Zero G Movie

Here is a 10 minute movie of me flying in the Zero G airplane - also known as the vomit comet. The plane starts at about 25,000 ft and pulls the nose up to 45 degrees causing about 1.8 times the force of gravity. You can see me tossing the little cube and how fast it falls. The video is real time. Once the airplane is at about 45 degrees nose up the pilots start to pitch the plane over in such a way that inside there everyone is in free fall and it feels like zero gravity. We got only 20 to 30 seconds of zero gravity before the plane is 45 degrees nose down and they have to start pulling up again. The plane reaches about 35,000 ft at the top of the parabola. It is very odd to look out of a plane window and see the horizon at a 45 degree angle!

This video is from the first 10 minutes of my second day of flying. You can see me still getting comfortable to weightlessness and tossing the cube around. Keeping busy kept me from getting too sick. Turning my head during the 1.8 g pull out caused a lot of disorientation so you can see me holding my head very still when sitting on the ground. During my first day the zero g time made me instantly feel like I was upside down. On the second day it was much more fun and it was an interesting and new experience. It was fun to float around, but hard to control myself. I was afraid of kicking other people on the plane.

I hope to gather a couple of better videos during the next few weeks.

Pictures!

It has been awhile, so here's a ton of pictures!

To see all off our pictures use the following links:

Michigan Trip Sept 2010

Cassady Visit May 2010

Samantha's 2nd Birthday Party - a shared adventure with Reese Lillard, Chase Clem, and Markus Sostaric. They all have birthdays within 6 weeks of each other!

Samantha at Lundington State Park.

Samantha at Lake Michigan.

Samantha with Grandma Cassady.

Hanging out with Aunt Kalena, Ann, Mom, and Mathew.

With Grandpa Cassady in the garden.

Riding the tractor with Grandpa Bill.

Cousin Katie with her little one Evie.

Hanging out around the campfire with Grandma Mimi.

Having fun with cousins Maddie, Megan and Molly.

Godspeed Dottie and Hello Mickey Mouse!

What a great week! We went to Florida to see the launch of STS-131 on April 5th. We were invited by our friend Dottie Metcalf-Lindenberger, who is Mission Specialist 2 on STS-131. How cool is that?! We arrived on Saturday, April 3rd and checked into our hotel in Orlando. We rented villa with our friends the Clems. It was so much fun.

On Sunday we hit the pool and then headed to a reception for Dottie thrown by her husband for all the friends and family in town for the launch. Dottie wasn't there as all astronauts go into quarantine a week before launch so they don't get sick while in space. But we got to see her family and hang out with a lot of friends, including "flat Dottie" - a life size cardboard cutout of Dottie in her flight suit (we all had a few too many jokes about that one)! Then we went back to the villa for some rest so we could get up at midnight to get a good spot on the causeway for the launch at 6:21am. We went with Katie and Fred. Samantha was such a trooper! She slept in the car on the way there, but was up for a couple of hours in the middle of the night. We got her settled for a little while, but had to wake her up for the launch. She was so cute, saying "shuttle" and pointing to it and our shirts (yes we all had matching shirts on). It was the most beautiful and amazing launch. It lit up the pre-dawn sky and the plumes were amazing - all colors of the rainbow as the shuttle went into the dawn light. We saw it for about 7 minutes, which is a really long time! Samantha described the launch as "loud", but I got a little emotional. I had such mixed emotions - Dottie - my friend - a person I know and care for on the most amazing machine built by man - on the ultimate adventure! I can't even describe it in words - I am so excited for her and can't wait to see her land (yes, I will be there for work) and hear all her stories! Combine that with my profound sadness here, at the end of the Space Shuttle era. Only three missions left (at most four if congress approves). I watched this launch with the knowledge that I will never personally see one again. It weighs quite heavily on me. With the changes going on at NASA and the uncertain future of human spaceflight, it is hard to come to terms with the fact that I may not have the opportunity to fly a spacecraft I help design. As one of my friends said "I am very optimistist about the future of the space program, but I am decidedly unoptimistic about my role in it". It was hard to have that in my heart as I watched the launch...

On Monday after the launch, we grabbed breakfast with Boyles and the Clems and then hit Cocoa Beach. Samantha loves the ocean and the sand, we had a great time for about an hour and then we all got hit with the sleepies and decided to head back to the villa.

Tuesday we went to Animal Kingdom. It was so much fun. We saw giraffes, rhinos, a cheetah, gorillas, an ant eater, elephants, huge bats, a lion king show, and a finding nemo show! Samantha got to meet Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Winnie the Pooh and Tigger! She's been walking around saying "Tigger the Pooh" ever since!

Here are some pictures! I will post more in the next couple days!

Flat Dottie and the family

Samantha and Amy at Dottie's send off party

Katie and Fred at the launch (the white spot to the left is the shuttle)

Getting ready for the launch

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!

Kylie, Chase and Andrew at Animal Kingdom

Checkin' out the flamingos!

Mickey!

Minnie!

Winnie the Pooh!
Tigger too!

Samantha Pictures!

Hi everyone! We had Samantha's 18 month pictures taken over the weekend and they are super cute! Thank you Carina at Kat's Photography!

She turns 18 months on the 27th, so they are a little early (please don't faint)! I can't believe how big she is getting and she is talking so much now! Well here's a few pictures...and the rest are here.

Holidays!

Time for a much overdue update! Samantha is doing awesome. She is practically running everywhere now and she talks all the time! Here's a bunch of pictures from the holidays and before...

Snow!

Samantha and Daddy!

Samantha and her cousin Megan.

Hey Santa!

The family.

Sam and Uncle Patrick at the zoo!

That's my girl - Calvin and Hobbes anyone! :)