Jan. 22 Midnight Moon

Last night / this morning around midnight, the beautiful moon peeked through a windy sky full of cloud cover. These are three of my photos from my Canon Powershot 50x zoom :-)
I love that little camera! These I've posted here are copied from my FB post so quality isn't as fabulous as the raw file on my laptop at home, but still looks decent enough.

On Being the Solar System ( @The_SolarSystem )

Hi, I'm your Solar System, it's very nice to meet you!

As I've just crossed the 20,000 follower mark on twitter, I wanted to say a few words about being space itself :-) That many followers is truly not a huge deal for a ton of people, but for me, it's cool. I've very carefully watched who follows me and taken care to note that, truly, most are genuine and active scientists, astronomers, science organizations, and space super fans. That's exciting! As a NASA Solar System Ambassador program volunteer, I have the opportunity to reach a great audience in person. It is such an honor! I've had several presentations this year and have some big ones in the works for next year (A big Music of the Spheres concert......then, a panel of guests to discuss science, faith, space exploration, and the big questions of life). On Twitter, I also get to talk to people about space and various missions. My account is not the NASA account (@NASASolarSystem - which you should definitely follow), but mine is also a space news service. It is both that and a personal account, as the 4.568 to 6 billion-year-old entity, the Solar System. Here are ten things about me. As space itself, I have a unique perspective :-)

                                  

It's been tremendously fun interacting with all of my followers over the two years of being spacey! Here are some of the highlights in screenshots and list!

- Meeting so many space science fans
- Interacting with space and science organizations
- Promoting STEM and STEAM education in a fun way
- It keeps me joyfully reading and on my toes with space science and launches!
- Humor! The interactions between real people can be very funny, but is almost always hilarious when inanimate objects, planets, nebulae, galaxies, spacecraft etc. start tweeting!

                                

- Occasionally, I live-tweet a launch or other NASA event. It is SO MUCH FUN to be online and part of the chatter that goes on and to feel the excitement of what's happening even if you're not actually there! MSL Curiosity's landing, ISS launches, and the Philae lander's release from the Rosetta spacecraft and landing on Comet #67P are examples.

                                 

                               

- Questions from people about space, science, and exploration: Fairly often, I am asked a question and I do take the time to answer. If I don't know the answer, I do some research and if I still can't find the answer, I point them to an expert! I always learn a bunch in the process.
- Conversations from young people around the world. One of my favorites was a conversation about how to be a scientist and how to stay in the know about space from a child in Pakistan. He asked me some great questions and I was able to share some online resources with him and give him some encouragement. Another time, it was a memorable conversation from someone in Japan who is very very ill and shares my same admiration for all things space.
- Astronomers share their photography with me. This is a special treat! Photographs they want to be seen, their amazing ongoing projects and photography work, and sometimes breaking photos of events such as the total solar eclipse that took place over a very thin line in remote locations. 
- Sometimes, someone asks me to say happy birthday to someone, from space :-) 

                               

- Sharing: I've been able to share content, photos, and space humor that I love! Plus seeing major organizations have fun exchanges is extra fabulous!

- The big guys interact sometimes! My personal favorites and the ones with whom I've interacted the most over time are The Canadian Space Agency, ESA's Rosetta spacecraft, NASA Dawn, and Astronaut Cady Coleman.

So, with all that said, if you follow @The_SolarSystem, 

THANK YOU and keep looking up!

NASA Social #StateOfNASA at John C. Stennis Space Center

I was VERY fortunate to be selected to attend the NASA Social event for the #StateOfNASA address given on Monday, February 2, 2015! 

Here is a bit more about the event. I chose the John C. Stennis Space Center because it's close to me than any other AND I have been remiss in not visiting it these past years I've lived in New Orleans! It was about time! 

"If it goes to space, it goes through Mississippi!"
"If it has engines, it goes through Mississippi"
~ Charles F. Bolden, Administrator of NASA

Here's an article The University of New Orleans put out and I am SO excited and happy that they didn't alter my quotes. I truly feel this way about STEM / STEAM education and space exploration!

The day was AMAZING! I got to meet the movers and shakers at the John C. Stennis Space Center, have behind-the-scenes tours, ask questions about the programs and work done there, watch a live broadcast of the national #StateOfNASA address with other media, and be one of the voices of Stennis during this day. It was such an incredible honor and I absolutely LOVE and admire the important work being done there. There were only three of us so I truly felt like I had a significant voice that day! We also got to go out to the engine testing stands - the GIGANTIC B-stand and both A stands. The Stennis Center, grounds, fee area, and buffer zones are absolutely massive. NOAA offices, various research buildings, and universities also share the grounds. 

After that, we spend some time inside the Aerojet Rocketdyne building and got to see engines being put together in various stages. 

There was even a room where 1.6 billion dollars worth of finished engines were being stored under giant white tarps (being pumped with dry air). SO COOL!!! I am planning to take a group of UNO Physics students up to visit Stennis! I'm including the link to my twitter transcript for that day in this blog post because it's too long to paste the text, shared articles, and photos! Here's the LINK Do check it out if you have time!

I was tweeting under myself @Conductor222 and The Solar System @The_SolarSystem 

Though it's rather lengthy, I'm thrilled that I was able to get so much information out about what I was experiencing, what we learned about Stennis' role, and fun times during the day. I was able to do it with two twitter accounts. Most of my Solar System followers are scientists, photographers, educators, big space fans, folks who work on NASA missions, some NASA missions themselves, and even accounts such as ESA's Rosetta and the CSA. I'm pretty proud of the fact that the account has a solid science, space, and STEM reach. I also learned a TON by preparing a few info. tweets beforehand from articles I had read about the work that has been done at Stennis!

I hope you enjoy reading about it!

https://twitter.com/search?f=realtime&q=%23StateOfNASA%20OR%20%23NASASocial%20OR%20%23NASAStennis%20OR%20%23Stennis%20from%3AThe_SolarSystem%20OR%20from%3AConductor222%20since%3A2015-02-02%20until%3A2015-02-03&src=typd

@The_SolarSystem is NOW ON FACEBOOK TOO :-)

OK, I finally (and happily) caved in and made a Solar System FB page. A number of my twitter peeps have been asking for it and that makes me very happy! I'm planning super interesting articles and awesomely stunning space photos etc. I invite you to give it a "LIKE" if you'd be so inclined You should also like the official NASA Solar System Exploration FB page so give that some love too! 

Here is the link to my small (but good) potatoes page.
https://www.facebook.com/SolarSystemAmbassador