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Coronal Loop and Twisting Prom Sketches - SDO captures Loop - What's Up for August 2012 from Jane Houston Jones Mars Curiosity - Perseids

8/3/2012

Coronal Loop

On holidays in Waterville Co Kerry I had some luck with solar observing during this rainy winter of a summer. July 19th my first view of the solar disc in days presented me with what looked like a loop within a loop C shaped layered prom on the eastern limb. Oh that had to be sketched it looked unusual.

PST 40 @50X 10:15 U T it seemed to come from a slight depression on the limb.

I never got the chance to observe the big Active Region 1520 but suspected this might be a goodbye wave :-) I like to be accurate in drawing solar features so I can compare my drawings to images taken at more or less the same time. This does two things A) Its feedback on the my accuracy and B) I learn from others who imaged the feature in order to further understand what is going on in my observation. On this occasion my sketch was of a Coronal Loop. Magnetic looped prominences like this often occur after a large explosion on the sun, such was the case in my observation that morning. This powerful activity continued for something like twelve hours.
Image of the loop by Dave Tyler included in the slideshow below.

Once again on July 26th I had the happy chance of observing an enormous twisting prom on the NE limb. Never seen anything like it before, it was a veritable cornucopia of plasma gas swirling from the apparent edge of the sun. The rest of the disc had very busy filaments jumping and twisting like ropes .
I am continually working on techniques to sketch filaments, active regions, flares, and proms. The challenge of capturing the sun on paper is in my opinion one of the most difficult gauntlets to satisfy in astronomical drawing.

Action Sun at St Pauls Senior Girls School Dublin 12 - What's up for July 2012 from Jane Houston Jones

7/5/2012

WOW !! this is huge in the hall

St Pauls Senior Girls National School in Greenhill’s Dublin 12 is just a few minutes’ walk from the house where I grew up. It was fortuitous to have the opportunity to carry out my third Action Sun for a school in this area.

On June 25th 47 young girls from third class, took part in building the sun. This was a very positive group all eager to get going and get busy. Streamers of orange and red paper flew through the air in vast amounts. In a short time the photosphere began to grow in the schools courtyard.

The activity of Action Sun supports the school curriculum in its art as it uses mixed media to create the sun. The program uses paint and paper to convey activity and explosive movement on the solar disc. Action Sun also supports primary school art as it enables children to use the characteristics of the materials to make structures and features on the solar disc. Making the sun in this way is both creative and explorative. Learning a little science through the arts facilitates the use of many kinds of intelligences. The learning process in the making is as valuable as the finished suns. Textures and spatial organisation also comes into the creation of this work. The girls at St Pauls School were very good at working as a group, helping each other out. They also made good decisions during the activity which showed they were an excellent team. This is kinesthetic learning, learning by doing.

Action Sun compliments science in the primary school curriculum on several levels. A short information talk in between making the suns features informs the children about our suns role in the solar system. We talk about the scale of the sun and the Earth. We talk about the energy of the sun and its function in relation to the other planets. The mini talks make sure that the children understand that the sun is our main source of heat and light. By building the sun the children learn by hands on investigation. The children literally explore the physical features of the sun with their hands in mini scale. A quick review of the evaluation sheets shows the quality of the learning. Several children not only drew sketches of the complex sun but also put in arrows to the different features and labelled them all correctly. The action of throwing the paper was very popular, signing their names was also a highlight and for some children carrying the sun into the hall was the stand out moment of the day.

When I look at the sun in my solar telescope I see a huge amount of detail and very often in the past I have shared that view with children. However it takes a long time to show this view to a large group as the sun presents as a small disc with tiny features. It is difficult for children to comprehend the enormous scale of our nearest star. I put Action Sun together to bridge that gap and help more people achieve some understanding of this wonderful star in safety with a big fun element.

The features of the sun itself were totally new to this young group, but at the end of the programme words like photosphere, chromosphere, filaments, prominences and sunspots were all a little more familiar. We closed our eyes at the end of the build and held our faces up to the sun to feel its heat and remind ourselves that it takes eight minutes for its light to get to us here on Earth, a 93 million mile smile. Building the sun took about 90 minutes. The 7.9 X 4.9 meter tarpaulin was pre prepared at home using four litres of matte black masonry paint. During the activity we used approx 3,500 individual pre cut pieces of crepe paper ,15 litres of washable PVA glue, 6 litres of yellow paint , 1 litre of red paint, plus the energy of forty seven eight and nine year old third class girls.

My thanks to Sarah Jayne Reid for setting up Action Sun at St Pauls and to Phil Curran for all her efforts prior to, during and post the build. Thanks to Ms Keating, Ms Daly and Principal Sr Maureen for their support during the activity. NASA Sun Earth Day bookmarks, posters and other educational material were provided to the teachers. The solar feature data for this Action Sun was an observation of the disc made from my PST earlier that morning. The Solar Dynamics Observatory website was pointed out to the girls so they could continue to watch the sun safely.

What's Up for July 2012 from Jane Houston Jones

Action Sun – Lets bring the Sun to Earth © by Deirdre Kelleghan - What's Up for June 2012 from Jane Houston Jones - The Transit of Venus

6/6/2012

As I approached the City of Kilkenny medieval towers and spires broke the dull May skyline. Pure yellow rapeseed fields painted sunshine on the landscape. Rich green wheat moved slowly in the cold breeze each side of the motorway.

At Kilkenny Castle on National Drawing Day my Action Sun participants were young families randomly stopping by and taking part for short periods. Small children throwing crepe paper photosphere clumps with smiles on their tiny faces. Just as well for the completion of the project that two boys Max Gronowski aged 12 and Daragh Lynch aged 12 got stuck into it from the start. They helped paint the acrylic / glue base, the root for two of the suns atmospheres. As the solar build progressed my information spiel became simply a three and a half hour conversation with the boys. They asked questions, I answered; we discussed the photosphere as we threw our orange paint dipped paper targeting the empty spaces on this sixteen foot highly textured sun. They asked ‘where did the sun come from’? What will happen to the sun in the future? How big is the sun? They could not wait to fill in the photosphere and move on to apply the chromosphere. We talked about solar telescopes, space telescopes, the dangers of looking at the sun, the Venus Transit, Apollo 11, becoming an astronaut, Mars, going to Mars, Mars Science Laboratory, photosynthesis, energy and light. At that point Action sun had become a constructive dialogue with two very tenacious boys. Some parents came to help for a while and we were joined for the last hour or so by Matthew Shortall aged 9 who helped to make our photosphere denser which on a solar disc of that diameter was a very big task. Daragh said it would be great if we had music to work by, ‘what kind of music?’ I asked,   Beethoven was the unexpected reply.

We had dragged the sun through the clouds and reproduced it on the ground. Groups of adults got answers to ‘what’s going on here? Is that the sun? ‘Ha ha I have not seen that for weeks’. ‘Does it really look like that?’ ‘What are the black things?’

Max helped place the sunspots using my drawing made directly from the Solar Dynamics Observatory website at 09:02 IST. We made the filaments, I added the prominences; local papers took photographs of the creation. The sun never showed its face at Kilkenny Castle that day but as each hour went by the sun on Earth was growing brighter every minute as our build continued.

Venus, a black polystyrene ball on the end of a stick, demonstrated the transit   as seen from Ireland against the newly created sun. The Earth had escaped from my car earlier and spent   the day in the middle of my driveway.

We actually ran out of time, our photosphere big as it became, was just not dense enough and the boys knew it. Our red thinly spaced solar chromospheric   paper   fluttered in the wind. Sticky hands and paint splattered tee shirts told the story of almost four hours of creative work.

For their wonderful effort I gave the boys NASA Sun Earth Day packs. They helped me give out Venus Transit information to all who passed by. Max, Darragh and Matthew signed their names proudly to the giant canvas as they had done most of the work. The 7.9 X 4.9 meter Action Sun will hang at Dunsink Observatory during Solarfest on June 23rd. The photosphere will be complete by then.

Action Sun first light was with St Cronans Stargazers children’s school club on May 4th 2012. Sixteen boys and I constructed an eight foot solar disc based on my early morning observations. This eager group worked on the sun interspaced by pockets of solar information delivered in short bursts which punctuated the action.   Link to blog

Action Sun was funded by Dublin City of Science 2012 and The Butler Gallery Kilkenny Castle , Kilkenny City. Action Sun was a NASA Sun Earth Day event also
Action Sun – is an indoor or outdoor activity which allows groups of children to participate in building a large solar disc or several solar discs. This Earth built sun mimics the photosphere and chromosphere of the sun, includes sunspots, filaments, and prominences present on the sun ideally in real time. The materials are simple, paper, glue and paint. It is kinaesthetic participatory learning for young children. The activity educates and supports science through art and the creative process.

Slide show of Action Sun at Kilkenny Castle

What's Up for June 2012 from Jane Houston Jones - The Transit of Venus of course :-)

Action Sun - Let's bring the sun to Earth - What's Up for May 2012 from Jane Houston Jones

5/10/2012

Action Sun image by Bernard Kelleghan

On May 4th 2012 children from St Cronans Stargazers Astronomy Club in Bray took the sun from the sky and brought it down to Earth. We used a 10ft X 8ft plastic sheet, crepe paper, acrylic paint washable glue and plenty of energy. It was a very cloudy day but a brief look at the sun in the early am gave me a good view of the large sunspot in Active Region 1471. I took the rest of the data from the space telescope Nasa Solar Dynamics Observatory. ‘The sun now’ on its website shows the status of the sun in many light views in real time.

By building the sun the children were literally exploring the physical features of the sun with their hands in mini scale.

Exploring astronomy via art is a very varied learning for all participants. Even finding out a little about what we see in the sky during our entire lifetimes is enhancing for life. Understanding where we are helps us understand who we are.

Art expressing unique awe and wonder at the magnificence of our stars role, in every second of every day of our lives is unavoidably beautiful.

Astronomy and Art are for everyone, each person has something to express, each has their own life journey to make, to live, to experience. The action of bringing the Sun to the ground, bringing it down to Earth is a deep experience that can only have a positive effect. Action Sun invites children to be creative, expressive, and informed.

During the activity I emphasised to the children the dangers of looking at the sun. Action Sun is a very safe way of exploring our star in a way that enhances a child’s knowledge and encourages curiosity and further learning.

During the making of our sun in Bray we had just finished the photosphere when spontaneously some of the children bowed down to the paper sun. This was a funny happy moment, so totally unexpected, it came out of nowhere. When we were carrying the finished sun into the school, the smallest child began singing ‘here comes the sun’
I was amazed that a 2012 child would know that song and even more surprised that he sang away. The singing soon became a group effort as we struggled through the double doors into the hall.

Action Sun supports Art in the curriculum as it uses mixed media to create the sun. We used paint and paper to convey action ,and explosive movement on the solar disc. Action Sun enables children to use the characteristics of the materials to make the structures and features on the solar disc. Making the sun in this way is both creative and explorative.

Making is the technological component of the Science Curriculum. Action Sun provides the child with an opportunity to make the sun, and thereby investigate its properties in their school yard.

Action Sun is a cooperative activity encouraging social skills and group learning. The goal is to bring the sun to Earth to examine it and observe it safely. We were not just aiming for an understanding of the subject matter but were making connections between head, hand and heart while cultivating the capacity to discover systems. Observation and wonder equals sustained learning.

Action Sun supports Geography in primary education as the Solar System is part of the lesson plans. The Sun is the central hub of our solar system and is therefore one of the most important objects in our daily lives.

When the Action Sun piece was hung in the hall , the children said ' the suns up , the suns up' with smiling faces, what a happy moment.
Action Sun was created by Deirdre Kelleghan slide show below
On this occasion Action Sun was funded by Dublin City of Science 2012 Many thanks to Paedar O'Briain and Paula O'Donnall for their invaluable help on the day
Many thanks to my husband Bernard for taking the image above , a wonderful job.
Many thanks to principal Maeve Teirney for saying YES !
Many thanks to John for hanging the sun in the school hall, a big job. !
Many thanks to the Bray People for covering the event in the paper
This was also a NASA Sun Earth Day Venus Transit registered event.
The childrens work also had the honour of being Astronomy Sketch of the Day
on May 5th2012

Next Action Sun was on May 19th at Kilkenny Castle National Drawing Day 2012

Whats up for May 2012 from Jane Houston Jones

Astronomy to Inspire and Educate Young Children: EU Universe Awareness Workshop from 26 Mar 2012 through 30 Mar 2012 - What's Up for April 2012

4/9/2012

Windmill in central Leiden

‘'The Rhine is one of the longest rivers in Europe' this long lost primary school fact popped into my head as I ate my delicious Goats Cheese, Nuts and Honey Salad. I was sitting on the deck surrounding my hotel in Leiden, watching Dutch families enjoying the waterway. Their Sunday picnics were neatly arranged onboard, as they glided along in the welcome sunshine.

When I arrived in Amsterdam some hours earlier I admired the fact that the train station was in the airport and then the bus station was in the train station in Leiden. This was joined up thinking and so was the week ahead of me.

Professor George Miley and Pedro Russo had invited me to come to Leiden University to take part in a UNAWE workshop and series of talks with other like minded individuals. It turned out to be a very eclectic mix of outreach educators all with a common affiliation too UNAWE or AWB or both. In the invited group of 59 individuals there was 26 countries represented. It was inspiring to be part of such an erudite gathering of minds and intentions.

I was particularly pleased to be asked to give a PechaKucha 20X20 presentation about my new activity for children called Action Sun. This Art/ Science activity is designed to bring the sun to Earth in real time using paper paint and energy.

A PenchaKucha talk is 20 slides with 20 seconds to speak about each slide. The slides change automatically so you have to stick to the subject and get your points across in double quick time. Twelve other PenchaKucha's followed mine from a wonderful bunch of presenters.

2.    Jaya Ramchandani (India): Universe in a box
3.    Grace Kimble (UK): Evaluation
4.    Angela Perez (Colombia): Astronomy Clubs for Children
5.    Claudio Paulo (Mozambique): Astronomy education in Mozambique
6.    Cristina Olivotto (Italy/Netherlands): Space Camps for Children
7.    Catalina Movileanu (Romania): UNAWE Romania
8.    Premysl Velek (Belgium): Scientix
9.    Eric Chisholm (Canada): Astronomy & Art projects for Children
10. Avivah Yamany Ryadi (Indonesia): Transit of Venus 2012 and Children
11. Thilina Heenatigala (Sri Lanka): UNAWE Sri Lanka
12. Mponda Sibuor (France ) Astronomy in Tanzania
13. Carla Natário (Portugal/ Netherlands): Transit of Venus 2012 UNAWE
Project Timor-Leste

To my delight Action Sun was very well received and I hope it will be part
of Dublin City of Science 2012 shortly.

The activity I have created helps groups of children to understand the sun and some of its features safely without the need for viewing the solar disc visually. I have developed both an outdoor and indoor version all of which will be extremely colourful and I hope satisfying to the children who will take part in it over the next few months.

It was an honour to hear talks given by scientists and educators who had a wealth of experience over many years in outreach. It was a joy to meet several people who were only known to me via e mail and with whom I had engaged on interesting astronomical projects. One of the most useful activities of the week for me was talking part in the evaluation working groups and meeting up with some people who were very adept at that aspect of outreach education.

One of the most uplifting experiences was seeing the vast numbers of children and young people being touched by astronomy in many ways. Professor Mark Baileys Human Orrery in Armagh ,   Olayinka Fagbemiro (Nigeria) with her enormous smiling childrens group in Africa. Marcello Souza's fun energetic outreach in Brazil , Mponda Sibuor beautiful work in Tanzania all stick in my mind. It was also amazing to listen to Maria Luchetti tell her story of twenty years doing creative but very practical astronomy outreach teacher training at the Rosa Sansat teacher training facility. (via translator Rosa Ros (Barcelona, Spain)

Before I left the University I recorded a piece to camera for Brazilain TV via Marcelo de Oliveira Souza and a piece to camera for 365 Days of Astronomy for UNAWE via Jaya Ramchandani . The entire experience gave me new eyes to look at both myself and others. It gave me a huge respect for outreach education being carried on in Africa and other countries with many difficulties in their everyday lives.

The group attending the workshop week were collectively delighted when Professor George Miley founder of UNAWE was presented with The Order of the Lion
(the Netherlands highest honour) at the official opening of the talks at the old observatory in Leiden.

What's Up for April 2012 from Jane Houston Jones

Here is Jane's page Solar System Exploration with many links for useful infomation

My Solar inspired paintings

3/16/2012

Here in the slide show is a selection of my solar inspired paintings
Some are available as originals and some are available as limited edition Giclee prints
This selection is directly linked here to my blog for Pivot Dublin
Contact me if you would like to buy some of my work - skysketcher@gmail.com
Twitter @skysketcher
Facebook Deirdre Kelleghan

Astronomy Radio Documentaries coming soon - Deadly Moons exhibitions in Dublin and Canada - What's Up for February 2012

2/9/2012

Deirdre Kelleghan , Susan King and Dermot Day with some of the children who took part

My first encounter in Ladyswell National School was a firm hand shake and an invite into the office by Principal Dr Daithi O Murchu. On the wall a very impressive triptych caught my eye and initiated a wonderful conversation with Daithi the artist which I felt could have gone on for hours

However I was there at the school to begin the first of three recording sessions at the request of Phoenix FM a local community radio station.

Teacher Ray Keenaghan was to give up his classroom for three consecutive Friday mornings to facilitate my workshops Deadly Moons, Rapid Rockets / Wicked Robots and STARSAREUS. The three classroom based drawing workshops were to be finished off with a visit to Dunsink Observatory. The observatory visit included a short talk on the South Telescope , Dunsink Observatory itself, Hamiliton and a revisit to the solar system , stars and planets. That was a busy evening , but I enjoyed every second of their little smiling faces.

Over the course of the workshops, sixty drawings were produced with gusto, pride and fun by the children who took part. I also had the pleasure of several interviews for smaller groups who chatted away to me about their interesting thoughts on Moons, Stars and Robotic space exploration.

As an extension of the project Susan King community liaison officer for the station arranged for the drawings to be on exhibition in Blanchardstown Library, you can see them from February 6 th until February 17 th if you are in the area.

Serendipity paid a visit to this whole effort as it has often done several times in the past. During this period Eric Crisholm (Head of outreach | Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics) and UNAWE point of contact for Canada , requested me to send some Deadly Moon drawings for an exhibition hosted by The American Association for the Advancement of Science.

How perfect !! So I took the opportunity to send images (via Drop Box) of all the Moons from Ladyswell National School plus a selection of Moon drawings from other groups. These Moons will be on exhibition as part of The National Science Art Exhibition in the National Convention Centre Vancouver Canada from February 16th till February 20th how cool is that?

The three radio documentaries will be broadcast on Phoenix FM during February
Workshops developed and presented by Deirdre Kelleghan
Huge thanks to Ladyswell National School for taking part and to the teachers who were very
supportive during and after school hours.

The series was produced by Phoenix FM and made with the support of
The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland
Producer Susan King - Sound Dermot Day
Follow Phoenix FM on Twitter @925_PhoenixFM
Follow on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/PhoenixFM.Dublin
Many thanks to Hilary O Donnell DIAS for facilitating the Dunsink Observatory visit
You can contact Hilary directly via the link above to arrange a visit for your school to the observatory during the year.

What's Up for February 2012 from Jane Houston Jones - Mars and Comets

GRAIL Moon Mission - Trip to Co Clare to go inside the planet - What's Up for January 2012

1/9/2012

GRAIL A & B in orbit around the Moon

New Years Eve drawing

Ye know drawing is sometimes like an itch I have to scratch. When an idea takes even a fingertip hold on my mind it will sit there in silence forever or until I deal with it. As a result I have a backlog which I am sure would take several years to achieve. Most days new notions for visual experiments snap crackle and pop in my head.

Lunar drawing, for the most part it is for my learning pleasure and enjoyment. It would be very rare for me to produce a drawing that was not directly from my telescope observations. On a New Year break (minus telescope) I was inspired to sketch in celebration of the NASA Grail’s mission to the Moon. Some time ago I was sent a NASA facts sheet about GRAIL – Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory mission. I used the little moon image on the back of the sheet to inform my ink drawing. “Grail is a Discovery Class mission that will unlock the mysteries of the Moon. By globally mapping the lunar gravitational field to unprecedented accuracy and resolution, the mission will peer deep inside the Moon to reveal its internal structure and thermal history. “

My drawing materials were new to me and oh boy they are wonderful, Inktense blocks by Derwent. Little sticks of water-soluble ink, can be used with a little water or just as sticks of colour or grated or any combination of these. There was no white ink stick, OK now I could have left the paper do the white for me but I like using white over darker colours. I had brought a white gel pen with me; it was past its best, so I cut into the tube to make use of the ink that remained for my ejecta rays. For the Grail’s I used two tiny pieces of foil from the neck of a Champagne bottle. Cheers Grails how appropriate I giggled as added the shiny orbitors to the blackness of space around my Moon drawing. GRAIL's A & B went into lunar orbit on New Years Eve
and New Years Day . They will bring us lunar secrets held for eons.

Eyes On the Solar Syestem follow it here

MoonKam is the public outreach part of the mission
Eyes On the Solar System you can follwo this and other missions here

January 3rd / 4th I made efforts to observe and sketch the Quadrantid meteor shower; however cloudy conditions put an end to that idea. The irony was that my location was much darker than home and I had a clear view to the north with no obstructions, such are the trials of Irish observing.

My husband and I had a wonderful wild winter week in Lisdoonvarna .We went walking in the rugged rocky landscape of north Clare. It is always in my opinion very important to be aware of our planets place in space as we observe and explore outwards. It’s Important also to take time to wallow in the beauty of this Earth. Doolin Cave an extraordinary experience, 80 feet underground in pitch black , like being in space within the planet and then the lights turn on to reveal the jaw dropping two colour stalactite, 25 feet long , weighing in at 20 tons with a three meter natural plug anchoring it to the ceiling of the chamber. The vision was a fantastic surprise, and then very unexpectedly a second chamber 100 feet down with a ceiling that looked so like many HiRISE Mars images.

It was as always a tonic to stand within yards of huge Atlantic waves crashing into both each other and the cliffs near Fanore Beach. There is an Earthy pleasure in tasting sea salt on your own face and standing in a gale full of sea foam bubbling like jelly Guinness on a limestone beach in winter.

We stayed at Trident Holiday Homes Lisdoonvarna

We had a super meal for our wedding anniversary at The Wild Honey Restaurant in Listoonvarna

We visited Doolin Cave and Allwee Cave

You can download the fact sheet here in pdf form and learn more about
the GRAIL mission in a pdf here

grail_information_sheet.pdf
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What's Up for January 2012 from Jane Houston Jones

Blog #3 Mars Science Laboratory #NASATweetup Silent Rocket Timewarp - Lunch Video - What’s Up for December 2011 from Jane Houston Jones

12/16/2011

MSL on the Atlas V on the Pad

On the evening pre launch NASA tour we were privileged to stand within 150 yards of the Atlas V with MSL perched on top. Silhouetted against the sun this 191 foot assemblly of scientific ambition stood a little less than half the height of the Apollo Saturn V. At 363 feet The Saturn V was the largest rocket ever built and is more comparable height wise to the familiar stainless street sculpture the Spire of Dublin which is 398 feet.

After an unlimited photographic bonanza we left the launch pad to head back toward the Vehicle Assembly Building. On our journey groups of red haired hogs appeared , munching in the evening grass as the sun set on an unforgettable day.

Ahead, an invite to a Marstini party and a visit to an Observatory. The party was in a suburban house were everyone seemed to take it for granted that there was a swimming pool in the patio.

The Gale House (named in honour of the landing place for MSL Gale Crater ) was occupied by a large group of Tweeps who had somehow managed to put a very cool party together. It was nice to meet up with other folks who had been in touch with me via Twitter before I left Ireland.  @TashaVerse such a good welcome , Jen Scheer @flyingjenny said hi because @commanderbyrne had told her too oh !! what a twangled world the Twitterverse is. :-) @Joi_the_Artist showed me some of her richly coloured drawings while I sipped my Marstini before being introduced to @MarsCuriosity and several others whose @ names have escaped me. After some delicious food, I headed to the BCC Planetarium and Observatory with Jane @jhjones for to join in the public evening. The indoor Moon set up impressed me, I wanted to bring it home to Ireland.

In the observatory we looked at Jupiter through a 24 inch scope, while soft spoken astronomers called out the positions of Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. On the roof I looked at Orion rising on its side, the words of Robert Frost’s poem never rang so clear and true. The constellation looked like it had fallen down the sky, or perhaps it was me who had tumbled down the planet. The sideways view caused by the clockwork artistry of the workings of the night sky.

Next morning I was picked up at 6am on the dot by @Stephist and was twittering away by 06:25.

@TheScienceGuy Bill Nye looking very dapper spoke about everything . The chief administrator of NASA Charles Bolden gave an impassioned talk about MSL being the precursor of future human Mars missions. Lori Garver the deputy administrator of NASA spoke with great excitment. Astronauts Leyland Melvin @Astro_Flow and Doug Wheelock @Astro_Wheels conducted the astronaut only sport of 'let’s have a midair chest crash just because we can' , and William James Adams @iamwill joined them to speak about education . The Black Eyed Pea star has invested millions of his own dollars in educational programs for young people. @Camilla_SDO    said hello to me at the mornings Eyes on the Solar System demo. During the launch group photo that cheeky chicken came flying through the air for me to catch so it could preen its feathers bang on centre of the photo front row.

At T minus 30 I hugged the blow up MSL beside the countdown clock and was then asked to give my thoughts to camera by   Lou Braga @Photog4NY   so I did. It was very surreal to be there beside this iconic digital clock as I had watched it for years on TV following various launches from Apollo to that pending moment.   5, 4, 3, 2, 1 the moment was real, the Atlas V with MSL ascended in silence. I looked at it rise and in that muted moment my past present and future merged. The sound followed and engulfed me totally. I watched till the smoke trail dissipated into imperceptible particles before returning to continue tweeting. After spacecraft separation and a huge cheer in the twent, I sat down at my table. 54 years of tears decided to pick that moment to flow. I knew then I was in the right place in my life.

On the plane home as I eased back time to my reality the winder came off in my hand, a timeless moment but for me time had truly stood still when the silent rocket left this planet for Mars.

The Star Splitter a poem by Robert Frost

the_star_splitter_by_robert_frost.pdf
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My MSL launch video made using my camera for stills and my mobile for sound.

What's Up for December 2011 from Jane Houston Jones

Mars Science Laboratroy Launch #NASATweetup Blog #2 Thanksgiving - Endeavour - Saturn V - First Day Tweetup

12/7/2011

The Astronaut Memorial at KSC

On Thanksgiving Day we returned to Kennedy Space Centre . Jane @jhjones wanted to share with me the memorial wall to fallen space explorers. This magnificent structure of polished granite reflected the blue sky, white cumulus, and the American flag amongst the Astronaut names which were pierced by sun beams of remembrance.

Our morning included a pseudo trip to Mars, the Exploration Space experience, and of course mini Tweetups with pink tagged busy Tweeps including @bphuettner @Conductor222 .

Lunch with the enigmatic #labcoatbear in the rocket garden was unmissable, another opportunity to enjoy some Florida rays and good conversation.

Afterwards a long walk on Cocoa Beach was fresh, warm and therapeutic. Somehow I resisted urges to run into the sea which was so inviting. This beach is like a gigantic version of Keel on Achill in Ireland, it included formation flying pelicans adding a Jurassic feel to the wildness.

Flounder with lots of Florida shrimp at the very Hemmingway 'ish Sunset Waterfront Bar & Grill completed our day, we were joined by some of Jane’s colleagues just after the sun bowed out spectacularly on the space coast.

NASATweetup at the Twent Friday November 25th

At the badging office circa very early I met two of the dynamic Stephanie’s @schierholz and @stephist with @doug_ellison . Then I introduced myself to the other foreign nationals including @FailedProtostar for transport to the NASA base.

Fully processed and complete with @LockheedMartin souvenir sweatshirt I came to stand within a few yards of the VAB. The Tweetup Twent was huge and accommodated tightly the 150 Tweetup worker bees :-) many of whom were already tweeting away at a rate of knots. Within a short while I had access to KSCCOMM- PRESS Wi -Fi via my encryption key - my Twitterportal to the world was open for business. Trent Perotto @NASA and @NASAJPL gave a welcoming talk and he was followed by Dr Jim Green, and a host of other NASA/ JPL science and engineering glitterati. My Tweeting was too my delight being picked up and RT'ed at home in Ireland , in the UK and USA. A fast lunch before an amazing tour of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the VAB, and my ’ have to see’ moment the Saturn V rocket.

Bus 2 was my ride for the afternoon, our guide was a wonderful passionate young woman Kimberly Goudace. I have to admire the professionalism of all NASA and JPL staff who together made the Tweetup event an unforgettable experience. If any of them had to be at their work at 4am, 5am, 6am they were on duty with a smile and a positive attitude even if they were in unfamiliar time zones. Kimberley did not even have a job; she was a former Space Shuttle engineer who still carried out her work to the n’th degree.

As we walked through the VAB her enthusiasm and knowledge filled the enormous void as she led us to the penultimate surprise, a close up view of Endeavour. This shuttle was being prepared for its museum 'shelf life after space' trip to California.

The Saturn V experience for me was joyous and profound, nothing could have prepared me for the encounter and size of this lets go to the Moon vehicle. My first reaction was how will I get this into my camera? Then I made a spontaneous unscripted video
( below) where all my knowledge of the rocket went out the window as years of anticipation poured out forever.

At launch pad 34 we were kindly allowed to walk around and ponder the loss of life at this place. The past’s devastation visible in deconstructed remains of tormented concrete and twisted metal.

The beautiful sunset light yellowed the bareness and touched our souls as crepuscular rays created nature’s memorial to the Apollo 1 astronauts lost to a fire in the challenge of exploring space. LAUNCH COMPLEX 34Friday, 27 January 1967 18:31 Hours

Crepuscular Rays viewed from launch pad 34

My spur of the moment Saturn V encounter video :-) I was 12 again in a second.

_A few images below , check them out !!!

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