Sara’s last field trip was to The Challenger Center in Brownsburg, Indiana.  Although I’m not sure how much she’ll remember about the really cool science stations she explored, I’m glad she had a chance to see it.  As parents, we manned the many stations that demonstrated everything from robotics to working in a gravity-free environment (they had to wear large rubber gloves while screwing nuts and bolts together underwater…my station…so fun for 5 year olds).  Across the hall middle schoolers were manning a mission control and launching a Shuttle.  It’s rare seeing so many 13 yr olds engaged and coordinated.

I’m sad to see the end of the Space Shuttle Era.  I’m sad for the economic impact to the Space Coast, the place Greg and I called home when we married.  Merritt Island, Cocoa Beach, Cape Canaveral…all places extraordinarily precious to me. I’ll never forget my first rocket launch when I called Greg in a panic, telling him an earthquake was shaking the china cabinet, and perhaps he should come home because the world was ending.  I knew we lived close to the launch pads, but I never imagined we lived that close.

When I met Greg, he was working on GPS satellites.  I took this picture of the “Build A Satellite” station at the Challenger Center for him.  Did you know you could build a satellite with PVC pipes from the hardware store?  You learn something new every day.