Virgin Galactic Mission Control.

While in London I knew I couldn't pass up the opportunity to finally meet some of the Virgin Galactic staff at Mission Control.  Gemma was there to greet me and my wife Lisa and give us the grand tour.

You can't walk more then a few feet until you run into something cool, I wanted to swipe this but it was a bit too big to hide under my jacket.

Gemma shows us the finer points of the Space Port in New Mexico.  This is just a computer rendering but it is built and spectacular.

The lens wasn't quite wide enough to fit in the whole slogan "Space Is Virgin Territory".  Along with Gemma and another amazing model of Space Ship Two.  This year will be busy for the Virgin Galactic team, hopefully more to report soon....

LET'S START 2014.

2014 is up and running.  The most exciting bit of space news was the third powered flight of Space Ship Two.  One more step closer to going to space.  I understand that VG plans on starting the commercial flights by the end of this year.   Also towards the end of last year I received this amazing model of the Knight One and Space Ship Two.  After all these years I am still such a model geek this was the perfect gift for me.

 Later this spring we are going on a trip to London, while I'm there I am excited to visit Virgin Galactic Mission Control this should be an amazing experience.   Also for those who have asked my recent broken leg should not effect my space flight at all.   Considering I'll be back to walking and completely normal activity by June that should be enough time.

Amazing Astronaut Weekend.

If you have not heard of the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation it an amazing organazation started by the Mercury 7 astronauts.  They have an annual event to raise money every Nov there's an autograph show, lectures, dinners and other events where you get to hang out with astronauts.  These guys are my heros and the idea of getting to drink and talk with them is amazing!

I just got back from the latest event and saw the new Space Shuttle Atlantis on display.
You get to be unbelevebly close to it.

The Gemini 9 capsule was the other thing I really wanted to see.  I've always been facinated with the Gemini program and all the things they acomplished to make Apollo possible.

Love the controls!

Later that night at the big fancy dinner we were treated to Eugene Cernan, Richard Gordon and flight nurse Dee O' Hara share their stories about the Gemini program.

 

Some guy stood up right when I took the picture and blocked Gene Cernan.  I wanted to get autographs  of Cernan and Tom Staford the crew Gemini 9 it turned out Titan rocket models in the middle of the table were signed by both of them and for sale!  SOLD!  I had to get it.

Our table was hosted by Space Shuttle pilot Greg Johnson.

 

Then I got to meet Gene Cernan Gemini 9 and last man on the moon!

 And Richard Gordon, Gemini 11 and Apollo 12.

Earlier that day we took a tour of the cape and went to the original launch site of the Freedom 7 capsule back in May of 61.  This is the flight that was close to what the Virgin Galactic flight will be.  Wow how far we have come.   There hasn't been any new training or experiences to report I know that NBC announced they will be covering Richard Branson's first flight with his two kids next year.  I can't wait to see that!

A REAL ASTRONAUT?

An Astronauts Guide To Life On Earth is my latest favorite book. Written by Col Chris Hadfield it his journey from when his was a boy in Canada watching the moon landing to becoming an astronaut and all of the work and dedication in between.

In the book he refers to people like me who are going on paid space tourism flights as "Space flight participants"  as opposed to full fledged astronauts.  The definition of an astronaut used to be a person trained to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member on a spacecraft.  In 2004 a new category was created for the commercial space traveler by the FAI ( Fédération Aéronautique Internationale ) the world governing body who decides what the criteria is for going into space.  The FAI code recognizes any flights that exceed an altitude of 100 Kilometers or 62 Miles the participants are awarded astronaut wings.  So technically I will be an astronaut when I do go, but I could never with a straight face say that when compared to people the go through years of training and a lifetime of dedication to achieve that goal. 

That said just the chance to taste a little bit of what these men got to experience would be amazing.

Last November my friend Don Asher and I participated in the Astronaut Scholar Ship Foundations annual fund raising dinner.  One of the memorable moments was the photo with 10 Apollo Astronauts, 6 of them moon walkers.  Top row L to R: James McDivitt, Dave Scott, Charlie Duke, Edgar Mitchell, Richard Gordon. Bottom row L to R Buzz Aldrin, Tom Stafford, Eugene Cernan, Don Asher,  Me, Alan Bean and Fred Haise.  An amazing group to be standing in the middle of.

 

I would just feel too self conscience and like a poser to go around saying I'm an astronaut.  So maybe I'll just go with a simpler idea of just experiencing the dream flying into space, just for a moment.

I MADE IT!

 NASTAR Training is complete.  Last night I flew home from Philadelphia after our last morning of flights and tests.  The three in my group were doing really well, myself Mark and Luis had been getting through the flight programs exposing our selves to various levels of G Forces on the X and Z and using our training to combat passing out also known as "G LOC" (G-Force induced Los Of Consciousness) and nice steady breathing under high pressure.

Tuesday we were performing the longer flights with X and Y G forces combined.  A bit tricky now we were to also combine the techniques for countering the effects.  So far I had not had one hint of nausea, you would thing with all of the high speed twisting and turning it would have happened early on.  Actually there a couple minor moments in the program that brought it on, small moves where there was nothing on my viewing screen except blue sky, but my brain could still feel movement.

They had these tiny little barf bags in the cabin of the gondola.  I fell in love with the little elf graphic!  He's not so happy to be bringing the bag, but then ecstatic when he has his bag full of gark.
The NASTAR engineers actually gave me one to take home.  Happy to report that Lil' Sic Sac did not have to come to my rescue.  The people at the center believe these might be original from the 50's.

 

There's a waiting area with monitors so we can watch each other get fuged.  I'll be uploading video from the cockpit of the more intense rides. I'm smiling in this one but not all.

Up in the right corner of the split screen you can see the GZ and GX readouts 6.0 G's definitely felt my face flattening out along with my lungs.  It does tickle in a strange way.

 

Afterwards we took a couple group pics, from left: Greg, Johnene, Luis, Me, Mark, Amer, and Tarah.

An amazing crew that gave us every confidence we could do it.

Sitting on the stairs of the gondola. The stairs close and become the rear bulkhead of the cockpit.  You can see the back of the chair with the 5 point harness and some of the control screen.

And of course I got the patch.  Someday I'll get a jacket to sew it on.

Excentrifugal Forz.

Today was the be work day at he NASTAR Center.  It was a nice small group of three two flight surgeons and the operators of this amazing G Force Centrifuge.  We performed a combination of G Force maneuvers, the first dealing with the "Y" axis.  The Y axis being straight up and down from your toes to your head.  This is the one that can make you pass out! The blood can get pushed straight out of your brain which makes it very hard to think and see.

The flight doctors Tarah and Johnene got us hooked up (Literally) with sensors on our chests and back.  There was a sports bra type apparatus the held another set of sensors.  We had to carry around our leads looking something a bunch of lost robots looking to recharge.

 Considering that this centrifuge; the Johnsville Centrifuge at one time was the state of the art.
Just down the street from where we are training now.  The Johnsville Centrifuge was the G Force training center for the mercury seven astronauts.

 

 

 We have been training on the amazing machine, which I would say is the Cadillac of G force trainers.  I will ultimately have video of me in the cockpit getting spun around.  The Y Axis was the toughest.  We were only pulling 3 to 4 G's.  Feeling that drop down feeling then tensing my legs and gluts to keep the blood in the upper part of my body.  I didn't get tunnel vision but had to focus, I felt a very strange brain tickling sensation that was making me laugh.  After a lunch break we all went again this time working on the "X" Axis straight from your front to your back.  You don't get the pass out concern, this more like a heavy weight being laid on your chest.  Controlled breathing is the key.   It was 6 G's on the X Axis.  It felt like my lungs were completely flat.  But I still was able to breath and concentrate, even with the feeling that my brain was going to the back of my head, I couldn't imaging that there are people that have pulled 12 G's and more!  Video tomorrow.

TOMORROW G-FORCE TRAINING.in

I'm in Philadelphia.  Just arrived a few hours ago.  tomorrow morning I'll heading over to the NASTAR center for two days of training and medical studies.  Very exciting.  It was a coincidence that I was in Boston yesterday and had the opportunity to go to the JFK Library and Museum.  On exhibit is Freedom 7  the second space craft to carry a man into space.

The picture isn't that great there was so much light in the background.  But then it seems I'm joining the image in a ways, the past reflecting the future.  This truly paved the way for for what I am participating in now.

I love the old controls.  So functional.  Tomorrow when I return from NASTAR I'll let you know how it went.  Hopefully nothing too noteworthy.