[X] My Assistant

[scalbers]

Greetings,

I received an interesting email from Carolyn Porco about SpaceFest 2009. I'm considering attending perhaps.

This is a combination of Unmanned and Manned spaceflight. It is in San Diego in February. Is anyone from UMSF planning to go?

http://www.spacefest.info/

Steve

[aggieastronaut]

I'll be there! Flying in Thursday, out Sunday.

[djellison]

Lots of posts about Autographs deleted. Totally off topic for the thread, and the forum.

[ilbasso]

My post was deleted, Ms. Bean, but I will be there. I look forward to meeting you.
Jonathan

[lyford]

I am hoping to be there as well, at least for part of it. Can't afford the golf bit

[aggieastronaut]

Just wanted to announce that the schedule's up. I'll be at JPL Friday so I'll miss a couple good talks (I know, feel sorry for me or something...) but I'll definitely be there all day Saturday, especially to see my boss talk.

[lyford]

Thanks for the heads up!
Anybody else coming into town? We should plan a UMSF get together - maybe some Magaritas in Old Town? Didn't get the tickets for the "celebrity" dinner parties....
Gonna be some tough decisions on Friday for the talks.

[ilbasso]

If we are identifying ourselves as UMSF, though, we need to keep our conversations on topic!! Maybe we should wear hats that we can don or doff in case we stray out of acceptable areas!

[djellison]

we need to keep our conversations on topic!!

Seriously - even off board - politics can get heated REAL quick The UMSF dinner in NYC a last summer being a classic example - with someone commenting in my ear "Now I see why Politics is banned"




Doug

[lyford]

And I don't think these will help much, either.

[nprev]

Good grief; what's that drink called, 'Rehab In A Cup'???

[ilbasso]

For those who are fans of biologically-infested spaceflight, the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation has just opened up reservations for the November 6-8 2009 autograph and memorabilia show at KSC. Only $1000 for a Platinum Plus pass!! Stick around until Nov 12 and you might see a biologically-infested space vehicle lift off from Pad 39A.

I'll be there, too! This is my year to take space tours!

[aggieastronaut]

Whoo hoo, next week!

And did anyone else get an e-mail from them today? Is it *really* $10 for *each* talk on Saturday? 'Cause that pretty much means I can't to any.

[Niv]

hello!

I'm a student at the University of Toronto, Canada & I'll be attending the conference with another female student. (we're part of the Astronomy & Space Society there: http://asx.sa.utoronto.ca/). We'll be staying at the Town & Country resort from Feb 19-23 are looking for 1 or more people with whom we can share the room to split the cost. If anyone is interested or might know someone who is, please let me know as soon as you can, preferably before the morning of Feb 17th.

Thank you & see you there!

Niv

[lyford]

Looks like we will have a few UMSF'ers in attendance! Who's up for a meetup in Old Town or the Gaslamp? Old Town is near the hotel - probably best for those without cars. What's best - Friday or Saturday night for everyone?

And dare we bring our 3d glasses?

[aggieastronaut]

I'm up for whenever. I suppose Friday before I'm poor paying for talks on Saturday.

[ilbasso]

Hey, be sure to put your UMSF handle on your name tag!

I got here in San Diego today. Had dinner tonight in Old Town at El Agave Tequileria. Muy bueno!! Absolutely fabulous food and tequilas (over 150 different brands available)...but it will set you back quite a few pesos. Dinner for two tonight was $160!

Jonathan "Il Basso" Ward

[lyford]

Yikes - that's a bit rich for my bank account right now....

Old Town is near the hotel, but there has to be some more "reasonable" places - we'll find something.

Friday night works for me as well, though I may be late for the conferences due to work. Anyone else in town?

[DDAVIS]

Anyone else in town?
[/quote]


I will be there, showing three digital 'paintings' at the art show, imcluding a new work of the plumes of Enceladus.

Don

[mhoward]

Had dinner tonight in Old Town at El Agave Tequileria.

Mmm, expensive Mexican food. I so wish I was there.

[lyford]

Anyone in town and up for cheap(er) food tonight. PM me!

I can't make the talks today because of work, but I should see some of you tomorrow... if not tonight.

[ilbasso]

Incredible day today! Alan Stern had a great presentation on New Horizons. The real shame is that they put him up against Andrew Chaikin, and then charged $10 per person to hear Alan talk, so there were very few people in the room for his presentation. My wife and I had a great time talking with Alan several times later on in the day. He's a great fellow! Alan's was the only talk I went to today...I was spending most of my day talking to the biological organisms that infected many American spacecraft between 1963 and 1996.

[aggieastronaut]

I too had an incredible day, but that's because I spent most of it at JPL and had a wonderful time with a few UMSFers, Twitterers, et al. I did show up ~4pm and spent most of my time also talking to the biological organisms, as ilbasso mentions. And I spent my evening with Lyford, and we covered pretty much every banned subject, but with no heated arguing. Photo coming soon!!!

[lyford]

Despite Doug's Sage Advice, we quickly strayed into "Treacherous Territory": Politics, Religion, Mac/PC, Manned/Unmanned, Inner Planets/Outer Planets - even Spirit/Opportunity! Good thing there were no mods at Starbucks....

I will try to say on topic (in real life and online) tomorrow.

[ilbasso]

Had some very interesting discussions with Alan Stern yesterday afternoon and evening which definitely went deep into "Treacherous Territories!"

FYI, I was fascinated to get a taste of how many scientists -- and astronauts -- lurk among the readers of the forum. One in particular told me he would not 'uncloak' because he didn't want to bias the discussions.

[aggieastronaut]

Here's a photo of a few UMSFers this afternoon! The link should work regardless of whether you have Facebook or not.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3002...p;id=1542570158

[lyford]

And for those who missed Dr. Alfred McEwen's great talk on HiRISE, here's a virtual simulation:


You haven't lived until you have seen Melas Chasma in 3D on a GIANT SCREEN

[aggieastronaut]

You haven't lived until you have seen Melas Chasma in 3D on a GIANT SCREEN

I second that. And you can't beat the custom HiRISE r/b glasses.

[Stu]

Meeting Apollo astronauts, 3D lectures, cuddling up to Geordi LaGorge, jeez, that seems like a really boring day you had... glad I wasn't there...! ;-)

[ilbasso]

Yeah, it was a pretty ho-hum couple of days out here! (NOT!!) What a joy to get to meet and hear Carolyn Shoemaker, Carolyn Porco, Peter Smith, Alan Stern, and other leaders in the exploration of our solar system and beyond. It was also a special treat to meet Lyford and Keri!

My number one take-away from these lectures: My own Powerpoint presentations are DAMNED boring! I need to spice them up like those of our keynote speakers!!

[Stu]

I shouldn't worry; I expect they might just have access to better resources and material than you, my friend! ;-) The fact that you ARE doing the presentations is the main thing; people out there are desperate to learn about what's going on Out There, and whoever I give an Outreach talk to - pensioners, farmers, Women's Institutes, schoolkids or retired engineers (now there's a tough crowd!) - I come out 1) impressed by their interest in the subject and 2) buzzing with enthusiasm all over again.

[aggieastronaut]

Here's all my photos from this weekend. Same deal as before, you shouldn't need Facebook to look at these.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2000...158&l=c133e

[Juramike]

Glad to see I'm not the only one taking pictures of pretty geology out the airplane window.
(...and did you use them to figure your exact route on Google Earth? )