We admit it; we’re hooked. We like being insiders. We’re curious about what NASA is up to, even though they’re no longer up to the space shuttle program. We also like Palmdale, California, though we haven’t seen all that much of it. We drove out that way for the first time on Thanksgiving weekend of 2008, shortly after we moved to California, to see the … Continue reading NASA Airborne Science Program (Part 1)
Today is the birthday—first flight day—of two aircraft that share some background but also differ significantly. A good portion of the world was at war in the 1940s, and that gave rise to these two aircraft in different places. The AVRO Lancaster first took to the war-torn skies of England seventy-two years ago, in 1941, when test pilot Bill Thorn coaxed prototype BT308 to off … Continue reading On This Date
Concorde, known for its supersonic, trans-Atlantic flights of yesteryear, was in the news just past week, as a French court overturned manslaughter convictions and upheld civil damages in relation to the Air France 4590 crash in 2000. To some, this story might seem an afterthought to the dashed hopes for supersonic flight. The dream of commercial, supersonic transports capable of safely and cheaply whisking business … Continue reading Supersonic Flight: The Shape of Things to Come (Part 1)
It’s been two years since we began following the end of the space shuttle program. On September 18, 2010, we published a piece about I Dream of Jeannie. We hadn’t yet visited Cocoa Beach, the Space Coast town where Jeannie and astronaut Anthony Nelson lived in that television series. We hadn’t yet been to Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) and seen the façade of the … Continue reading I Remember California: Recap, Thus Far
We are back home again, back at our jobs today. In our absence, no classes were canceled, no big tasks cast aside. Admittedly, our energy reserves are depleted, but we are relatively rested after what was a more demanding week than we expected. We are happy to be back at our desks, talking with students, and also happy for the memories of the last ten … Continue reading I Remember California: From Florida to California (Photos)
We spent more than a week following Endeavour‘s final departure from Kennedy Space Center in Florida to its birthplace in California. In posts from the last few days, you can watch Lofty Ambitions’ EXCLUSIVE VIDEO of “180 Degrees of Endeavour,” as well as our videos of the landing and takeoff at Dryden and our video of Endeavour‘s departure from KSC. In today’s post, we share some of our photos from the … Continue reading I Remember California: The Family Photos
Temperature at Dryden Flight Research Center: 180 degrees (at least it felt like it) Perspective on Endeavour: 180 degrees Almost Two Years of Following the Space Shuttle: Costly and Priceless Continue reading I Remember California: 180 Degrees of Endeavour
This is our 300th Lofty Ambitions post. Perhaps this is some tortured logic, but it almost didn’t happen. There would have been a 300th post, but it almost wasn’t about being out in the Mojave desert together and watching Endeavour‘s arrival/departure sequence at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC). On Wednesday, while Anna put her working life back in order after five days spent at … Continue reading I Remember California: Hello, Goodbye, and Happy 300th
The last three days have been about logistics as much as anything to do with shuttle: delayed flights, cancelled flights, rebooking flights, new hotel reservations, and picking-up and dropping-off rental cars. We knew that catching Endeavour in the act—watching the Florida departure and the California arrival—would require juggling our existing obligations with our desire to see this penultimate chapter of the Space Transportation System. At … Continue reading I Remember California: Endeavour, Departed.
We’ve experienced shuttle launch delays before, and we had worried that the weather couldn’t possibly be sunny the whole of Endeavour’s planned flight path today. Still, when news came that there would be a twenty-four-hour slip in the start of the impending ferry flight, we felt a little sick. We’ve come to think of Endeavour as our orbiter—the one we saw at Edwards Air Force … Continue reading I Remember California: Endeavour Delay
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