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"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." -Morrow
"Take care of the minutes, and the hours and years will take care of themselves." -Anonymous
"Love doesn't make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile." -F.P. Jones

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2008-11-17
it's 3am, do you know where your astronauts are?

03:16

As usual when anything neat is on the web, Sarah beat me to it. :) However, for those few who might read my blog and not hers, here's a replay of Friday's shuttle launch. Isn't she just a beautiful sight? How can anyone not be inspired by such majesty?

Launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour on STS-126 11/14/2008 from SpaceVidcast on Vimeo.

My favorite point of any launch countdown is the aerosurfaces test about five minutes before liftoff, when they move the speedbrake/rudder and gimble the main engines. She really looks alive then.

I worked the prelaunch shift Friday morning, then had an early Thanksgiving dinner with a couple of friends. Right around 6:55, we started texting people to try and figure out if it had, indeed, launched. I'd told my relief to call me if it was scrubbed...6:55...6:56...6:57...no phone call. Finally, we received confirmation of liftoff! Which meant coming at 2am instead of 4:30am for me, so needless to say, I didn't stay long at dinner. I was sorry that I hadn't actually seen the launch, but now I've seen it more times than I can count since I spent all that night watching the day's highlights on NASA TV, and Sarah has the HD video on her blog (and now, I do, too!).

Now I am on shift #4 of 50000. Kidding, but really, it feels like it. This mission lands around 11/29, and except for three days later this week, I'm spending all of it on the wrong side of the clock - midnight to 9am. There is something a little magical about supporting the space program in the middle of the night. It's just hard to remember that when you've only managed a few hours sleep the last few days. Ugh. At least this time I have some prescription sleep medication, although, for one reason or another, I haven't taken any yet. That will be remedied today! No more sleeping only three hours!

Um, I had some other things to say, but I forgot. I'll try not to make this a sleeping blog.

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