Rest of Week 5

The rest of week five was pretty standard, or at least as close to "standard" as NASA Academy gets. There was much work done by all in preparation for week six's Midterm Poster Session.

Now's a good time to mention that I really love my digital camera. If you couldn't tell. If carried on one's person at all times, digital cameras can keep a visual record of your whole life. Did anything very eventful happen during the rest of week 5? No. Because if there was stuff, I would have taken pictures. 'Cause I do that. We ate, we slept, we worked, we had speakers. We actually had some very interesting speakers on ECLSS (environmental control and life support systems) and lunar surface habitats, and I do take pictures of all the speakers, but that's more for the official website. If it ever happens.

Anyway, weekend five was Cathedral Caverns and Monte Sano. On Saturday we headed toward Grant, Alabama, not too far from here (~40 minutes), to this record-holding state park.

It's six records (from http://huntsville.about.com/cs/attractions/a/cathedralcavern.htm):

"(1) Cathedral Caverns has the widest entrance of any commercial cave in the world. It is 25 feet tall and 128 feet wide.

(2) Cathedral Caverns is home to "Goliath"--the largest stalagmite in the world. It measures 45 feet tall and 243 feet in circumstance.

(3) Cathedral Caverns has the largest flow stone wall, which is 32 feet tall and 135 feet long.

(4) Cathedral Caverns is known for the largest "frozen" waterfall.

(5) Cathedral Caverns has the largest stalagmite forest of any cave in the world.

(6) Cathedral Caverns has the most improbably formation in the world which is a stalagmite that is 35 feet tall and 3 inches wide!"

Yes, so, impressive, then. It was pretty. Pictures to come very soon.

Sunday was supposed to be Monte Sano, but I cancelled it because the entire world weather community had me convinced it was going to rain all day long. It didn't. In fact, weather.com, which I previously loved with all my Oklahoma-gal heart, lied lied lied and told me it was currently raining where I was for hours. It was not.

Anyway, my alternate was to watch The Right Stuff and order pizza, so most of us did that. The Right Stuff, while a good movie, is epic. LotR epic. Loooong. So that took up most of the afternoon and evening. End, week 5 (and the first half of the NASA Academy at MSFC 2005).