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.

COUNTDOWN TO JUNE... At 6:00 AM, Pacific Standard Time today, the Dawn spacecraft arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida...where it will begin final launch preparations as it nears liftoff on June 30. In terms of its mission, Dawn is expected to fly into the heart of the Asteroid Belt, where it will study Vesta (in 2011) and the dwarf planet Ceres (in 2015). If you’re wondering why I’m writing about this particular space flight in my Blog, click here, here and here. There’s a sense of personal involvement that I—along with 360,000 other people—have with this project. Actually, the reason is in the photo right below...




Below is a list of key milestones awaiting Dawn before it rises from the launch pad around 2:13 PM, PST, on June 30th:

Late April: Installation and testing of the spacecraft’s two large solar panel wings.
Early May: Compatibility test between Dawn and NASA’s Deep Space Network...a trio of large radio antennas located in California, Australia and Spain that will be used to communicate with Dawn once it is in space.
Mid-May: The spacecraft will undergo a spin-balance test before being mated to its third stage booster
Late May: Erection of the first stage booster of the Delta II rocket, which will launch Dawn into space, at Pad 17-B in Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS).
Mid-June: A leak check will be conducted on the Delta II’s first stage booster.
June 19: Delivery of Dawn, now attached to its third stage booster and enclosed inside the nose cone fairing of the Delta II vehicle, to the launch pad at CCAFS. Dawn and its third stage component will be attached to the second stage booster and thus complete final assembly of the Delta II vehicle.

I’ll post up photos of Dawn at its processing facility in Florida once they become available.


Courtesy of the Orbital Sciences Corporation

"Say hello to your brother!" Great line, great line...from Jack Bauer. This was a little homage to the movie Die Hard as Jack gave Abu Fayed a well-deserved death in tonight's episode of 24. And Mike Doyle's line as he and the rest of the CTU team arrived, and saw Jack's handiwork in the warehouse (Jack lying exhausted on the ground while Fayed's corpse was hanging by a chain and his men's bodies were scattered about in the building)...was CLASSIC. "Damn, Jack." Now... In terms of the final villain for this season, kind of interesting that it happens to be a character who was introduced back in Season 4. With the exception of Nina Meyers and Sherry Palmer, there was never any other character who was a major villain for more than two seasons. Then again, Cheng- Oh wait, now I gave away too much. Nevermind- Pretend I didn't say his name. Go rescue Audrey, Jack!



EDIT: About the preview for next's week episode, WHAT THE HELL is Doyle thinking pointing a gun at Bauer?? If seven terrorists combined couldn't gun down Jack, what makes Doyle think he will? It's your funeral, buddy. Say hello to Curtis Manning for us.

GEARS OF WAR... On Sunday, I played this game on one of my friends’ Xbox 360, and it kicked ass!! Totally addictive (it took my mind off the fact that I was this close to getting Kobe Bryant’s autograph at the Fiesta Lakers event in Los Angeles earlier that day... More on this in a future blog). So not only was the commercial for the game that was aired on TV last Fall memorable, because of the fact it used Gary Jule’s "Mad World" song as the background music, but the game itself had to be so darn entertaining that I’m now thinking of buying an Xbox myself. Just kidding... I’d rather use my money on buying movie DVD’s and going to strip clu—Nevermind.



But seriously though, Gears of War rules. I’m glad New Line Cinema is planning to adapt it into a film. Rock on!