posted 06-01-2009 01:41 PM            

A signing session was scheduled at 10:00 AM with STS-119 astronaut Ricky Arnold, who is a Maryland native, however some reporters were interviewing Mr. Arnold and the session was delayed. I spoke briefly with Dr. Donald Thomas who was preparing to give a presentation at 10:25 and then Mr. Arnold arrived in the ballroom and graciously signed his individual litho, the STS-119 crew litho, and the Astronaut class of 2004 group litho for me.

As Mr. Arnold was signing the crew picture for me, 12 year old Paige Epler began playing the National Anthem on her violin and we both paused and faced the colors as she played. Miss Epler had performed at President Obama's inaugural luncheon back in January.

I then departed the convention center and retrieved my car, less than 2 minutes before my parking fee would have increased by another 5 dollars, and drove over to I-83 and headed north to Towson State University.

Upon arriving at the university at 11:00 a.m., I picked up my registration badge for the Sally Ride Science Festival that was taking place. During the 'Street Fair' several hands on exhibits were set up and there was a place where books, T-Shirts and other items were being sold, and a DJ was playing music. At one point I asked the DJ if he had any Do Wop music with him and he said that he did. Later on he did play 'the Twist' by Chubby Checker and 'Twist and Shout' performed by the Beatles.

Shortly after noon four-time space flier Wendy Lawrence arrived and did a signing session. I had my copy of "The Space Shuttle: The First 20 Years" and two crew pictures of missions that she flew with me.

Capt. Lawrence graciously signed all three items for me and also explained to me how the STS-86 crew picture was made, since at the time the crew of STS-86 was finalized, Dr. Foale was already aboard the Mir Space Station.

At 1:00 p.m. Capt. Lawrence gave a presentation about her career and then showed a film of her final mission: STS-114, which flew in 2005.

After the film, I left the science festival and drove back to downtown Baltimore to return to the Maryland's Place in Space Expo. I arrived back at the convention center at about 2:30 p.m. and visited several of the exhibits that had been set up. At the United Space Alliance exhibit was a display about the Hubble Space Telescope with Loren Shiver present. I chatted with Col. Shriver for several minutes about the HST and the future of the manned space program after the retirement of the shuttle.

I also chatted for a couple of minutes with Mr. Arnold and Dr. Thomas while they were conducting an afternoon signing session.

Afterwards I visited the University of Maryland Astronomy Department's display. For those of you in the Maryland, DC and Northern Virginia area, or who don't mind driving long distances, the University of Maryland Observatory in College Park, MD holds an open house in the evening on the 5th and the 20th of each month.

posted 06-01-2009 03:18 PM               

Thousands streamed into the Baltimore Convention Center on Saturday, May 30 for Maryland’s Place in Space, a free expo showcasing the state's innovative work in space and technology. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) hosted the event that featured exciting robotics competitions, educational and fun activities and exhibits, captivating special guests, and much more.

Music blared in the background at the Sally Ride Science Festival, which traveled to Towson University for the third consecutive year Saturday. A few danced but most of the 500 participants focused on the latest scientific techniques for tie-dying T-shirts, mixing slime and building a matrix.