Don't Forget to Pack Your Launch

Well if you are(were) a USA Soccer fan, that World Cup sucked, didn't it? Bleh. VERY disappointed in our boys. No explosiveness, apparently no chemistry(which was our problem in '98), no stamina. We were outplayed every which way during our 3 group games, and it was just painful to watch. I expect Arena to be on the chopping block for this affair, but then again, he was probably on his way out after this World Cup anyway. Lots of our guys probably wont be playing anymore(Reyna, McBride, Keller), so we either get younger or we don't get anywhere at all....I guess I'm an England fan now(Richard's team).

Thursday was Roger Clemen's return to baseball, as well as the Astros, and I was there to watch history. He wasn't overly awesome, but it was definitely vintage Roger. Unfortunately, it was also vintage Astros, which means ZERO run support for their ace. Of course it also didn't help that they were batting against the rookie phenom pitcher of Liriano on the Twins. The 'stros lost, but it was a good time hanging out with alot of people from work(we got group seats). I had never seen Minnesota play before, so I got to knock them off my list :)

Speaking of baseball, the Red Sox are freakin' BALLIN. Eight in row, baby. Papi had a walk-off homer today, which is just becoming the norm for him. I swear, all of his RBI's have come in the bottom of the last inning when the score is either tied or they're behind. That man is a machine.

The launch schedule was released earlier this week. (NOTE: the shuttle mission is designated STS-121 and the related ISS Flight is designated ULF 1.1. I'll be using those in my posts from now on...just to let you know). I'm gonna OJT(on-the-job training) with the Orbit 3 shift with Tarik in the Blue MPSR(pronounced "mip-sir"), which is the ISS backroom. Orbit 3 is from 7:30pm-4:30am, and while I know you think that that timeframe sucks, it really doesn't. See, since Orbit 3 is within that timeframe, it is usually the planning shift, where timelines are laid out for the next day, maneuvers are discussed, as well as any other items for the shift. The crew is usually asleep in this shift, but alot happens here on the ground, and it will be a great oppurtunity for me to learn hands-on and ask many questions.

So those are the "work" reasons why it's gonna rock. Here are the "fun" reasons....Orbit 3 in the backroom is pretty much the party shift. Yup, I said it: party. Eric has told me from experience that there will be grilling, footballs, ESPN on the tv's, and more; only after the Station work has been done, of course, haha. It's gonna be awesome. I'll be sitting in with my boy Tarik, and Eric is also on Orbit 3, so it's going to be a blast. Even better is that I get home at 5:00am, which means I sleep until around noon. That leaves me the afternoon to sit by the pool and soak up some rays every day during the mission(2 weeks!). Helllll yeh. I'm actually excited to totally flip my sleep schedule; it should be a fresh experience, especially considering the work I'll get to do. So starting on July 2, be looking for me on NASA TV when I roam into the control room!