So you're forever forty-two?

Hmmm... let's put it this way... the cake bought for me for my 21st birthday was just 4 days old when I sat crying in front of the TV, watching live coverage of pieces of Challenger spiralling and fluttering down into the pacific.

You'll be old when the cost of the candles will excess the cost of the cake

This Christmas, I will celebrate the 9th anniversary of my 21st birthday

Doug

And your 10.000 post

I'll just sneak in here to say Hello so as not to make a spectacle of myself.
Lurker for a few months; registered yesterday- so, newbie to the board; oldster to space.

Professional highlights-
'60's/'70's: Degree in oceanographic technology, Florida Tech; wire jockey for Skylab stuff at the Cape- GSE, SCE & onboard power.
'70's/'80's: Worked in public safety comms (EMS & Fire); audio engineer for Burt Reynolds productions.
'80's/'90's: Chief engineer for "Jules Undersea Lodge"; worked with Scott Carpenter on underwater stuff.
'90's/00's": Contracting engineer for NASA Life Sciences; engineer & office manager for marine electric company.

So based on this, I'm pushing 60!

Very knowledgeable group here, and lots of interesting reading to 'catch up' on!
See y'all around! _>^^<

Welcome aboard the USS UMSF SpaceCat, good to have you here.

Welcome, cute avatar!

What? Not HMS?

Must be HMS, surely!

I appear to be just a bit older than Viking 1. Strangely, that makes me feel both very young and very old! I mean, like, how ancient is Viking?? That was totally the Medieval age of Mars exploration.

--Emily

Followed by the dark age.

But now we're in the Renaissance!

Hi all:

I'm 39 (Born 4 weeks before the first Moon landing in Austin TX - took a boat! back to Italy few weeks later!). Wife and 2 children.

Father is an astronomer, but I was too shocked having to endure all this telescopes in strange places to actually be interested in astronomy.
Somehow ended up following the then-girlfriend in California and getting a job at JPL in the communications divisions.

Worked as a telecom system engineer in few projects. Few never made it to launch (Europa orbiter ... and would you believe it we were working on MSR on 1999 for a launch in 2003&2005? but a lot of the young talent developed in those days indeed contributed to something launching in 2003). Two did not make it (the 2 DS2 probes).
Finally success with Odyssey and the MERs.

I've left MER at the end of the primary mission (that's quite a long time ago!) and that's when I started reading this forum. Yes, it was easier to read this forum, then to go to mission control in a different building. Worked on MSL until CDR 1 year ago ...

... then we decided to go back across the pond to old Europe for a lot of reasons ... we still ended up in England which at least culturally in mid-way.
I still work in the space business even if at the moment not for a science mission. So I need to use this forum + Emily's wonderful blog for the latest around the solar system.

Apologies for the long saga.
Cheers, Andrea

Blatant Star Trek reference, to go with the recent "Red shirt" comments guys...

Ah! United Star Ship. Appropriate, but easily misconstrued.

And welcome, Andrea.

I'm a day younger than the world famous Parkes Radio Telescope - "The Dish".
46 - Enjoying 5 years of married life and 7 years as a space educator at the Canberra DSN - the other dishes!
Astro0