINKs is what we are. its a wonder why we have a home but it is surely nice to come "home" after all of this traveling.

back to why we are going to FL. well, there are only three space shuttle launches remaining in all of history. yes. all of history. i'm fairly confident in making this statement because the shuttle fleet is nearing retirement very quickly. after this shuttle launch, there are two remaining which were previously scheduled for the end of July and end of September. Both have been delayed with launch dates still TBD. NASA is entering a new time - a time for new ways to get to space - either developed internally by NASA or developed by the commercial space industry - we are entering a new, very exciting, time.

i'm very very grateful for this opportunity to see the shuttle launch. i am beyond excited. since i was a young middle school gal working with a NASA program called KidSat, i have been FASCINATED with NASA. the KidSat program gave students the opportunity to run a mini mission where we used lat/long coordinates to direct a camera on the shuttle to take pictures of areas of interest all over the globe. this is where i received my first exposure to leading/managing a team. i was one of four team leads that had to coordinate/manage/lead all of the members of the team to accomplish this task. we even got to spend the night at the school since many of the picture taking opportunities happened when the shuttle was orbiting certain points on the opposite side of the globe.

after high school i had the opportunity to work with a student program at NASA called DEVELOP. this was an incredible experience and gave me the opportunity to get hired into the government working full time for NASA.

so why the facsination with NASA?! i believe NASA's accomplishments are some of the largest contributions to human kind. we are known for making the "impossible" possible. we push the limits. the people at NASA are PASSIONATE about the mission. we have a challenge to learn about our earth and how to continually be better stewards of it. and we just do really really really cool things. good things for the earth, good things for society. and honestly i really do feel connected to the Lord through this work. not only being an example to those around me and share the love of the Lord with the people I work with, but just being connected to the Lord through the astronauts who get to see God's view of the earth.

i expect to shed a few tears when the earth starts to rumble at 2:20pm on Friday May 14 from the power of the solid rocket boosters as the Atlantis crew of the STS 132 mission are sent beyond this earth.

to Nick - thank you sweetie for making the long trek to Orlando for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. it really means a lot to me and it means even more that we can experience this together! you're the best! i love you!

one more note - currently Hubble 3D is in IMAX theaters nationwide. its not a long movie, but very fascinating, very moving, and just "wow". it tells the story of one of the most successful missions at NASA and shows a different perspective to what we do beyond the shuttle. you should take the opportunity to go see it if you are near an IMAX theater.