Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 & 2 were to visit Jupiter and Saturn. They accomplished their mission with Voyager 2 flying by Neptune. Both Voyager 1 & 2 are expected to have power and fuel to 2020.
Voyager 1 & 2 are expected to cross over the threshold of our solar system into interplanetary in 2015
So, here’s my musical tribute to Voyager 1 & 2 from the Grateful Dead- Keep on Truckin’
Today, I was in a mood for nostalgia about the end of an era of an American icon. For thirty years, the Space Shuttle has been an iconic symbol of America.
The design of the Space Shuttle advanced engineering and techn0logy. Well, NASA’s needs from the very beginning advanced technology.
I was looking for an appropriate musical tribute that conveyed my feelings, my emotions of the close of an era of manned spaceflight.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s “Glory Days,” I think is an appropriate song to recognize the accomplishments of the Space Shuttle fleet and those that maintained her.
I searched high and low for the appropriate E Street video that also featured the “Big Man,” Clarence Clemons; may he rest in peace. I was entering the workforce when Springsteen had his first hit with “Born to Run.”
I was “dancing in my chair” screening videos and found this video.
This is to you guys and gals that make the impossible, possible.
Now, everybody get out of your chair and shout “OH YEA!”
I just uploaded my collection of Space Shuttle mission schedules here. The zip files include all of NASA’s mission schedules, including as many revisions published during the missions. Missions in this zip file are: STS-119, STS-122, STS-123, STS-124, STS-125, STS-126, STS-127, STS-128, STS-129, STS-130, STS-131, STS-132, STS-133, STS-134, and STS-135.
You can use these Excel files in conjunction with the free Windows program I wrote: NASA Space Shuttle TV Schedule Transfer to Outlook Calendar. It reads the Excel file that NASA published for each Space Shuttle mission and copies the events into the Calendar of Microsoft’s Office Outlook.
The @NASA sponsored @NASATweetup held at the iconic countdown clock at the press site:
@NASATweetup/sts-135-launch
Space View Park Tweetup:
@SVPTweetup
NASA Causeway:
@CausewayTweetup/sts135-causewaytweetup
Follow the @NASA_Astronauts #FinalFour: @Astro_Ferg @Astro_Doug @Astro_Sandy @Astro_Rex
Let’s start a new twitter trend for the final Space Shuttle mission, STS-135, the final launch of Atlantis.
Since there are just four astronauts on Atlantis, I propose using the Twitter hastag #FinalFour when tweeting about #STS135.
@Astro_Ferg – Christopher Ferguson (CDR)
@Astro_Wheels – Douglas G. Hurley (PLT)
@Astro_Sandy – Sandra H. Magnus (MS)
@Astro_Rex – Rex J. Walheim (MS)
The NCAA may claim a Copyright or Trademark to the Final Four, but Chris, Doug, Sandy, and Rex are the Final Four astronauts to ride on the Space Shuttle.
Hey fellow Space Tweeps,
I am looking for Space Shuttle mission schedules that NASA published in Microsoft Office Excel format for the missions prior to 2008.
I have the Space Shuttle missions from 2008 through today, with their revisions from rev 0 to the revision that includes “wheel stop.” I will share the Excel files that I saved from NASA.
I wrote a program that transfers the mission events from Excel to the calendar in Microsoft Office Outlook. It is free. The program is available at http://nasaststvschedule.codeplex.com/.
When I read about the Microsoft blog entry on their Microsoft Software Developers Network (MSDN) announcement that programmers could develop applications using the “Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO),” I heard a voice inside my head shouting “Write this program!”
I am essentially a lazy person. If a computer can do the job, so be it. I would manually enter significant events, such as launches and landings, and EVA’si into my calendar. But even manually updating that information could be a chore. But with this program I wrote, adding and updating Space Shuttle missions to my calendar in Outlook is a piece of cake.
So, if any Space Tweeps have a full set of Space Shuttle mission schedules that NASA published in Excel format, I am interested.
I will publish the mission schedules and their revisions at the project site.
Thank you,
Ralph
