UCLA / William K. Hartmann

A WEEK FROM TODAY (HOPEFULLY)... Exactly around this time next Saturday, the Dawn spacecraft should begin a 4 year-long journey to the Asteroid Belt. In 2011, it will arrive at the asteroid Vesta for a 7 month study, and in 2015, it will arrive at the dwarf planet Ceres. Hopefully, NASA will not find any technical constraints for launch during a flight readiness review on Tuesday, and the weather will cooperate next Saturday. Damn thunderstorms. If Dawn isn’t able to launch by July 11, it will have to stand down till possibly September so that workers at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida (where Dawn will lift off from) can begin preparations to launch the Phoenix Mars Lander on August 3.


NASA KSC / George Shelton

Like Dawn, Phoenix has only a certain number of days in its launch window to get to Mars before it has to wait another two years to lift off (2009, however, is reserved for the launch of the next Red Planet Rover, the Mars Science Laboratory. If Dawn isn't able to launch by October, it would have to wait FIFTEEN YEARS to get another opportunity to study Vesta and Ceres in one fell swoop. Which would mean the mission might be effectively over if Dawn doesn't take off by this Fall). And even Phoenix will have to get off the ground as soon as possible to make way for the launch of the next space shuttle flight, Endeavour on STS-118, on August 7 (this will be Endeavour’s first flight in almost five years...after undergoing a long maintenance period following the 2003 Columbia disaster). August will definitely be a hectic month in terms of getting rockets into space from Florida.


NASA KSC / Jim Grossmann

But back on topic, hopefully everything goes well next Saturday...and Dawn (with my name onboard... I’m gonna keep repeating that in my Blogs. You know that, right?) will be soaring high in the heavens. Not to sound cheesy or anything. ‘Nuff said.


NASA KSC / Troy Cryder

EDIT: Technically, Dawn should've lifted off today...but a problem with a crane at the launch pad earlier this month delayed the assembly of Dawn's Delta II rocket...pushing the launch back by one week. Launching rockets sure is a tricky business. Or at least with 200-foot ones operated by the government.

EROTICA LA... I went yesterday, and needless to say, Nautica Thorn, Kaylani Lei and Jenna Haze (with Brea Bennett above) are amazing in person... Oh, and don't forget Tera Patrick, but I already met her at a previous convention 7 years ago. She's friggin' tall as hell, but it's all good.



Last, but definitely not least, is gorgeous import model Nikita Esco.

Reuters

REDEMPTION COMPLETE! After falling to the New Jersey Devils in 7 games in the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals, the Anaheim Ducks redeemed themselves by defeating the Ottawa Senators, 6-2, in Game 5 tonight...winning the Ducks' first-ever championship since the team was founded by The Walt Disney Company in 1993. Anaheim is the very first California and West Coast city to take home the Cup. One wonders if the Los Angeles Kings will ever become the second SoCal team to do so as well.


Courtesy of The Anaheim Ducks Booster Club

PHOENIX ARRIVES ON THE SPACE COAST... On Monday evening, NASA’s newest Mars lander arrived at Cape Canaveral in Florida, where it will be prepared for launch. Liftoff is scheduled for dawn on August 3, with Phoenix’s arrival at the Red Planet being in May of 2008. Much like the Dawn mission, there’s a personal reason why I’m interested in this newest flight to Mars...and that’s because my name should be onboard Phoenix the same way it should be on Dawn.



I sent an e-mail today to The Planetary Society, which was responsible for fabricating the DVD on Phoenix, and received a reply saying that the disc is now installed on the lander. An update on the Planetary Society’s website should be posted within a week or two. Hopefully (or obviously?), a photo of the DVD will be shown in the update. Additional details about this couldn’t be given out since various channels at the Society and NASA have to give approval before news can be publicly released. It’s all good. My name is on a microchip and mini-DVD that are several miles apart from each other in the Sunshine State... How awesome.



Below is a list of key milestones awaiting Phoenix before it rises from the launch pad around 2:35 AM, PDT, on August 3rd:

May 10 and 11: Spin-balance test of Phoenix inside its back shell.
May 15: Installation of heat shield followed by separation test.
Third week of May: Landing radar integration and launch system verification tests...followed by a guidance navigation and control test.
Third week of June: Erection of the first stage booster of the Delta II rocket, which will launch Phoenix into space, at Pad 17-A in Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS).
First week of July: Installation of second stage booster atop first stage.
Mid-July: Leak check of first stage and simulated countdown.
Day after simulated countdown: Simulated flight test of the entire Delta II.
Third week of July: Phoenix payload is placed atop launch vehicle.
One week before launch: Delta II nose cone fairing will be installed around the Phoenix lander.


Courtesy of George Shelton and Charisse Nahser/NASA Kennedy Space Center

WARRIORS: 111, MAVERICKS: 86... Wow. Don't know how I would react if the 1999-2000 Lakers (who, just like Dallas this year, won 67 games during the regular season...but actually went on to win a championship) lost to the Sacramento Kings in the first round. Which they almost did. But didn't. Fortunately. It's like Phil Jackson getting revenge on Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf by coaching the Lakers to a victory over Chicago in the NBA Finals. Golden State rules. Mark Cuban must feel like crap right now. Obviously.

This Friday, summer's first big blockbuster film comes out in theaters. Can't wait! I'll probably watch it in Imax on opening night like I did with 300...and then the next few screenings will be at regular theaters. Hey- This is the only movie series besides Star Wars where I'm willing to watch a film more than once at the cineplex (with some buddies, of course). Then again, I only watched the first Spider-Man once in theaters when it came out in 2002, but that was because I was wasting my dough on Attack of the Clones. Jango Fett rules.

LAKERS: 95, SUNS: 89... Well- Nice to know the Lakers aren't gonna get swept.

FIESTA LAKERS... Click here to view a page that I've devoted to the special event, which took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center on March 25. You should especially check it out if you're a fan of the Laker Girls, haha.

This past weekend, two of my friends and I attended the 24 For 24 event at The Point (a Nike store) in Hollywood. 24 For 24 was a charity event sponsored by Kobe Bryant...whose new line of shoes (the Zoom II) were being sold with an added bonus of receiving a "golden ticket" that would enable winners to get their shoes autographed by Kobe on the afternoon of April 7 (the shoes were available for purchase at midnight on the 7th). 100 pairs of shoes were being sold, with only 24 of them containing golden tickets. I didn't win a golden ticket, but I did win a raffle [after I bought, like, 6 exclusive T-shirts (which came with the raffle tickets and whose payments went to charity) to increase my chances] that allowed me to play in a basketball game that had Kobe as one of the referees! That was cool... It was 24 raffle ticket winners versus 24 golden ticket winners in the game. I may not have gotten KB24's autograph, but at least I shook his hand. All I need now is to get that handshake photographed... When is Kobe's next public appearance? Besides Laker games, that is.

A NEW DAWN IN FLORIDA... As stated in this previous Blog, I was gonna post up images of the Dawn spacecraft after it arrived at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. So if you want to know what needs to be done to prepare the spacecraft for launch on June 30th, click on the link above. Other than that, here are a few pics that were uploaded today (all courtesy of NASA):

COUNTDOWN TO JULY... While I'm still on the topic of robotic space probes that are set to launch this summer, the SELENE spacecraft is also in final preparations to launch from Japan right after Dawn does. SELENE will orbit and study the Moon, and is billed as the most ambitious lunar project since the Apollo program in the 1960's. Well... As long as it launches safely and reaches its destination successfully. There's a sense of personal involvement that I have with this flight as well.