Month: February 2008

Ok, NASA EDGE didn’t win the Daytona, but we did win tons of fans with the inspirational presence of Astronaut Mike Good at the Daytona 500 yesterday.

While it is very cool to compare the technolgy of NASA and NASCAR, it is also awesome to see how fans respond to meeting a NASA Astronaut.  Everybody from Navy Seals to fans interested in string theory seemed to gravitate to the cool cat in the blue suit.  Mike even spent some time talking tires with folks in the pit.  Of course, he also spent a good bit of time signing autographs and answering questions from lots of curious fans.

I absolutely have to get a blue suit for the medianaut/co-host of NASA EDGE.

Here are the NASA EDGE historical documents.

NASA EDGE with “Rocky” Lind from HQ and Astronaut Mike Good.  Credit: Ron Beard

NASA EDGE shoots a promo with Mike Good.  Credit: Rocky Lind

Mike was quite busy signing autographs.  Credit: Ron Beard

Time for one final autograph down on the track.  Credit: Blair Allen

Even Police Officers were impressed.  Credit: Blair Allen

Ryan Newman raced by this autograph 200 times on Sunday.  Credit: Blair Allen

All in all I think that NASA EDGE and the Astronauts for STS-125 make a pretty good team.  Hopefully, we will see more of them before and after their scheduled launch later this summer.

That’s all for now.

The Co-Host

Great Day at Daytona!

Chris talked to the fans about their knowledge of the Daytona 500 and NASA, and the excitement was amazing.  Everyone seemed to know a lot about both NASA and Daytona which led to lots of very cool conversations.  This should heat up tomorrow.  Astronaut Michael Good is going to be here to answer questions and sign autographs.  If I play my cards right, I may even be able to get some insider tips on what I need to do to go to space.

Here are a few photos of what we did today.

Chris interviews a NASA/Daytona fan.  Credit: Don Morrison

This fan on the right makes his 26th straight Daytona 500.  Credit: Don Morrison

Can you find the Co-Host in this picture?  Credit: Don Morrison

Excitement in the Pits.  Credit: Ron Beard

It was very cool to visit the pits during a race.  You wouldn’t believe the constant buzz of activity.  Each car’s pit felt like a miniture version of mission control during a launch.  Ok, so I haven’t been in the control room during a launch, but it is what I imagine it would be like.

Anyway, check back late tomorrow night for our final Daytona 500 Post.

The Co-Host

We just arrived in Daytona long enough to stop by the NASA exhibit for the combined anniversaries for NASA and the Daytona 500.    It should be a very exciting weekend.  Tomorrow we are planning to talk to people in and around Daytona about NASA, and Sunday we are going to meet Astronaut Michael Good.  Hopefully I can get a quick interview about becoming the first medianaut between his busy Q & A schedule.

Stay tuned…

Blair
The Co-Host

Important Note:  Unfortunately due to internal regulations we can’t accept posts that include a link to another website.  We apologize for the note but even NASA EDGE must follow the rules.

Let me start by saying congratulations to the Atlantis Crew of STS-122 for a successful launch.  The NASA EDGE Team watched it on NASA TV through the NASA Portal.   We never get tired of watching shuttle launches, even though Blair misses the shuttle dogs from the STS-118 launch.  He still claims they are fat free but that’s debatable.  I wonder if he ever passed his physical the week we returned from Kennedy.

NASA EDGE Show 10 (or vodcast 10) is now ready for download.  On this episode we highlight the lunar architecture and the D-RATS crew.  I believe our Subject Matter Experts (SMEs – NASA jargon), Geoff Yoder and Pat Troutman, did a great job giving an overview of the architecture.  I am still a little ticked off that Pat joked my NASA EDGE shirt live on camera.  I just wished I could of thought of a good come back line within the 5 second limit.  Oh well.  We had a lot of fun talking to the guys and they are welcomed back anytime.

Frank Delgado explaining to Blair Allen the buyer incentive options for the SCOUT Rover. Credit: NASA/Ron Beard

I think Frank Delgado was a little surprised when Franklin and Blair first asked him about the buyer incentive package for the SCOUT Rover.   I think the rover actually gets better gas mileage than Blair’s old 84 Corolla.  I can’t believe he actually drives that pink car to work everyday.  Maybe that’s why it’s hard for him to achieve insider status.

Anyway, we all had a great time hanging out with Frank, Joe Kosmo, Barbara Romig and the rest of the D-RATS.  They are paving the way for lunar exploration down the road.  Hopefully we’ll be invited back later this year and get a chance to change the Rover tire just like we did down in Daytona.  Should be fun.

All the best,
Chris

Important Note:  Unfortunately due to Government regulations we can’t accept posts that include a link to another website.  We apologize for the note but even NASA EDGE must follow the rules.