Its a Hero

2018 State of NASA

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Oh, hiiiii! I’ve pretty much been dead to the world for the last two weeks thanks to a little bug called INFLUENZA. Ugh. But I’m happy to report that I’m almost fully recovered (pregnancy + the flu = a long road to recovery).

But I didn’t want to step away without sharing my experience from my recent trip to the Glenn Research Center for the 2018 State of NASA address!

I left my kiddos with their grandma for the day while I ventured up for a long day of nerding out in Cleveland where we were greeted with an address from the Deputy Director of NASA Glenn Research Center, Dr. Marla Perez Davis. She spoke to us about the advancements that the center has brought throughout its history.

After hearing more about the history of the center we went to the cafeteria for some lunch and some shopping (duh, gift shop!). I passed on this baby outfit, but darn it!, I really wanted it for baby # 3! 🙂

From there we listened to the 2018 State of NASA address from Robert Lightfoot, Acting Administrator of NASA, located at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. It was really interesting hearing about how the 2019 Fiscal budget will have long-term and long-lasting effects on the legacy of the space program.

From there we started a grand tour of NASA Glenn. First up was the Electric Propulsion Lab. Guys… I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t way, way, over my head.

But that’s OK. Because, well, I’m not a rocket scientist. But that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the work and passion these people put in to testing propulsion! And I was in awe of the mere size of the facilities! They run 24/7/365! It’s incredible!

Next up was the Graphics & Visualizations Lab. Now this? This is some nerdy stuff I could really get behind! Think VR technology for NASA testing. And I jumped right into a VR experience on a supersonic jet!

I have to say, for someone who has always struggled with vision issues, VR does not suit me well. It just makes me dizzy. But it was still really cool — and likely the closest I’ll ever get to supersonic flight. 🙂

Next up was my personal favorite — the supersonic wind tunnel. Yes, we stood inside the 8 x 6 wind tunnel where they test supersonic flight!

Standing inside of the tunnel made me … a little claustrophobic.

But it was still quite an experience. And it’s something I totally can appreciate and understand. Kind of. 🙂 From there, we all parted ways, but it was so great to connect with some of our other local (and not-so-local) bloggers again.

Huge thanks to NASA and to Glenn Research Center for hosting us for the NASA Social Event!

Want to visit NASA Glenn for yourself? Check out their full lineup of monthly tours here.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Kia

    Wow what a cool experience! So many fun things to do. So sorry that you got the flu. Being pregnant and having the flu…I can’t even imagine. Hope you fully recover soon.

    Reply

  7. Kim @ Berly's Kitchen

    This is so cool. We love NASA and just went to Cape Canaveral on 2/14. They have some of the coolest things that you won’t see anywhere else. Love browsing through your photos. Looks like it was a lot of fun!

    Reply

  9. L F

    I’ve been dying to do the tour of the Waloops Island facilities out here in Maryland. We drove down to watch the Antares launch that failed (aka exploded) and even though we were more than a mile away it was AMAZING -and horrifying. What heroes our astronauts are!! Not to mention the engineers that get them into space.

    Reply

  13. Amber Olson

    We are in Cincinnati so this would be a cool day trip with the kids. I know my son would be really into it!

    Reply

  16. Kate

    Oh I’d love to visit there! We live not far from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and I always love going there! Considering how much I dislike flying, I would never EVER want to be an astronaut, but I think the whole idea of space exploration is fascinating!

    Reply

  18. Aleah

    So cool that you visited your local NASA. I must admit I live about 5 minutes away from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and have never been But I thin I’ll make a trip now.

    Reply

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