in which hedge loses the lottery and plans an excursion anyway.
30 years to the day after Yuri Gagarin became the first human in orbit, the Space Shuttle Columbia first flew, on April 12, 1981. I was born 180 days later. I am entirely a child of the shuttle era, and it feels a little ominous and disorientating for this era to be ending.
I entered the lottery for launch viewing tickets to the last launch of Discovery, currently slated for early November. I'd considered encouraging friends to also apply but decided that would be disingenuous. Today, they sent me a "regrets" e-mail, and I'm angry with myself for not at least reminding my dad to apply (although he probably did).
There are two more shuttle launches, Discovery in November and Endeavour in late February. I tried to see Discovery fly STS-115, back in 2005 with 433, but it was scrubbed and we couldn't afford to go back to FL a second time, not all the way from MN and NY.
It's a ridiculous expense, especially given the uncertainty of launch times, but I'm pretty sure I'll regret it for the rest of my life if I don't see one of these launches. The tickets through NASA are hardly the only way. So if anyone wants to come camp on the beach with me in the middle of winter, let me know.
the hedge abides.
I entered the lottery for launch viewing tickets to the last launch of Discovery, currently slated for early November. I'd considered encouraging friends to also apply but decided that would be disingenuous. Today, they sent me a "regrets" e-mail, and I'm angry with myself for not at least reminding my dad to apply (although he probably did).
There are two more shuttle launches, Discovery in November and Endeavour in late February. I tried to see Discovery fly STS-115, back in 2005 with 433, but it was scrubbed and we couldn't afford to go back to FL a second time, not all the way from MN and NY.
It's a ridiculous expense, especially given the uncertainty of launch times, but I'm pretty sure I'll regret it for the rest of my life if I don't see one of these launches. The tickets through NASA are hardly the only way. So if anyone wants to come camp on the beach with me in the middle of winter, let me know.
the hedge abides.