Work-Related Fun

The last few weeks have been a little crazy for me at work, finally. I've been waiting and waiting to finally get into the meat of my training and it's come! And though I'm busy and I'm stressed out and being tested almost daily, and sometimes in 8-hour increments, I'm still loving it. It's exactly where I want to be.

First things first.

In the beginning of January, my super supportive father-in-law told me about a Military Collectors Fair, where an astronaut would be present. So I got up early that morning, made the quick drive, and paid my $5 entrance fee to the fair. I was easily the youngest person there, aside from babies and children who were dragged there by their parents. I also stuck out like a sore thumb because I wasn't a big burly dude looking to buy some "cool war gear." Nope.. I just walked around slowly until I found what I needed.

His name is Robert L "Hoot" Gibson, and we talked for hours. Literally. Apparently military-enthusiasts don't care much for astronauts. So I talked with Hoot pretty much by myself for a few hours. Every once in a while an old friend of his would walk up, and I'd be introduced to them as "This is Nicole Perrin. She works with real-time Space Station operations over at the HOSC and is a huge space nerd." (Seriously all those things are totally true).

Hoot is a really exceptional person. And I don't just mean that because he's an astronaut and I have a bias for intelligent people who also happen to leave the planet. I mean that because he holds numerous world records for flying, was an accomplished Navy fighter and test pilot, and pilot of 4 of the five shuttles, and completed the first shuttle docking to the Russian Space Station Mir.

And best of all, he wants to take me flying. So, tomorrow, February 22, I'm going flying with an astronaut who hold world flying records for speed an precision, an astronaut who piloted each of his four Shuttle missions.

So. Cool.

Astronaut Hoot Gibson and I. Hoot is wearing the Endeavour shirt

he wore when he piloted his third Shuttle mission.

Now for my next astronaut of the year. Astronaut Chris Cassidy. If any of you have heard about the astronaut whose space suit leaked during a spacewalk and made it impossible for him to see or hear, and limited his abilities to breathe or speak, then this was an astronaut you'd want to meet. Chris Cassidy was not that astronaut. He was the astronaut on the spacewalk with the other astronaut (whose name is Luca Parmitano, an Italian astronaut). He was the astronaut who was basically solely responsible for keeping the other one alive. That alone is a pretty amazing feat, and hearing him tell the story was pretty incredible. The story included details about their tethering, their space walk mission, the sun going down at the least opportune time, and having to feel their way, quickly, but without jostling Luca too much, and the most basic of human instincts to keep your friend alive at all costs. I can't even try to do justice to the story, so I won't. Below is my picture of us:

This post has already ended up longer than I planned, so I'll write about my actual work instead of my work-related fun sometime soon.

Token Puppy shot: