On This Day in 2013: Atlantis Is Opened to the Public...

It was 10 years ago today that the Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit was opened to the general public at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. I myself didn't see the retired orbiter in person till almost 9 years later...in March of 2022.

You can view more photos from my trip to Cape Canaveral by clicking below.

LINK: Additional photos I took at Cape Canaveral on March 25-27, 2022

And back here on the West Coast, I look forward to heading back to the California Science Center in downtown Los Angeles to see the latest progress on the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, space shuttle Endeavour's future and final home! Stay tuned.

Big News for SHIB Today!

So after several months of anticipation, Shiba Inu has finally been listed on the Robinhood app! We'll see how high its price will go over the next few days...

I'd be more ecstatic over this news had I not withdrawn $2,500 from my $SHIB holdings to help pay for my trip to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida last month, but it's all good. The expense was worth it...just click on that link to find out!

Here's hoping that the remaining amount of SHIB I have will be worth a whole lot more by the end of this year! We'll see. Now when will Robinhood list Saitama and SHINJA next?

Woof! Shiba Inu $SHIB now listed on @RobinhoodApp. https://t.co/brxIOxy1oC

— Shib (@Shibtoken) April 12, 2022

ROBINHOOD LISTED $SHIB LET’S GOOO!!

— MAJESTIC (@MajesticDrama) April 12, 2022

BREAKING: Robinhood has listed Shiba Inu.

— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) April 12, 2022

🚨 Robinhood lists SHIBA INU — apparently adding their second dog-memecoin to their offering 🐕

Read more on @CMCAlexandria 👇https://t.co/z8Z7hvrmNb

— CoinMarketCap (@CoinMarketCap) April 12, 2022

Photos of the Day: Viewing SLS in Person!

Several hours ago, I returned home to Los Angeles after taking a 4-day trip to Florida...during which I viewed NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in person at Kennedy Space Center's Pad 39B!

I will soon post an entry in my Human Spaceflight Blog with photos taken throughout my brief Space Coast vacation (including images of orbiter Atlantis inside her exhibit, as well as an unflown Delta 2 vehicle at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex).

In the main time, enjoy these pictures of NASA's mega-Moon rocket as it remains on track for a wet dress rehearsal—SLS's final major test before launch on the Artemis 1 mission within the next 3 months—that's scheduled for this Sunday, April 3.

I used my Nikon D3300 camera to shoot these photos. Stay tuned for more!

EDIT (March 29): You can view more images from my trip below!

LINK: Additional photos I took at Cape Canaveral on March 25-27

Photo of the Day: The Delta 2 Is Now Immortalized at the Rocket Garden in Florida...

United Launch Alliance

Just thought I'd share this image of the Delta 2 rocket that is now on display in the 'Rocket Garden' at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida! This retired launch vehicle was officially unveiled to the public two days ago...and now joins space shuttle Atlantis on my list of historic vehicles that I want to see when I make another trip to NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida.

I was planning to re-visit KSC this year to see the Space Launch System (SLS) stand tall at Launch Complex 39B, but 1.) The COVID-19 pandemic gave me second thoughts about flying to Florida—a Republican-run coronavirus hotspot—this year (even when I hopefully get vaccinated next month), 2.) The first launch of SLS on Artemis 1 will most likely be postponed to early 2022 after it took two attempts to conduct a successful Green Run hot fire test at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, and 3.) I just put the finishing touches on paying off a major credit card debt using my $1,400 stimulus payment last week. (Thank you, President Biden!) But I might change my mind.

So why am I fond of the Delta 2, you ask? It was responsible for launching Mars Pathfinder, the Phoenix Mars lander, the Kepler telescope and the Dawn spacecraft to the cosmos over the past 25 years. Click on this page to know why these missions—among many, many more—mean so much to me! Happy Thursday.

A good old fashioned Rocket Raising. #DeltaII assembled at @ExploreSpaceKSC. This actual rocket, with replica solid rocket boosters, stands 13 stories tall & now serves as a tribute to its foundational & reliable service to the U.S. space program. #ThankYouDeltaII #ToryTimelapse pic.twitter.com/qNWjPTdOtD

— Tory Bruno (@torybruno) March 23, 2021

The Final Post of 2018: Reliving 2008 (and then some)...

Just thought I'd end this year by pointing out how 2018 reminded me of 2008...a year that I look back on favorably for personal reasons. 2008 was memorable because a spacecraft carrying a DVD that bears my name (NASA's Phoenix lander) successfully touched down on Mars, I attended my 10-year high school reunion in Pasadena, CA, I went to Florida and took part in a cruise (to the Bahamas) for the first time, and I did so many viewings of The Dark Knight in movie theaters because it was such an awesome film.


SpaceX

In regards to 2018, my name landed on Mars for the third time (via two small microchips aboard the InSight spacecraft over a month ago; my name is also on the Curiosity rover as it safely arrived at the Red Planet in 2012), I attended a dinner cruise in Newport Beach, CA, to mark my 20-year high school reunion two months ago, I went to Florida and took part in a second cruise (to the Panama Canal and other locales in Central America) last March, and I watched The Dark Knight in Universal City (twice during the summer) after the movie was theatrically re-released for its 10-year anniversary.


JAXA

Along with the highlights listed above, this entry also includes some non-personal events as well as cool, exciting activities that I did this year [namely, going skydiving in San Diego County for my 39th birthday (as shown in the pic at the very top of this entry)...and finally meeting 5-time NBA champ Kobe Bryant (as shown in the image at the bottom of this post)]. Check out the photos throughout this entry...and have a safe and happy New Year!

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MARS LANDINGS

NASA / JPL - Caltech

NASA's Phoenix lander arrival (at Mars' north polar region): May 25, 2008

NASA's InSight lander arrival (at Elysium Planitia): November 26, 2018


NASA / JPL - Caltech

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THE DARK KNIGHT


1st Theatrical Viewing: July 18, 2008

1st Theatrical Viewing (for 10-year anniversary release): August 26, 2018

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OLYMPICS


2008 Summer Games (in Beijing, China): August 8 - 24, 2008

2018 Winter Games (in Pyeongchang, South Korea): February 9 - 25, 2018


Chang W. Lee / The New York Times

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CARIBBEAN CRUISES


Bahamas cruise (from Fort Lauderdale, Florida): August 13 - 18, 2008

Panama Canal cruise (from Miami, Florida): March 11 - 23, 2018

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CLASS OF 1998 REUNIONS


10-year high school reunion (in Pasadena, CA): October 25, 2008

20-year high school reunion (in Newport Beach, CA): October 6, 2018

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And lastly, it only took 11 years to meet the Mamba...on October 23, 2018!

The Delta II Launch Vehicle Has Entered The History Books, And Will Soon Enter Kennedy Space Center's 'Rocket Garden' As Well...

NASA

United Launch Alliance Selects NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex as the Future Home of the Last Delta II Rocket (Press Release)

Centennial, Colo., Sept. 15, 2018 – United Launch Alliance (ULA) announced today that the last Delta II rocket will join a lineup of historic rockets in the Rocket Garden on display at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

“The Delta II rocket has been a venerable workhorse for NASA and civilian scientists, the U.S. military, and commercial clients throughout its almost 30 years of service,” said Tory Bruno, ULA president and CEO. “This program comes to a close with the final launch of NASA’s ICESat-2, but its legacy will continue and the Visitor Complex will help us keep the story of the success of this much-revered rocket in the hearts and minds of the public.”

The maiden Delta II took flight on Valentine's Day in 1989, successfully delivering the first operational GPS satellite into space. Since that first launch, Delta II rockets have launched 154 successful missions. Its resume includes several trips to Mars as well as the planet-hunting Kepler, the twin lunar-orbiting GRAIL spacecraft, 48 GPS satellites and numerous commercial imaging and communications satellites.

With more than a century of combined heritage, United Launch Alliance is the nation's most experienced and reliable launch service provider. ULA has successfully delivered more than 125 satellites to orbit that provide critical capabilities for troops in the field, aid meteorologists in tracking severe weather, enable personal device-based GPS navigation and unlock the mysteries of our solar system.

Source: United Launch Alliance

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Back in the Day: Remembering My Visit to the Bahamas...

So today marks 10 years since I returned to Los Angeles following my 7-day trip to Florida...which also included a 3-day cruise to and from New Providence Island in the Bahamas. It was a memorable voyage—despite the fact that the ship I sailed on, the Regal Empress, was built in 1953 (and scrapped in 2009)! Oh well. I made up for that by taking a trip to Central America aboard the 12-year-old Norwegian Jade (which was commissioned on February 19, 2006) last March. But this Blog entry is about me remembering my journey to Nassau a decade ago. And the two days of me being stuck in an Orlando hotel right after the cruise due to Tropical Storm Fay! It's all good.

I look forward to marking the 10-year anniversary of my second trip to Florida next February—which was also the first time I visited NASA's Kennedy Space Center in person. I put "first" in italics for a reason... Happy Monday!

LINK: Photos I took in Florida and the Bahamas 10 years ago

Back in the Day: Remembering My First Trip to Florida...

Ten years ago today, I arrived at Fort Lauderdale in Florida to embark on a 7-day trip that involved taking a cruise to New Providence Island in the Bahamas. But before I headed to one of America's closest Caribbean neighbors, I spent the previous two days taking road trips across the southern part of the Sunshine State. I drove through Miami (which I would visit again almost a decade later) en route to Key West on August 14. I visited an Everglades park (where I saw many alligators on exhibit), and the actual Everglades (where I didn't see any gators, ironically) after that on August 15. Fun times! No seriously. Despite the fact that Florida is full of conservative nut jobs if you wanna discuss politics for a moment, I never get tired of visiting this state!

In regards to my cruise to the Bahamas, I'll talk about it next week. Until then, Happy International Left-Handers Day, fellow lefties!

LINK: Photos I took in Florida and the Bahamas 10 years ago

Photos of the Day: Bidding Adieu to Miami...

Just thought I'd share these pics that I took when I departed from Miami on an 11-day cruise to Central America one month ago today. These images were taken with my Nikon D3300 DSLR camera as the Norwegian Jade—the passenger ship I sailed on for this voyage—made her way from the Port of Miami's cruise terminal to the open sea on March 12. Needless to say, Miami is one great-looking city! Of course, when I go back to Florida (either late next year or in early 2020 to hopefully see NASA's Space Launch System out on its pad at Kennedy Space Center, prepping for its maiden flight on Exploration Mission-1), knock on wood, it will once again be Orlando (the city I flew to from Los Angeles when I last visited Cape Canaveral in early 2009) that I venture to in the Sunshine State to begin my trip. Again, knock on wood... Anyways, that's all I have to say for now. Happy Thursday!

LINK: Additional photos I took on my cruise to Central America

Photos of the Day: Another Caribbean Cruise...

Just thought I'd end this month by posting these photos that I took during a cruise to Central America from March 12 to 23. My folks and I flew from Los Angeles to Miami, Florida on March 11...and boarded our ship, the Norwegian Jade, the following day. The first port of call we made was at the Panama Canal (shown above), which we traveled through (somewhat; the Jade passed through the Gatun Locks on the Atlantic side before turning around to dock at another port in Panama later that day) before taking a land tour to Panama City on March 15. The next day, we docked at Puerto Limón in Costa Rica. On March 18, we arrived at the Roatán island resort in Honduras. On March 19, the Jade visited Santo Tomás de Castilla in Guatemala. On March 20, the ship did a stopover at Harvest Caye (another island resort that is actually owned by the Norwegian Cruise Line , which we booked this trip with; hence, the Norwegian Jade) in Belize...and on the following day, the Jade arrived in Costa Maya, Mexico. It was here where my folks and I took another land tour—this time to the ancient Mayan ruins in Chacchoben, which is a 1.5 hour drive from Costa Maya.



All-in-all, this cruise was fun...overlooking the fact that I almost didn't go on it at the last minute. As of this Blog entry, I'm dealing with kidney stones on both sides that forced me to order two packages of 24 water bottles each (my dad ordered another pack of 24 bottles...giving me a total of 72 to hydrate from during the cruise) aboard the Norwegian Jade the day before we arrived in Miami so an unfortunate situation wouldn't occur during this trip. (It's crappy enough that the Jade had to turn around and return to Costa Maya a few hours after departing from that port on March 21 because another passenger suffered a heart attack aboard the ship! I hope they're okay.) It was nerve-wracking that I was sailing in the Caribbean Sea with the knowledge that I had around 3-4 stones in my right kidney (according to my urologist) during this 11-day voyage. But enough of the negative aspects of this journey; I know that this trip was very memorable in the exciting sense if I don't factor health issues in it! And I'm glad that I was able to fulfill my own personal pledge to go on another Caribbean cruise almost 10 years after a previous trip...when I sailed to the Bahamas from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, aboard the Regal Empress. That is all.

And have a Happy Easter!

LINK: Additional photos I took on my cruise to Central America