TechIntersect

This morning, I and a number of other bloggers visited the Kansas Cosmosphere and explored their education facility. We saw numerous simulators and astronaut training devices.

In this video Becky McCray and I squeeze into a Russian Soyuz space capsule trainer. It would be exciting to visit space, but they really should do something about the leg room!

This video shows Sheila Scarborough in the Multi-Axis Trainer.

This is Becky in the Multi-Axis Trainer.

We really had a blast today, and I can’t wait to bring the whole family back to the Cosmosphere for another visit.

I am writing this from the fair city of Hutchinson Kansas. Progressive leadership in the community is responsible for organizing a tour for travel bloggers to visit and write about the exciting things that are going on here.

I was late to the party tonight because of class obligations, so I didn’t get to meet everyone yet, but I’m told there are bloggers here from Oklahoma, Illinois, California as well as Kansas.

I did make it in time to see a special screening of the IMAX film, Magnificent Desolation. Amazing film, and I kept thinking how much my daughter Science Girl Em would have liked this show. The film included shots of the Cosmosphere’s lunar lander & lunar rover. (Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be able to make some photos of those.)

The Kansas Cosmosphere at night. Not just every window you look into has both a space shuttle and an SR-71 Blackbird visible.

In the IMAX projection room. Large format 65mm film being loaded

The IMAX sound system has a digital sound track stored on a computer hard disk, and a backup sound track on a magnetic system stored on 35mm film.

The SR-71 Blackbird is on permanent loan from the US Air Force.

A full-size replica of the Space Shuttle Endeavour.

The short time I have been here, I’ve been made to feel most welcome and the group of bloggers is a spirited bunch. I’m really looking forward to see what tomorrow has in store for us.

Tags: cosmosphere, hutch, space

April is absolutely my favorite month of the year for making photographs. The light is amazing. I especially like it when a thunderstorm passes through & paints a purple sky over a lush green wheat field.

This morning on my drive to work, the sun popped out from behind some clouds and really lit up the hills to the west in some really gorgeous light. I didn’t have time to stop, and the light was only that way for a moment, but as I drove, I snapped these through my car’s window.

I am going to have to allow more time in the morning in the coming days, because there are some absolutely beautiful moments going on and most people don’t even notice!

I recently spoke at my old High School at the Kiwanis Scholastic Honors Recognition Dinner. It was quite an honor for someone who was never invited to attend as a student. The write-up in the paper gives a pretty good summary of what I said.

I can’t believe it’s already been one full year of blogging for me. The experience has been beyond my expectations. According to the Clustrmap I put on shortly after starting this blog,17,381 visitors from around the world have dropped by. This is about 17,000 more than I expected might come by in my first year… THANK YOU!

One of the more interesting things to happen to me recently that relates to this blog is receiving an invitation to Hutchinson, KS on April 15. The community seems to be rather forward thinking, inviting bloggers to experience the sights & sounds of the town to help get the word out. Highlights include the Kansas Cosmosphere, food, a trip to the Amish town of Yoder, and the Kansas Underground Salt Museum. I suspect my blog surfaced on the list of potential interested bloggers because I have written about science and Kansas attractions dealing with science. It has been a while since I’ve been to the Cosmosphere (I saw the Apollo 13 space capsule there last time) and I’ve never been to Yoder or the Underground Salt Museum.

Anyway, I have come a long way from my initial views of blogging. I have learned it isn’t all about me; it is about the conversation I can have with other teachers from around the world, sharing thoughts & ideas.

The blog has given me a nice repository of my own thinking over the past year. Many times I have referred back to it to recall what I was thinking about on a given topic. Even if no one else gains anything from my keeping this blog, I help myself in that regard.

Anyway, I want to thank everyone who has supported and encouraged me over the past year. This has been an amazing experience and I look forward to continued learning & sharing with all of you.