Discovery/STS-133 Flight Day 4 Recap

Here's another great video of STS-133 and Discovery! This particular video highlights the high points of Flight Day 4 (for the rest of us, also known as Sunday) for the STS-133 crew. Remember, you may have to visit my actual blog to view this video.



STS-133 Flight Day 4 Recap Video (Shuttle astronauts explore ISS and Steve Bowen and Al Drew prepare for their first spacewalk on 2-28-11.)

Backflippin' In Space

Here's another really cool video of Discovery in space! This one shows Discovery executing a complete, 360-degree backflip to allow International Space Station astronauts to take high-resolution pictures of the shuttle's heat shield, to make sure that Discovery is safe to return to Earth. (The tests came out fine, there is no damage to the heat shield I found out today.)

Remember, to view this video you will need to visit my actual blog, as these videos do not play in Facebook or e-mail.

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Discovery/STS-133 Flight Days 2-3 Recap

Discovery flips over in preparation for docking with the International Space Station

Here's a few more videos on what Discovery and her crew have been up to in the past few days! Remember, to view the videos you need to visit my actual blog, as they do not play in e-mail or Facebook.

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STS-133 Flight Day 2 Recap Video (Astronauts check shuttle for damage and orbit the Earth)


STS-133 Flighht Day 3 Recap Video (Discovery docks with International Space Station)

Even More Proverbs to Remember

Here's even more of my favorite proverbs! They were so good I just had to share them!!

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"He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity, and honor."
~Proverbs 21:21

"A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."
~Proverbs 17:22

"How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver!"
~Proverbs 16:16

I've found it uncanny how true many proverbs are in my life. For example...the following one, especially when I work on my relationship with my little sister!

"Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out."
~Proverbs 17:14

Some more great proverbs:

"Pleasant words are link a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones."
~Proverbs 16:24

"Kings take pleasure in honest lips; they value a man who speaks the truth."
~Proverbs 16:13

"All a man's ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord."
~Proverbs 16:2

Anyway, I know that I really liked these verses, especially Proverbs 16:2! Hope you enjoy them as much as I do. :)

Who Am I? Clue: An Early Deacon and Evangelist

Try to guess the Bible character's identity before the end of the article! 

It's always this way, isn't it? God gets something marvelous in motion and then Satan gets in the way! But praise His holy name, God can always prevail! Greetings, I am one of the original seven deacons in this brand-new Christian church. Along with Stephen, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, I was chosen to tend to the widows and feed and care for the poor. [Acts 6:1-7]

We were chosen with much prayer and guidance from Holy Spirit. Literally, thousands are being added to our numbers, sometimes daily! [Acts 2:41] Jesus may not be with us physically any more, but He certainly is outpouring His Holy Spirit and leading us into all truth. [John 16:13] While the believers have been with one heart and mind, and sharing with each other, [Acts 4:32] I knew Satan was bound to stir up some trouble. He wouldn't let this "one heart and mind" stuff go on forever!

Finally the Grecian Jews came complaining to the Twelve. They were not happy as their widows were not being cared for, and the Hebraic widows were. In other words, the Twelve were stretched way too thin! The Twelve knew that this problem needed to be solved, and solved in a Christian way. After much prayer the Spirit led them to call a grand big meeting of all the disciples and solve this problem.

After all were present, the Twelve said,

"It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables." Good point. But what to do? They continued, "Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word."

Perfect solution! As always, Jesus led His Holy Spirit to give us the right answer as to not split us up into groups and start fighting, instead of spreading the Word. With guidance from the Spirit, seven men were chosen to be deacons and care for the poor. Stephen, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas were chosen. And me. I did not feel at all qualified to fill the place, but I am exceedingly happy serving God wherever He sees fit. [Acts 6:1-7]

Not long after this a huge persecution broke out in Jerusalem. Saul was a zealous Pharisee who was persecuting and killing us Jesus followers all the time. Many of the followers were being killed, beaten, and put in prison by him. Naturally this caused many of the believers to scatter to farther lands beyond Jerusalem. As I've thought about this I've realized it was a blessing in disguise. In His closing words to the Twelve here on Earth, Jesus didn't say just to build up His church in Jerusalem! He said to build it up in Judea, Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth! [Acts 8:1-4, 1:8]

Believers are still believers, wherever we are. No matter the persecution, if there's any way possible, we're going to tell everyone we meet able our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus! So as the persecution in Jerusalem occurred, the believers scattered and told everyone, everywhere they went about Jesus. The apostles, however, stayed in Jerusalem. [Acts 8:4]

I myself scattered from Jerusalem with many other believers and preached the word wherever I went. Finally I ended up in a city in Samaria, where I preached an evangelistic series. God is so awesome!! He came upon me in a mighty way, and I was able to heal many, many, people and restore them to health. Paralytics were healed. Cripples too. With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, many, people. God abundantly blessed me and many people listened to me and believed on the Name of Jesus Christ! Praise God! God brought much joy to this city.  [Acts 8:5-8, 12]

Remember how I said that when God sets something marvelous in motion, Satan tries to stop it?? Well, repeat performance here in this city of Samaria. Before the Lord lead me to this particular city, there was a man by the name of Simon that captured the city's interest and amazement by doing acts of sorcery. He boasted that he was someone great, and everyone, both rich and poor, payed attention and followed him all around. But praise God when Jesus lead me to preach in this city, the inhabitants believed, were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and forsook their adoration of Simon the sorcerer.

Satan, and Simon, were not happy. This time, Satan seemed to have planned a bit more deceiving course of action. First of all, Simon himself "believed" and was baptized. He followed me everywhere, astonished at all the miracles and great signs I would perform. What he didn't get was that this was nothing, absolutely nothing, of my own doing. It was God working His pleasure through me, his sinful but obedient servant. [Acts 8:9-13]

News traveled to Jerusalem and the Twelve that more believers had been added in Samaria. So they sent Peter and John to check things out.When they arrived, the two apostles laid their hands on these new believers and prayed that the Holy Spirit might also be given to them. So far, these inhabitants of Samaria did not have the Holy Spirit poured out on them, they had just been baptized.

Simon evidently believed, that after watching the apostles, that they could just give the Spirit at the laying of their hands. Was Simon wrong! Peter and John did not have any extraordinary abilities, they were just like me...God had decided to through us relieve suffering. It certainly wasn't our power, it was God through us.

So Simon asked Peter and John to give him this ability to give out the Spirit at the laying of hands. In return, he'd give them some money. Did Simon ever have the wrong idea! Peter gave him a sharp rebuke: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right with God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin."

After Peter and John proclaimed Christ in this city of Samaria, they worked their way back to Jerusalem, preaching in various Samaritan villages as they went. [Acts 8:14-25]

When you live for God you certainly have some exciting adventures! Right after this evangelistic series in Samaria, one of God's angels directed me to take the desert road south from Jerusalem and head towards Gaza. I sure didn't know why God would send me out that way, but again, God's ways are not our ways and he can see the end from the beginning.

As I was traveling south on the desert road I came upon a chariot, carrying who I found out to be an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in the treasury of Queen Candace, of the Ethiopians. I also found out that this man had just finished worshiping at Jerusalem.

As I continued walking on the desert road God told me to keep pace with the chariot, so I did. When I heard the eunuch reading Isaiah, I asked him if he understood what he was reading. He replied that he could not, if someone did not explain it to him. So this eunuch invited me up into the chariot to explain the passage he was reading, which happened to be Isaiah the fifty-third chapter, and verses seven and eight:

"He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth."

The eunuch asked who the prophet was talking about, himself or someone else. Right there from that passage I explained to him the good news of Jesus Christ, and how He came to save us from our sins. As we continued traveling along the eunuch sighted some water. "Why can't I be baptized?" he exclaimed. I happily consented, and I had the great privilege of leading another precious soul to Christ. Immediately after I baptized the eunuch God took me away, and I was found preaching in Azotus, and other places all around. [Acts 8:26-40]

Later I made my home in Caesarea, and raised four fine daughters who prophesied. [Acts 21:8-9]

Following God isn't easy. Stephen, my fellow deacon of the Seven, was stoned to death shortly after being anointed. Paul, Silas, Barnabas, and Timothy all faced challenges and threats while spreading the Gospel to Gentiles. And Peter, John, and the other apostles often faced imprisonment, torture, and beatings. But we have a burning desire to share Christ, a light that will not go out. We know we are doing the right thing, and that God supports us all the way.

Do you know my name by now? My name is...

Phillip 

Discovery/STS-133 Flight Day 1 Recap

Here's a great video recapping the highlights of Day 1 on the STS-133 mission. I thought you might enjoy seeing it. :) BTW--don't forget to visit my actual blog to view the video--it doesn't work anywhere else. :)

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Need I Say More??

Need I say more?? :D My sister and I had a GRAND time watching Discovery's last liftoff today!! I almost didn't think the shuttle would liftoff today, as the Range Safety Officer had a problem with his main computer controller thingy. Thankfully, he solved it within seconds of delaying the launch today! Anyway, here's some really cool videos of the launch prep, and the launch! Enjoy!

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P.S.--Astronaut Steve Bowen (Mission Specialist on STS-133) has now secured a place in history for himself as the very first astronaut to fly on two consecutive missions!

Some More Proverbs to Remember

Sooooooo.....I was again working on memorizing my favorite proverbs this morning, and I found some more I'd like to share with you! The ones I'm sharing with you are my particular favorites...and/or I know that they are true from personal experience!!

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"He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy."
~Proverbs 28:13

I know I've already shared this one, but it's so powerful and true that I want to share it again! I could share endless tales of how in my life I've found this verse to be true, but for now anyway I'll just share the verse:

"Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth."
~Proverbs 27:1

I also really like these:

"The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe."
~Proverbs 18:10

This one I have (unfortunately) found to be true from personal experience:

"He who answers before listening--that is his folly and his shame."
~Proverbs 18:13

I really like this one:

"A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold."
~Proverbs 22:1

And I also really liked these too:

"Gold there is, and rubies in abundance, but lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel."
~Proverbs 20:15

Anyway, I just thought that these were really cool verses and that I'd like to share them with you. Hope it gives you something to think about! :)

Two Days, Five Hours, and Counting: Discovery Set to Launch Thursday!

Yay!! It's almost time!! Well, hopefully! :P The Space Shuttle Discovery is set to launch on STS-133, its last mission, this Thursday, at 4:50pm ET. As you may recall, STS-133 was originally scheduled to launch in early November, but that didn't happen with various malfunctioning parts as the tests and countdowns proceeded. Famous last words, but I think that Discovery is finally going to launch! :D

I thought that in this post I'd catch you up on what has happened with STS-133 in the last four months or so. First of all, the launch date was slipped to December 17, but then that slipped to February 3, and then February 3-10, and now finally February 24 at 4:50pm ET!! So like I'm really hoping it's going to launch now!! My mom, sister, and I watched the launch (online) of STS-129 in November of 2009, and it was really super awesome. I can't wait to watch another one!

L-R, Stott, Barratt, Bowen, Drew, Boe, and Commander Lindsey

I also thought you might enjoy knowing some trivia about STS-133. The crew members are:

• Steve Lindsey (Commander)
• Eric Boe (Pilot)
• Mike Barratt (Mission Specialist)
• Steve Bowen (Mission Specialist)
• Nicole Stott (Mission Specialist)
• Alvin Drew (Mission Specialist)

I believe that both Drew and Bowen will be doing spacewalks on the International Space Station. Steve Bowen actually wasn't going to be on STS-133 at all. Tim Kopra was on the STS-133 crew until last month, when he was involved in a bicycle crash. Thankfully he will be okay, but still he was taken off Discovery's last flight. Steve Lindsey was the head of the Astronaut Office until he was assigned commander of this flight. I also think that it was cool that Lindsey was also on the crew of STS-98, the flight that John Glenn was on!! 

While STS-133 will be carrying several payloads, one of my favorite payload items the flight will have is R2, a   robot that will execute spacewalks on the International Space Station, in areas too difficult or dangerous for people to go. R2 is advertised as "the first non-human occupant of the International Space Station". ;)

Anyway, I'd highly encourage you to look around the NASA website to learn more about STS-133. Click here for some great info on the flight, as well as some awesome interviews with the crew members! I'd also encourage you to watch the launch on NASA TV! Again, the launch of STS-133 is scheduled for Thursday, February 24 at 4:50pm ET. 

2-20-62, 9:47:39am EST

Forty-nine years ago, John Glenn, Jr. got rocketed into orbit aboard Mercury-Atlas 6, also known as Friendship 7. He was the first American into orbit, and his flight was a tremendous step in landing men on the moon.

I'm sorry I haven't had the time to write a full-length article on the flight, but I've rounded up some awesome links. Check them out, and learn something new!

Click here from an AWESOME interactive feature on John Glenn's Mercury flight, and beyond!

I thought it was REALLY cool when I found the ENTIRE transcript of Glenn's flight online for free!! Click here to read this awesome resource.

Of course there's Wikipedia.

Included in this article (above) is a video of Friendship 7's launch. Please check my actual blog to view the video, as you can't view it on FB or e-mail. If any of you click on these links and learn something new, please feel free to leave me a comment on this post and tell me what you learned!! :)

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Following His Way

One of my favorite gifts I received this past Christmas was a three-dimensional maze. When it was given to me, there was some money inside and I had to figure out how to get the money out! Well, on one side there was a lid, and on an adjacent side a slider with a hole in it. If I could just get the ball (see picture at left) in the hole in that slider....everything would be just great! As you can see, on all the other sides it is a maze, with many traps and holes for the ball to fall into. My challenge is to first chart out the correct path, and then by turning the maze different direction make the ball go where I want it to!


I have probably successfully completed the maze at least 10 times by now, so I've pretty much memorized the route that the ball should go. The problem is, the ball hardly ever goes where I want it too! When I try to get it to go down X route, it doesn't! It goes all the way back to another side of the maze. Carefully and patiently I must take the ball from its current position and guide it back to where I want it to go. This pretty much repeats itself for the entirety of the maze.

You know, I've been thinking about this maze. I was so surprised when I realized how closely it parallels our spiritual experience. We're like the ball in my maze, trying to get somewhere but failing miserably. When we yield our lives to God, we let Him take control and guide us through this Maze of Life. He sees the pits and traps we could fall into, so He tenderly guides us in the way we should go. But it seems more than not, we see the directions that God gives us and say, "What? You want me to go THERE??" Then we go off on our own way, the way we're sure is correct. And what happens? We fall back, get stuck, and call on God's Name again. Carefully, patiently he helps us go in the path that we should go. We may not see the big picture, or where we're going, but He does. If we let Him, He will guide us around all the traps--and take us to true happiness.

We may never see "the big picture" of where we're going. But that's okay--we just need to follow His directions one step at a time. We need to have faith that God would take us only where we would want to go, if we could see the end from the beginning.

Sometimes it's hard to follow His directions and plans. Sometimes we're just so sure of ourselves that the best place for us would be over there, not here! Or maybe God's asking us to do something that we don't like--or maybe it's something sad or scary.  But we need to remember that God sees the end from the beginning, and that He is taking us on the best course, to strengthen our character and lead us to happiness.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him." ~Rom. 8:28

Have you been having trouble finding your way in the Maze of Life? Perhaps you should think about giving your life and plans to the great Maze Master, and He will help you find your destination!

Proverbs to Remember

This morning for my quiet time I was working on memorizing some proverbs from Proverbs 27. They were so wonderful I just had to share them with you!!

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"Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth."
~Proverbs 27:1

"Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of one's friend springs from his earnest counsel."
~Proverbs 27:9

"As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man."
~Proverbs 27:19

I, The Cat: Top Cat Rules!

Hi. I, the Cat, His Royal Highness, King Emperor of the Entire House, Pumpkin Pie the First, has now been recently elevated to the very coveted position of Top Cat in my realm.

Of course, from my previous posts, you may have thought that I was Top Cat already. Unfortunately, it was not so. I was only the Acting Top Cat, since Felix, the True Top Cat, slept a lot and let me rule most of the time.

Recently, Felix has not been doing too well. Back at Christmastime we were having oh-so-much fun romping and playing together, but not so recently. But over the past few months all Top Cat Felix wanted to do was to eat, sleep, and poop. He even wasn't using the litter box! Naturally he wasn't feeling good. But I just couldn't understand it--why wouldn't Felix want to play with me now?? Well, the humans also saw Felix wasn't doing too good. Yesterday they put him in a cat crate and took him away, I think to the vet. When the humans came back, they did not bring Felix back with them. I heard the humans say something about how "he was a bag of bones and was freezing to death." Combine that with Felix pooping and peeing all over the house....I don't think Felix will be coming back.

Now. I have realized that the coveted position of Top Cat has come finally to me. I am starting to age in years, and with Felix finally out of the picture, I am now officially Top Cat. The problem is, the humans say I don't have anything to be Top over! Hmph. I will be Top over the humans! Cats rule! And just last night I have proved this fact. See, my humans have had Felix for almost 18 years, they say. Felix has outlasted like one, two, three....I think three or four cats. And of course there's me! One of the older family cats Felix knew when my humans adopted him was named Buffy. So the story goes, Buffy had some health problems, so my Mommy gave her pills in canned fish....or cat food, depending on your point of view! Well, of course Felix got fish too. Soon after Buffy went away forever, but Felix still wanted fish! So he got fish, just like he should. Well Felix got fish and then taught the other cats (Chester, Pretzel, and me) that we all got fish at bedtime. Like all good cats, we demanded fish! Well now that Felix is gone I continue the proud cat tradition. Last night I stayed with my Mommy till she gave me fish! (And she thought she was going to stop giving fish now that Felix was gone....she's a softy!)

So. I am now the proud and reigning Top Cat over the Entire House, and what do I hear the humans talk about yesterday?? It was the most hideous thing I've ever heard! I heard them talking about getting another cat! A kitten! I am Top Cat. Finally I have survived all of the other animals, and now I am the only one. And what to they do? They're trying to bring a young, foolish upstart into my kingdom and challenge the power structure of my domain! I am sure you can understand my feelings on such a crazy idea. They even think I'll eventually get along with that thing of a cat! Hmmmm. I hear I'm safe and unchallenged as a ruler for a few more weeks, but after that I don't know. I'm going to have to do some serious talking with my Mommy!

I even heard them reading on a website on how to introduce a new cat to an existing cat. To be frank, I'll tell you how: don't bring a new cat in!! They were using all sorts of crazy cat terms, such as "N-cat" for new cat, and "E-cat" for existing cat. What I'm gonna tell them is that I'm more than "E-cat"!! I'm "T-cat" for "Top Cat"!! And if they bring in any young, foolish whipper snapper I'm gonna give that youngster a T-byte! Also known as a gigantic bite from Top-Cat!

His Royal Highness, King Emperor of the Entire House, Pumpkin Pie the First

His Royal Highness, King Emperor of the Entire House, Pumpkin the First

Geocaching--Will You Be Found??

Yea! We found a cache!

Last week I had the time of my life!! My wonderful friend Nathan took me out for a few hours and introduced me to the wonderful world of geocaching.

Basically, geocaching goes like this: someone hides  container...anywhere. With their GPS they'll mark the co-ordinates several times. Once they get it right, they'll upload those co-ordinates and some hints to geocaching.com. Then, other geocachers will find those co-ordinates and hints, and download them into their GPS. These geocachers will then go out and find the cache, write in a logbook that they were there, and then hide the cache exactly where they found it.

Caches can be on the big side (see picture of me at left) or they can be very, very tiny and almost too hard to find!! Sometimes they can be buried under the ground, while others could be attached to tree branches in plain sight. And some are in the sneakiest of positions!!!

I had no clue that this rock was doubling as a cache!!

 Nathan showed me two caches that were very cleverly hidden. One was inside a fence post cap, and another was hidden underneath a rock! (See pictures.)

All in all it was a GRAND adventure!! Of course I loved hanging out with my friend, but also I really liked going new places and finding new things that I would've never known about except for our cache run!

This cache we almost couldn't find. It was buried deep
below the ground. But we didn't give up on looking.
God doesn't give up on you either!

I've been thinking about geocaching, and the parallel it has with our spiritual lives. The Bible is like our GPS. Just like the GPS told Nathan and I where to go to find the cache, so the Bible tells us where we need to go.

Sometimes it's hard to find what we're looking for. Sometimes we have to do some digging, like I had to in the picture at left. Nathan's told me that if you've found all the geocaches in a specific area, don't worry. There's some more bound to be hidden soon! That's the way it is with the Bible. No matter how many times we study and read the Bible, there's always something  new to learn each time we study and look!

Nathan showing me that fence caps aren't
always fence caps! ;)

Another correlation between geocaching and our spiritual lives. As I said previously, with God and his Word acting like our GPS, we get to go to new places and get to see new things that we wouldn't have if we weren't with Him!  For example, I would've NEVER looked in this fence post cap for a geocache!! Or for that matter, search around an almost-forgotten guard rail, or under a tree, or under a rock...!! If we let God be in control, let Him be our GPS, we'll have an experience far more exciting and satisfying than otherwise!


Finally, just as we try to find geocaches, God eagerly looks for us. We're like geocaches for Him! He wants to find us and have us believe on Him. He knows that this will bring eternal happiness for us. But He won't force us to come to Him. He provides ways for us to get to know Him, and then lets the decision rest with us.

Jeremiah 29:11:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Psalms 34:4:

"I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears."

Will you let God find you and control you life?? You'll never regret your decision to be found by the Master Geocacher!!

Nathan with one of our caches that we found. 

Apollo 14: All or Nothing (Part 3)

What's happening: Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell, and Stuart Roosa have just started Apollo 14 and are just now starting to head to the Moon. A crucial piece in the puzzle is for the Command Module to dock with the Lunar Module. Stuart Roosa has tried again and again to dock, but no joy. Finally he tries one more time, and Shepard tells him to juice it. 

Command Module Pilot Stuart Roosa juiced it, like his commander had told him. The entire crew-indeed, all of Mission Control--was anxiously waiting, urging that docking mechanism with all of their might to dock and latch. Click! The capture light glowed, and three jubilant spacemen shouted for joy. They had a hard dock! They could land on the Moon!

But Mission Control wasn't so sure. What if Shepard and Mitchell performed a great lunar mission, but couldn't join up with Roosa? Then a risky, never-before-done procedure would have to be executed: the spacecraft would have to be flown in tandem while Shepard and Mitchell transferred everything by spacewalking. Very risky, but Shepard and Mitchell knew they could do it. Finally, Mission Control cleared the crew for their lunar landing mission. Apollo 14 kept heading for the Moon.

Shepard and Mitchell in Antares.

As they neared their destination, Shepard and Mitchell took some time to check out their Lunar Module which would take them to the surface. It looked perfect and ready to go. When the spacecraft were separated, Mission Control needed some way of keeping track of each spacecraft. So came about the invention of call signs. Shepard and Mitchell called their Lunar Module Antares, while Stu Roosa christened his Command Module Kitty Hawk.

Finally it was time to separate. Kitty Hawk and Antares backed away from each other, and Antares started landing preparations for landing. One of the preparations that Antares went through was a lunar landing simulation, right when it was orbiting the Moon. This way, the crew and Mission Control could see if there were any problems with the LM's computer systems, and there would be a little time to get those problems ironed out.

Shepard started the lunar landing simulation. But no sooner than he had done that than the problems began. In the simulation, the abort signal kicked in. Did that like two times! What to do? Shepard, Mitchell, and indeed all of Mission Control knew they were smack dab doing the right thing, and that Antares was in the right place. Mission Control called Don Eyles, an M.I.T. computer whiz who had written the LM computer programs. He listened to Mission Control tell its problems, and then wrote a program that would make the LM ignore the abort signal. No sooner had he finished, than the program was sent up to Antares. Mission Control gave the spacecraft a GO for landings.

Shepard and Mitchell started descending even closer to the lunar surface. Then the landing radar wasn't coming on. They were over 20,000 ft off the Moon and if the landing radar didn't activate you didn't land. You aborted. Alan Shepard was not going to abort! Steadily Antares dropped closer and closer. By the tone in Shepard's voice, everyone knew he was going to land with or without the radar.

Both Shepard and Mitchell knew the rules. Right now, both of them were doing a terrific job of forgetting the rules! At 13,000 ft. the abort procedures would have to be initiated. At 13,000 ft. the landing radar came on! Antares continued the descent, and the crew guided it to a perfect landing at Fra Mauro. When Mitchell asked Shepard if he would've landed without his radar, Shepard just laughed. "You'll never know, Ed. You'll never know."

Shepard on the lunar surface with the rickshaw-type cart.

Epiloge: The Apollo 14 moonwalks were in some was successful and in some ways not. Many useful experiments were deployed and Shepard and Mitchell gathered some of the oldest moon rocks ever collected with the help of a rickshaw-type cart. They tried walking to the top of Cone Crater, but were unable to complete their trek because of time and oxygen limits. Shepard further endeared himself to America by becoming the first man to golf on the Moon! Shepard claimed that one of his shots went for "miles and miles and miles!"


After their lunar stay, Shepard and Mitchell ascended and successfully docked with Stu Roosa in Kitty Hawk. Three days later, they splashed down in the Pacific Ocean. Because of how successful Apollo 14 was, the remaining Apollo flights were not cut, and much information was learned about the moon. Truly, Apollo 14 is a vastly important, often-forgotten chapter of space history. 


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P.S. If you would like to learn more about Apollo 14, I highly recommend Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America's Race to the Moon, co-authored by Shepard himself. NASA also has some great pictures and a video summery of the flight, which is well-worth your time. 


Series concluded 

A True Hero (Armchair Astronaut, Feb. 2011)

Often we use the word "hero". But to me it seems that, more than not, these so called "heroes" aren't heroes at all. But in my book, astronaut John Glenn defines what a true "hero" is. Welcome to this fourth edition of Armchair Astronaut!!

Recently I finished reading John Glenn's autobiography, John Glenn: A Memoir. I can seriously say that it was the best space autobiography I have ever read, and I highly recommend it! Most autobiographies are littered with language I do not use, but this one--John Glenn is of character that I admire. Let me explain...

John Glenn was born in 1921, in the little Ohio town of New Concord. He was very patriotic, and would take part in various holiday activities. He and his friends made up a group, called the "Ohio Rangers", which was patterned after the Boy Scouts. One day his dad had seen a sign offering airplane rides. The elder Glenn offered to take his son in the sky, and John readily agreed. While John Glenn, Jr. loved the sky, he knew he probably would never become a pilot. But one day in high school, he read a sign that he couldn't believe. The sign read that the U.S. government was paying for flying lessons for those interested, and when needed these people could receive military flight training. A private pilot license was guaranteed. John immediately signed up!

F4U Corsair

World War II called and John Glenn signed up. Initially, he signed up with the Army. But after a summer of plowing fields and no communication from the Army, Glenn volunteered for the Navy. He sailed for Honolulu, and then was stationed at Midway Island, an American submarine base between Hawaii and Alaska. He then moved moved to the Marshall Islands, flying missions in the F4U Corsair all over the South Pacific. Somewhere in this time he switched over to the Marines, and flew in that branch of the service. During this time period as well he married Annie Castor, a lifelong friend he had known since childhood. After WWII Glenn also served in the Korean War.

Dirty Snow

Last month our area had a huge accumulation of snow!!! Like we had eight inches of snow!

It was really awesome, uncommon, and inconvenient all at the same time. The snow is just plain awesome, so pretty. This much snow was extremely uncommon for our area--I'm told we haven't had this much snow since 1993!! Three, it was inconvenient--to some. Most schools and universities shut down for several days--some an entire week! However, I was lucky. Since I'm homeschooled, I was able to continue my education without stop! :D

About four days after the original snowfall the roads started to be cleared, and even though some ice remained, life started to resume as normal as possible. It was quite a shock to just drive around, with snow constantly lining the roads! A couple more days and pretty much everywhere has no snow now.

Except, of course, for the big snow piles. Which aren't too big anymore, but still they are there. Now (well, actually it's Jan. 22 as I write this!!) dirt and other gunky stuff has attached itself to the snow. The snow--originally so pristine and gorgeous--isn't too pretty anymore.

As I've seen this "dirty snow" it has reminded me, oh too clearly, of a spiritual application. We are like the snow--at the start, gorgeous and pretty. But then there's a problem: we live on a planet with sin abounding. In my little analogy that would mean that a dirt storm, with ferocious winds, comes to this pristine snow and covers it entirely with dirt. We can't do anything about it--we're just stuck there, with dirt all over us.

But my analogy continues. We're this stuck, dirty snow until Someone comes along. His Name is Jesus, and He carefully, tenderly, offers to clean us. He offers to clean us all up, and make us beautiful without the sin.
He's not going to force His cleaning service onto us. It's ours for the asking...and really, that's all we CAN do! We can't clean ourselves. Likewise, we can't earn our salvation either. And if we let Him, Jesus will clean us up and forgive us our sins.

"Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow." ~Psalm 51:7

It's a daily process--the dirt storms blow across us all the time. There's not a one of us that's without sin--except Him. Will you let Jesus clean you up today--and always??

Apollo 14: All or Nothing (Part 2)

L-R: CMP Stuart Roosa, CDR Alan Shepard,
LMP Edgar Mitchell 

What's happening: Alan Shepard has just recovered from Meniere's syndrome, and has been selected as prime commander of Apollo 14.

Mercury astronaut Wally Schirra had brought America back into space after the Apollo 1 fire, and now everyone's space hero, Alan Shepard, was taking America triumphantly back into space in the aftermath of Apollo 13.

Shepard picked two rookie astronauts for his crewmates. He selected Stuart Roosa as his Command Module Pilot, and Edgar Mitchell as his Lunar Module Pilot to land with him on the Moon. 

Neither Roosa or Mitchell had been on a crew before, and were very surprised when Shepard said, "If you two guys don't mind flying with an old guy like me, we're the crew of Apollo 13!" Of course that was before the flight switch. Stuart Roosa couldn't believe his ears. "You mean backup crew?" Roosa questioned. Shepard replied, "I never said anything about backup crew!"

Apollo 14's actual backup crew consisted of Gene Cernan, Ron Evans, and Joe Engle. What the backup crew did to the prime crew is best explained in Cernan's own book, The Last Man on the Moon, page 256:

"Every flight has a personalized crew patch, and Apollo 14 was no different, except for one thing--we were the first and only backup crew to have a mission patch, too! This loony idea was a "gotcha" on Al, for it depicted a gray-bearded Wile E. "Three Rookies" Coyote coming up from Earth only to find a "First Team"  Roadrunner already standing on the Moon, chirping his famous "Beep-beep!"

Every time we would give him a "beep-beep" jab, Shepard would shoot right back, "Beep beep..." This time...the coyote was going to win."

Let me add a little explanation to this. The Apollo 14 prime crew was nicknamed "Three Rookies" because Roosa and Mitchell had never been into space, and Shepard had only 16 minutes' experience. The backup team, with much more experience, was nicknamed "The First Team". 

But just creating the backup patch wasn't enough for Cernan's mischievous crew. Here's Gene Cernan again, telling more about the patch's adventures on page 269 of his book:

"All the way to the Moon and back, even on the lunar surface, whenever the crew opened a box, bag, or locker, out would float a First Team mission patch. Ron, Joe and I, as the backup crew, had final access to the spacecraft, and while we set the switches and checked the gauges, we also stuffed our Roadrunner patches into every nook and cranny, setting up a future mini-blizzard of "gotchas" for the Three Rookies. Perhaps the most repeated phrase on the private radio loop during the flight of Apollo 14  was Shepard's annoyance when still another patch would suddenly appear. "Tell Cernan," he growled, "Beep-beep." "

As Shepard suited up on January 31, 1971 for launch he was sure that NASA had fixed the problems that plagued Apollo 13. Now there were more, isolated oxygen tanks, and a spare battery that would last them the entire trip if need be. 

Launch of Apollo 14

At 4:03pm Shepard, Roosa, and Mitchell were thrust into the sky by their mammoth Saturn V booster. But once in orbit, and heading to the moon, they encountered a problem: the command module wouldn't latch with the lunar module. If they couldn't latch together, there would be no lunar mission. In the terms of the Apollo 14 crew, they would just do a blah, blah mission. With guidance from Mission Control Roosa tried again and again to dock, but with no joy. The spacecraft would join, but then rebound. Fuel was at a premium, and if Roosa didn't succeed, he wouldn't be able to dock, thus a blah, blah mission. 

Alan Shepard wasn't going to let Apollo down on his watch. Shepard looked over at his Command Module Pilot, and told him to juice it. If these two spacecraft didn't dock, the death knoll would ring not only for their mission, but quite possibly of the entire Apollo program. 

To be continued....

Part 3 of "Apollo 14: All or Nothing" will be posted on February 9, 2011.

Apollo 14: All or Nothing (Part 1)

This week celebrates the fortieth anniversary of the Apollo 14 flight. In this three-part series, I'll tell a little bit about the flight and what happened on this vastly important, often forgotten flight.


~Photobug

Astronaut Shepard undergoes a suit check.

It was all or nothing, and Alan Shepard was in charge. The general public had become ho-hum about moon trips after Apollo 11 and by Apollo 13 they were questioning the idea all together. "Why send more men up there, if we've already been there? We would keep the astronauts safer by just not sending them," was the feeling of most people.

It would be a tragedy for the Apollo program to end with Apollo 13, and Alan Shepard knew it. In fact, all of NASA knew it--they had planned to extend Project Apollo all the way out to Apollo 20. Unfortunately, after Apollo 13 Washington had managed to kill Apollos 18, 19, and 20, which were planned to have extensive lunar exploration and gigantic scientific discoveries. Shepard knew that if the remaining Apollo flights were to be kept, his mission must be more than a good, successful mission. It would have to be great.

Originally, Alan Shepard wasn't going to be on Apollo 14 at all. After his history-making flight in 1961, he was yearning, itching for another flight. Finally he was assigned to command the first Gemini flight with newcomer Tom Stafford. But then Shepard was grounded. Grounded from space, grounded from air, even grounded from balloons! Shepard had a disease called Meniere's syndrome, where he would get dizzy all of a sudden and lose his balance. You can't have a dizzy pilot!

Along with fellow Mercury astronaut (and ground-ee) Deke Slayton, Shepard was in charge of the astronauts. Together, Shepard and Slayton determined crew flight assignments. But still, Alan Shepard hated his desk.

In 1968, Shepard was hating his desk as vehemently as before. Fellow astronaut Tom Stafford came into Shepard's office and told him about a doctor who had developed a surgical procedure to cure Meniere's syndrome. And Stafford noted that this doctor was having very good success rates.

Shepard was willing to try anything. After some discussion, Alan Shepard underwent the surgery. After he was recovered, he went to the flight surgeons. After putting him through some crazy tests, the flight surgeons marvelously cleared him. For space flight.

Alan Shepard was unstoppable. He raced into Deke's office and told his old friend to get him on a moon flight. Slayton agreed, and scheduled him to command Apollo 13. But when Washington heard about it, they decided that Shepard needed more time to train, so they pushed him back to Apollo 14. Unknown to anyone at the time, this decision would prove to be a godsend.

To be continued...


Part 2 of "Apollo 14: All or Nothing" will be posted on February 4, 2011.