I have a bunch of scans of images I used to get from JPL as a kid. Every time they did a mission I would write and they'd send me dozens of images of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Great stuff. I so wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid.

Well hopefully I'll come close to having a astronaut like experiance in 0g soon. The univeristy of wyoming's engineering department (which I'll be starting in the fall) has a project where they have a modified a boflex for 0g exersize. The team takes the machine on the vomit comet, which is 747 flying parabolas to provide around 30 sec of 0g. I hope to be a part of the project, maybe even this year. Eventually I'd like to be a part of the moon base or manned mars mission, most likely involved with the power aspect of the missions (I'm going for ee, hope to get a phd). Wish me luck.

If anyone is interested, the world's second largest infrared observitory is also owned by UW and pretty close to where I live, infact i was their yesterday. I'd be willing to send a few pics of the site via email or ftp.abortion pills online http://www.kvicksundscupen.se/template/default.aspx?abortion-questions cytotec abortion

MutoidMan Wrote:Actually the Vomit Comet is a KC-135A, which is basically the military version of the Boeing 707. I always wanted to be an astronaut, and followed the Space Shuttle ALT's and the initial bunch of launches closely. I probably still have newspaper clippings about the Shuttle from the late 1970's and early 1980's packed away. Man, the space program is so worth my tax dollars.

Okay, I wanted to be an "astroman" too. I just felt weird saying that after all these years.
As a kid I was kinda fortunate as I lived near Goddard Space Flight Center, so I got to see alot of Satellite photos too. By the time Hubble was up I was in college and I did have a small window of opportunity to get to see alot of the images before they were given to the press and so on, but that link faded when my friend graduated Hopkins. But needless to say, space is my place too. To this day my favorite museum is still the Air and Space Museum in D.C. which I highly recommend everyone check out at some point in their lives.

Traahn Wrote:I liked the movie Gattaca. There's something calming about space and the vastness of it Fills me with wonder and amazement. The fact that those rockets take off in the move is beautiful to me. I liked Contact, too. Both these movies filled me with with an overwhelming calmness and a feeling of peace. (Well, except for the hectic moments.) Tron has a similar effect on me.

Gattaca was great and I wasn't too displeased with Contact. But I still hold 2001 A Space Odyssey as tops on my list. The pureness of the space scenes and the plausible but high tech future really put me in a outer space frame of mind. I also just got the re-release of the Black Hole and though a little hammy at times, I still get blown away by the awesome scenery.

If I can make a recommendation, if you have time and money, check out the Disney Treasures :Tomorrowland Collection. Basically its all the episodes of "Disneyland" from the 50's and 60's concerning space travel and the future. Its got some pretty cool archival footage and even a few tretise's given by Von Braun and other space and science pioneers. I won't lie, its indeed dated and alot of the concepts were forcasted incorrectly but the nostalgia value alone is great for those interested in how space science developed here and somewhat abroad, as well as Disney's love of futurism. I managed to find a seller on Ebay selling a sealed tin of this 2 Disc set for less than 30 bucks and I am very happy with it.