Daily Archives: April 29, 2014
A Travesty . . .
We left the rig about 11 heading down to Clear Lake for Jan and Piper’s get-together and my afternoon of errands. While they played, I worked, well, drove around, anyway.
Things like Sam’s for prescriptions, the storeroom to drop off the last of the storage bins, a truck wash at our favorite place, and the bank for deposits. I finished up with a client stopover for a while.before heading back over to Chris’. Jan and Piper had just gotten back so we waited around while Chris finished installing a new garage door opener.
Then about 4:30 we all drove over to King Food for one last get-together at one of our favorite places. After a great meal, we said our goodbyes and got our hugs, and then Jan and I headed down to Krogers for a few things, as well as gas for the truck.
I was happy to see that my magic Fred Meyers/Krogers loyalty card is still giving me the .10 a gallon discount as long as I buy something that month. Normally you have to buy $100 in groceries before you get one fill-up at the .10 discount.. But this card which we got in Fairbanks, AK in 2008 gives it every time.
Next up was a quick stop-over to say goodbye to some friends. Then it was on back up to the Katy area to stop at Brandi’s to pick up the visa paperwork for my niece’s visit to China next month.
By the time we got home, it was almost 9pm, a long day. Then we get to do it tomorrow to drop off the visa apps at the Chinese Consulate in Houston.
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As I was heading back to Chris’ earlier today, I saw a crowd as I was crossing the railroad tracks at NASA Rd. 1 and Hwy 3. Looking over to my right, I saw a 747 sitting there. Well, pieces of a 747, anyway.
This is one of the two NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) that were used to transport the Space Shuttles back to Kennedy after landings at Edwards AFB in California and White Sands in New Mexico.
This SCA made its final flight into Ellington Field about 5 miles north of Johnson Space Center. Then it was partially disassembled (which took 38 days) and moved down to SpaceCenter Houston where it will be put on permanent display.
Because of its size, 200 feet long, 35 feet high, and 25 feet wide, the 7.75 mile trip had to be spread over two nights. This is because power lines have to raised, signs moved, and the roads completely shut down
So tonight about 9pm, they will finish the last 2 miles of the move to Johnson Space Center where it will be put on display with a Shuttle on top in flight position.
The ‘Travesty’ is the fact that due to murky politics, the Shuttle mounted on top will only be a mockup, not a real Shuttle.
JSC was the only Flight Center not to get a real one. Apparently, the powers-that-be decided that ‘NEW YORK CITY’ had more to do with the Shuttle program than Houston.
But if it’s any consolation, New York didn’t get a ‘real’ flight Shuttle either. They got the Enterprise, the Shuttle that did the Approach and Landing Tests where it was taken up on a 747 and then released to glide back to earth. But at least theirs FLEW.
It should have been an easy decision: Three Flight Centers, Three Flying Shuttles.
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Thought for the Day:
Beware the man with only one gun; he probably knows how to use it.
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