Month: April 2012

Space Exploration, Video Interviews

Discovery Departure (Part 8: Video Interview)

Lofty Ambitions traveled to Florida, then to the Washington, DC, area to see the space shuttle Discovery transferred to the Udvar-Hazy Center for permanent display. While there, we spoke with Charlie Bolden, the head of NASA and a former shuttle astronaut. We wrote about that HERE, and now we share the video that fellow writer, Lofty Ambitions guest blogger, and space nerd Margaret Lazarus Dean shot … Continue reading Discovery Departure (Part 8: Video Interview)

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Science

PurpleStride Chicago 2012: Research on Pancreatic Cancer

Tomorrow, we’re walking in PurpleStride Chicago 2012 to raise money for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. Click HERE for our team page. That’s an opportunity for us to focus this post on a health sciences topic and consider some of the science related to our own bodies. If you remember back to high school anatomy class, the pancreas, an organ about six inches long, sits … Continue reading PurpleStride Chicago 2012: Research on Pancreatic Cancer

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Aviation, Space Exploration

Discovery Departure (Part 7: More Interviews)

NOTE: We have a piece called “Nostalgia for the Small Airport” up at Airplane Reading, a venue dedicated to “a kind of storytelling that can animate, reflect on, and rejuvenate the experience of flight.” After you read our post here, check out our story there too. On April 19, 2012, the space shuttle Discovery was installed at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles Airport, … Continue reading Discovery Departure (Part 7: More Interviews)

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Space Exploration

Discovery Departure (Part 6: Interview with the Last Crew)

On Monday, we watched the coupled space shuttle and 747 back out of the mating structure at Kennedy Space Center and then spent some time talking with this orbiter’s last-ever crew. All but Commander Steve Lindsey were part of the astronaut class of 2000, and the bunch looked to have cohered over their final role together. The original crew included Tim Kopra, who was injured … Continue reading Discovery Departure (Part 6: Interview with the Last Crew)

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Space Exploration

Discovery Departure (Part 5: Photos, People, Artifacts)

First some links to photos and write-ups, then more photos (including proof we chatted with former Senator John Glenn) for your viewing pleasure. See yesterday’s “Discovery Departure” PHOTO ESSAY HERE. Read about the 747 that ferried Discovery from Florida to the Udvar-Hazy Center (with photos) HERE. See our PHOTO ESSAY of the shuttle mating process, the last-ever Discovery crew, and the awesome final Discovery takeoff HERE. And the BBC … Continue reading Discovery Departure (Part 5: Photos, People, Artifacts)

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Space Exploration

Discovery Departure (Part 3)

The BBC has picked up some of our photos of yesterday’s Discovery departure HERE. Our Flickr Photostream also garnered some attention on its own HERE. In this post, we’re using all NEW photos. And we’ve never Photoshopped anything we’ve posted at Lofty Ambitions. While we were planning for our trip back to the Space Coast to see Discovery leave Kennedy Space Center (KSC)) on its final, one-way journey … Continue reading Discovery Departure (Part 3)

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Aviation, Space Exploration

Discovery Departure (Part 2: PHOTOS)

Lofty Ambitions flew to the Space Coast to follow space shuttle Discovery on its final departure from Kennedy Space Center. Doug arrived early Saturday morning, and Anna arrived on Sunday evening. We’ll have several posts in our series “Discovery Departure” as we relay our adventures in Florida and then in the Washington, DC, area, where the orbiter will reside in the Udvar-Hazy Facility of the National … Continue reading Discovery Departure (Part 2: PHOTOS)

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Guest Blogs, Science

Guest Blog: Claire Robinson May

We just never know whom we’re going to find for our next guest post. Today, we’re featuring the granddaughter of Kenneth T. Bainbridge, the director of the Trinity nuclear test. This guest post is a great complement to our In the Footsteps series, which you can find HERE. Claire Robinson May is a playwright in the Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts (NEOMFA) program. Her … Continue reading Guest Blog: Claire Robinson May

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Aviation, Space Exploration

Discovery Departure (Part 1)

Doug arrived in Florida in the wee hours of Saturday morning after a red-eye flight from John Wayne airport by way of Phoenix. Anna is making her way to the Space Coast separately on Sunday evening. Sleep-deprived, but anxious to get started, Doug went on muscle memory established from our previous trips: rental car, tollway, badging station, and finally the NASA press site. Saturday’s only … Continue reading Discovery Departure (Part 1)

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