Fall 2009: What I'm falling for lately...

>> Ares I-X!

Hurray! NASA announced today that it is targeting October 27th for the launch of Ares I-X...and I am totally ready!

This may or may not be a picture of me sporting, not only an Ares I-X sticker patch, but also an Ares I-X pin and NASA shirt with the blow up space shuttle making a guest appearance!!!

>>My NASA Project

...yes, we are finally building our plane!!!

...and it's going to be awesome!!!!

>> My Bellchoirs!

We have been playing a lot more this fall...and they impress me more and more every time! I'm so proud of the hard work they put in...and I appreciate all the fun we have during rehearsals!!

(P.S. they aren't just a bunch of Ding-a-lings!! Well, ok maybe they are, but they are MY Ding-a-lings and I love them!)

>>The Weather

Ok, maybe it's not quite "fall" weather, but today it was only 99...definitely getting cooler!

>>This picture from Astronomy Picture of the Day... (29 September 2008)

This digital mosaic shows the night sky as seen from False Kiva in Canyonlands National Park, eastern Utah, USA. I think I want to go there...spalunking...just to find this spot and see something this incredible!

Side Note: Chris actually found this picture...sometimes when we don't have a lot to talk about we sit around and try to find the coolest space pictures on Astronomy Picture of the Day....yes it's nerdy, but that's why I love him :-) Good job Chris!

Comments

The road to curing Type 1 Diabetes

From the moment of diagnosis, the road is rough, the learning curve is steep and the stakes are literally life or death. The map is less-than-helpful - paths originating from virtually every corner, coalescing at a center point (aka "diagnosis") and bursting back outwards - some paths cross and wrap around each other but others are isolated. And even with all of these roads, most of the territory is uncharted - how did we all get here and how will we all exit? Where are the obstacles we haven't found yet? Which passage holds the key to unlocking the solution? On any given day I feel pretty isolated with this disease - I'm the only T1D in my group at work, the only one in mission control, the only one in my family. I go through the logistics of calling insurance companies, ordering supplies, changing sites and troubleshooting malfunctions mostly on my own. Even those pesky carbs really only get counted in my brain, no group think for a meal bolus here. But there i

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The Diabetes Transportation System DTS-T1

I was looking forward to the Space Shuttle launch on Monday, then it was pushed to Wednesday and now it is scheduled for Thursday due to several electrical issues from a main engine computer controller. Ironically, our little MH-47G (due to start testing on Monday originally) has been having it's own issues and it is still unclear exactly when we will start testing. And all of this uncertainty, schedule changes, and issue-working reminds me of my little friend Diabetes [come on, you knew that was coming :-)]. Even with hard work, super awesome bolusing skills [ check out Holly's blog today, the number crunching is very impressive] and constant blood sugar checks, Diabetes can still be unpredictable, necessitate schedule changes, and cause the carrier to work through the issues. I have been lucky today, even after a late-night cocktail last night, I woke up this morning at 112, and before lunch I was an amazing 113. I love being steady like that, cruising along with hardly an

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What it's really like being a woman engineer in 2020

Today is International Women in Engineering Day (#INWED)! This year marks a full decade since earning an Aerospace Engineering degree, launching my journey as a woman engineer. So, what does it feel like as a woman engineer today, in 2020? It probably comes as no surprise that women are still the minority in most engineering fields, mine included. The real statistics? At my first job out of college , women made up 10% of my group and that percentage came from only one woman: me. There were a handful of other women scattered throughout the rest of the organization but it was probably around 10% at best. I relied solely on men to teach me how to interact with military officers, when to speak up in meetings, how to don and doff flight gear and talk on the radio, how to avoid red-out during aerobatics, how to take engineering notes during night flights, how to setup and run data, how to run a pre-flight and post-flight briefing, how to conduct myself at customer sites, how to layer up an

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