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Bootie's
Yes, Walter's party was a fun time. It was really something to be in his drawing room next to the family Christmas tree with the walls covered by framed "LIFE, LOOK, TIME, Newsweek" you name it magazine covers of him and then gaze at his "shelf" of Emmys and photos with every famous person from the 60's and 70's. What was weirder however was meeting his grown children and seeing how different they were from their father. My wife Pamela and her colleagues were really comfortable with Mr. Chronkite by the end of the evening so it was funny to see this media icon being so friendly and warm with these young female producers his company hires at both his New York and DC offices. When I used the downstairs powder room on my way out, I was tempted for an instant to snatch the soap or something as a memento of the evening but thought better of it. Now I wish I would have at least had a picture taken with him. But when one is there, one doesn't want to appear too "tacky."
Pamela was much more comfortable being there so I guess that's just the nature of a job. I've been in meetings with astronauts when our program was briefing them about our payloads to aid in their understanding of the payload's operation and I have been involved with crawling around the Orbiters as part of our payloads' installations and although I get keyed up at these type of activities, its all in a day's work. Maybe I'm more comfortable working the astronauts because the current astronauts (please don't get me wrong, they're all Great people and I have oodles of respect for them) are not the media legends that the icons of the "Right Stuff" and Apollo era were, and maybe its because I 'm not the one they're pointing the questions at on a one-on-one basis.
Wednesday, Dec. 4, 96: Well, back to some rocket science as we are buttoning up a payload to ship off to KSC for Orbiter installation in January. At times on this Space Shuttle work, the bureaucracy of such a large progam can be overwhelming. I do get a bit tired of dealing with the primadonnas that are so prevalent at some of the other larger centers. Granted, those centers run the program, but they don't have to throw in everybody's face all the time. I find when I review their work and find errors, they are never easy about accepting it. I'm in the process of correcting some incomplete paperwork from there yet again on the current payload we're building up here and I know it will be a fight over who is at fault. Oh well, such is the plight of the white collar welfare program known as the military-industrial complex.
What I'm really excited about is the payload that was launched this morning. The Mars Pathfinder is a very neat payload that is doing some "real" exploring (not just fixing broken faxes or toilets or hatches as on the shuttle so often). The Mars Pathfinder is due to arrive at Mars July 4th next year then the geeky rocket scientist "fun" begins.
It will use a concept known as aerobraking, where it is slowed through aerodynamic drag into an orbital then sub-orbital trajectory around Mars (like they did in the movie "2010", Roy Scheider's character in that movie gave an excellent explanation of this concept right before they came around Jupiter in the space ship). Well, after aerobraking the Mars pathfinder Sojourner Rover craft will eventually parachute to the surface using balloons to cushion its impact.
It will then be released out its protective shell and will "drive around" on the surface. The neatest part of the experiment is that it will utilize a modification of a concept known as "telepresence." The rover will beam back pictures to Earth, then the project scientists over at JPL in Pasadena will slip on a goggles helmet (not unlike these virtual reality arcade ones) and "see" the images beamed back as though they were there. The scientists will then pick out things for the rover to explore and send the commands back up to it via the NASA communications network and the rover will go exploring. It has laser "vision" on it so it can interpret obstacles like rocks or chasms in its way and go around them. One big fun video game if you ask me. And this program still costs less than a tenth of the one billion dollars we taxpayers pay for every shuttle mission that have many sometimes conflicting science objectives beyond the one of simply flying people in space. Please don't get me wrong, I truly love being a part of a human presence in space, I just think we should drop the shuttle flight rate by one or two a year and fly many more of these robotic missions. Now that they believe they found ice on the moon by the small satellite Clementine
maybe we'll send one there, too.
Well, that's my soapbox for the day. Hopefully I don't sound like too much of a total Engineer geek, but I guess the shoe sorta fits at times. I just find most engineers so frightfully boring and anal its hard to imagine I've been working with them since way back in college a dozen years ago. There's been some funny times, you should see what its like when 20 rocket scientists are huddled around the slide projector or the VCR or conference phone at a meeting trying to get it to work. Its always funny when the secretary comes in after ten minutes and usually get it fixed immediately, one time by plugging the malfunctioning unit in!
The temperature is dropping here in DC so I'm definitely thinking of that southern CA sun Pamela and I basked in while driving that rented convertible this summer. After looking into many places, I decided to surprise Pamela with our honeymoon stay at the San Ysidro Ranch up near Santa Barbara. When I lived in the Rockies in the 80's, I found out about "the Ranch" from my extensive travel throughout CA working in this crazy aerospace biz. What I didn't realize was the Ranch's romantic history, Jackie O and JFK and Bobby Kennedy and his wife honeymooned there (actually "our" cabin was right across from theirs, although I doubt ours will ever be called the Kazeva suite). Vivian Leigh was married to Lawrence Olivier on their wedding lawn there in the 30's. Its a wonderful romantic place with a great pub and restaurant, nestled on its own mountain above Montecito village if you're ever taking in one of those Santa Barbara getaway weekends. I always love my visits to Santa Barbara, with my first ten million I definitely plan on buying a cozy little place there. Maybe I'll open up a Think Tank bicycle shop coffeehouse where people can ride in for a tune up, grab a double espresso (no Starbucks newspeak Doppios spoken here, thank you very much) and comtemplate the philosophical implications that a two-wheeled human-powered society would have on freeing us from rush hour madness.
Instead here I sit slaving in front the CRT screen watching the sun's warmth escape for another freezing night.
Monday, Dec. 9, 96: This is a special note to all those of you from that "Babylon on the Bay," San Francisco, who tune in to this page:
I, Johnny K, being of hazy Monday morning mind and fumbling fingers, am seeking to help a dear buddy of mine who relocated to San Francisco this weekend. My buddy, Mr. steveg (his e-mail is here), is one of the few rocket scientist software geniuses who I met at work and shared a friendship with outside of the "W" place. He is brilliant yet one of the coolest young men I have ever met.
So, while "the lights go down in the City by the Bay,"(just wanted to put that old make-out room standard in your minds again to think back to those junior high days) my buddy Steve is beginning his quest to seek out that ever elusive housing in San Francisco. Would you kind folks be able to take a few minutes while I've got you here in front of the screen to rack to those ever resourceful knoggins you'all have and make some recommendations on where the inside line for good housing is best searched out? You know, like what coffeehouse has the best bulletin board with the hottest tear-off phone #'s for housing in the most happnen' parts of the City (How's that fer a mouthful of superlatives, someday I'll answer my calling as announcer for tractor-pull shows over at the Cow Palace).
Best of all would be that friend of a friend of a friend you heard is finally chucking it all and taking that Murphy Brown script or that screenplay set in the Gold Dust Saloon on Powell and is headed down to L.A. or perhaps that Financial District friend is answering up to their 90's guilt after living that 80's lifestyle for too long and is going abroad with some helper organization and they've got THE place at such a rent-control steal price you'd take if you weren't in this dammed lease right now. You know, the kind of surreal miracle that after you hear about the place then they say, oh ya, there's a garage spot thrown in, too.
I have full faith that you folks have that inside line and of course, I thank you for your support. Please feel free to forward this as I'm sure Steve, who will only know I sent this out when he gets his cc'd copy, would welcome the help. Do feel free to flash Steve directly to the address I gave above or hit me back and I'll gladly get it to him.
Thank you all greatly,
Johnny K
Your friendly neighborhood rocket scientist
Aalways available to settle barroom discussions for low e-cash commissions