Johnson Space Center #NASASocial

Photo Credit: NASA/James Blair

When I applied for the #NASASocial event at the Johnson Space Center, (JSC) in Houston, Texas. I really hoped to be selected as I had a strong impulse inside pulling me towards this experience. As luck would have it, I was chosen to be one of the 50 people to attend a behind the scenes look at the Johnson Space Center. This is where all the action is--it's where the astronauts get ready for space in a mockup facility. New technologies are in various stages of development and the astronauts get to check these things out as well. Many JSC employees are used to test out everything as well--

I could not have predicted just how much this visit to JSC would have transformed me. The photo below (taken by official NASA photographer) pretty much sums up the enchantment I felt when astronaut Leland Melvin started the downlink with International Space Station Commander Shane Kimbrough @astro_kimbrough and astronaut Peggy Whitson @AstroPeggy who was the first female space station commander. I have seen this on TV but seeing these two "in person" and taking questions from the attendees was simply magical. I am changed forever--the International Space Station and astronauts in general are no longer an abstraction. I am now interested in space research, I care about space research, and I am amazed with space research. Photo Credit: NASA/James Blair

Below is the interview with @astropeggy and @astro_wheels. Fantastic questions were posed by the participants (although my question was not chosen). This is a very lively 20 minutes and would be fun, entertaining, and informative for adults and students alike.

Photo Credit: NASA/James Blair

Below is a partial view of the mission control room. Again, it's one thing to watch movies but it's another to right there in person! It was amazing watching all the people who staff mission control hard at work but it was even more amazing how we could watch astronaut Peggy Whitson @astropeggy at work in space via the monitor! I am still not able to understand why this experience has given me such a visceral reaction. I suppose because these guys are so far away and on this day they seemed so close, thanks to advances in technology!

Mission Control was not all work and no play! This #NASASocial event had a football theme in honor of the upcoming superbowl. Pat Patriot @patpatriot came by and hammed it up with Doug Wheelock @Astro_Wheels. Pat had a film crew with him so he was quite a VIP. It was really fun and added levity (no pun intended) to the experience. As of this writing the Patriots won the SuperBowl! Congratulations in that tight comeback against my home- team the #Falcons

I was so happy that Astronaut Doug Wheelock @astro_wheels was gracious enough to pose for a picture with me. He was very congenial and spent a lot of time with our group. Wheelock said he jokes that he was Astronaut Scott Kelly's commander years ago. His fantastic spirit is positive and contagious!

A shocking (good kind of shocking) moment was when we were guided through the doors of the Apollo Mission Control Center! It is a registered National Historic Landmark and is totally intact. At first we did not think we could touch anything or sit on the chairs and I think we were right to be cautious. When we were invited to sit down, I asked if these were the original chairs and they were! All I could think of was the team working on the Apollo Launch and how they sat in these same seats! Wow, just wow! The 50 participants were randomly separated into groups and I was in the green group --we are pictured below. Photo Credit: NASA/James Blair

I came to #NASASocial with questions from the astronomy, physics, and biology instructors at the Fernbank Science Center. I was very eager to meet with former NFL player and astronaut Leland Melvin, @astro_flow. He has a great story and I am very inspired by him. I only had time for one quick question so I asked him about body mass loss in space. This man is very kind and approachable--he feels like an old friend. He was very sweet and answered our questions. You can see his brief interview below. It's clear that he enjoys interfacing with the public! Thank you!

It was a real treat to visit the Neutral Buoyancy Lab. The lab houses the pool that helps astronauts train for the weightlessness of space and it holds 6.2 million gallons of water!! The center had Oculus VR headsets set up and we got to experience what it felt like to work under water with the astronauts. If you want to try it out yourself here is the YouTube360 link to this amazing IMMERSIVE experience (no pun intended, well maybe it is). I did not experience motion sickness but be warned, you may! https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=8&v=lil_I_-7aOM- I have also embedded the 360 below! This is my new friend Ann Brennan @BrennanAnnie--We chatted a bit along the way...she is an ironman and running blogger along with a marketing/social media consultant to small business

Get your VR headset out and go under the water to watch how astronauts train for space! This is the underwater experience I had, it's fantastic!

At the buoyancy lab some of us tried on these space helmets! It was so cool!! There was a built in visor and when it was pulled down I could not see anything! This felt very similar to a football helmet for sure! Photo Credit: NASA/James Blair

The ARGOS (Active Response Gravity Offload System) creates a sort of anti gravity room that simulates any anti gravity environment. It looks like a large crane system but it's a robot that follows you around--You cannot see this portion bc it's very high up. In this picture people are getting ready to test space suits to figure out which ones work best for which environments but many types of tests are performed with ARGOS.

We got a peek at the Arachnid Climber in the mockup facility. I missed the technical explanation of this Extra-Vehicular Robot (EVR) so I thought I would copy and paste the explanation from the NASA Website https://spidernaut.jsc.nasa.gov/

"The upcoming generation of space science platforms and vehicles are too large and too fragile to launch and deploy as self-contained payloads. Constructing and maintaining these structures on orbit presents unique challenges which may be overcome by Extra-Vehicular Robotics (EVR) using gentler methods of locomotion and manipulation. New EVR robot archetypes are needed to fill this role.

An arachnid climber is a prime candidate for such operations. The multipoint stance of an arachnid's eight legs, with as many as 7 down during a step, allows simply-supported footholds that spread climbing loads more evenly across a space structure and impart no torques.

Such a system could carry large payloads, transporting structural materials across an extensive solar array or mirrors across a telescope without significant structural loading. This archetype could also exploit hybrid forms of locomotion such as routing and deploying a "web" of space tethers to cross structural spans where even light forces are unacceptable. A spider-like robot prototype, Spidernaut, under development at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC), forms the basis for a series of new arachnid class EVR robots."

SOURCE: https://spidernaut.jsc.nasa.gov/

This guy is a humanoid. There are many uses for a robot like this for space exploration and research. If you want to learn more about the possibilities, read about the collaborative plans here https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/centennial_challenges/feature/space_robotics_challenge.html

Photo Credit:NASA/James Blair

This vehicle is airtight and can potentially be used on Mars one day.

I did not mention this, but my day started and ended at Space Center Houston, with the Johnson Space Center in the middle (but for the majority of the day). This is a beautiful space museum in close proximity to the Johnson Space Center. The only way for the public to get into the JSC is via a tour with Space Center Houston. In my case, however, I was fortunate to be part of a social media group receiving a behind the scenes tour.

I met the exhibit manager, the education department director, education staff, and many other key people who handle the day to day operations at Space Center Houston. I hope to come back and add more details on the wonderful exhibits. It is here that you can "touch the moon"!

While we were waiting for the others, we decided to take an early morning picture. This is the parking lot of Space Center Houston What you are looking at is the original shuttle carrier aircraft and a replica of Independence orbiter if I understood correctly.

This vault has the largest collection of lunar soil samples and rocks on public display anywhere in the world right now. The cases that hold the samples are filled with nitrogen to prevent the artifacts from oxidizing.

This is the command module from the Apollo 17 mission. The command module is the only part that returns to earth. It's so tiny that it's hard to imagine two astronauts in here together for any length of time. It's also shocking how something so small can just find its way back to earth. When you think about this, it's quite remarkable

I forgot what these are called but these remote controlled robots were really fun! With the joystick I tried to navigate around and pick up moon rocks but I am not terribly coordinated!

As you can see, the game is in a very small area yet it's contained perfectly and I did not feel like I was cramped for space. This is a great lesson if you want to set up a pop up station like this in your classroom.

This football field setup looks like it was quick and easy. But, I can tell you that it provided plenty of challenge--it was hard getting the spheros to go through those tubes!!! Again, a small but mighty setup and another great lesson for an effective classroom activity!

We had a blast getting into astronaut gear. I do not think you are ever too old to play dress up!

I really wanted another picture with the shuttle and these guys found the perfect angle! I was thrilled to make new friends. They are From Left to Right:

Jennifer Andrews @andrejenn, Ann Brennan @BrennanAnnie and Sian Proctor @psyan, who goes by Doctor Proctor on Twitter. I had been following Doctor Proctor and was very eager to meet her. I looked all over for her and was so happy to end up spending time together in the afternoon, along with many others! Thank you #NASASocial for this incredible experience!