RIP Twinkies (1930 - 2012)

Fare thee well, childhood friend.

First, the east coast got destroyed by a mutant super storm, which caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage and killed 132 people, and now we lose the Twinkie?! I'm starting to think those Mayans knew something.

Godspeed Norm

Norm Grabowski working on the Kookie Kar from the April, 29 1957 issue of Life Magazine.

Wayne "The Train" Hancock at Rodeo Bar NYC

Last Saturday, Gala and I went to see Wayne Hancock - one of my all-time favorite musicians. Wayne never dissapoints as he transports you back to the days of Hank Williams and Jimmie Rodgers through his special blend of country, western swing and blues.

Here are two of my personal favorites:

Inside The Space Shuttle Enterprise

Note: Well the Shuttle Exhibit has been open for a week so I'm re-posting the articles I took down prior to the Enterprise' big unveiling as pretty much anybody can go and visit the exhibit and take their own photos. Besides, a quick search on google will reveal hundreds of interior shots of the orbiter.

Now that The Space Shuttle Enterprise is safely aboard the Intrepid, we needed to get her ready for the exhibit's opening on July 17th. When I first arrived in the morning I expected that work to be mainly external cosmetic repairs. To my surprise, I was greeted by two of Johnson Space Center's Shuttle technicians and a ladder leading to an open hatch within the starboard rear wheel well. A lot of rain water had seeped into the orbiter during its stay in JFK airport and we needed to begin opening the hatches and dry her out.

As far back as I can remember, I've been obsessed with NASA and the space program. As a kid (and yes, even as an adult) I've dreamed of becoming an astronaut. While other kids idolized athletes like Wayne Gretzky or Don Mattingly, the men and women of the astronaut corps were my heroes. So getting the opportunity to help maintain an actual Space Shuttle with the Aircraft Restoration Team on the Intrepid comes pretty close to living out those dreams.

Draped over the Enterprise is the dome which, when inflated, will house her.

The orbiter's vin tag: serial #001 (not #1 or #01) Were they planning on building a couple hundred of these things? Space Shuttles for everyone!!!

The cargo bay. (Facing towards the flight deck) The upright "V" structure is for ballast.

Working away in a small crawlspace located in the aft part of the cargo bay. (Directly below where I took the previous photo)

An inside view of the cargo bay doors.

Who says volunteering doesn't open interesting doors (or hatches) for you?

A view from out the hatch

I'm actually sitting in the cockpit of the Enterprise. (Commander's seat)

Ceramic tiles

After the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, the Enterprise was pulled out of retirement to perform impact tests and the effects of debris hitting the leading edge of the wing.

This decal, located on the port side landing gear door, is a tribute to the astronauts who lost their lives in Columbia on STS mission 107:

Commander Rick D. Husband, Pilot William C. McCool, Payload Commander Michael P. Anderson, Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon, Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla, Mission Specialist David M. Brown and Mission Specialist Laurel Clark.

If you would like to learn more about volunteer opportunities on the USS Intrepid visit their website here.

The Space Shuttle Enterprise (Part 2)

Just another day working on the Space Shuttle Enterprise OV-101

The tool for opening the Enterprise's main hatch

I guess they labeled it to prevent the tool from being mistaken for a very expensive socket with a piece of square steel welded to it.

Back in the cockpit. (Pilot's Seat)

The orbiter is packed with special foam padding covered in gold which is a reflective coating to protect against radiant heat and light in the intense environments of space exploration. Although it is not the most reflective material under normal light conditions, in the infrared spectrum, gold is the most durable and efficient material for reflecting infrared energy as a means of temperature control, reflecting 99 percent of infrared light.

While the Enterprise never made it to space, some of its parts have. This reinforced carbon-carbon panel on the leading edge of the starboard-side wing was removed from one of the space-flown orbiters during standard maintenance and was used to replace a missing fiberglass panel.

This series of titanium beams is the framework which holds the main engines to the orbiter. While identical to those found on the other orbiters, the Enterprise's engines are only mock-ups. In fact, the area where I took this photo is completely filled with all of the rocketry and plumbing on the functioning orbiters and getting this shot would be impossible.

One of the mock-up main engines. The familiar cone part of the engines are hidden on the other side of the green bulkhead by the Enterprise's tailcone

I'm just hangin' out...with the starboard-side main landing gear...of the Enterprise!

Just another typical day working on the Intrepid....

Hard at work getting the Space Shuttle ready for it's unveiling on July 19th

Pay no attention to the prototype orbiter behind me. There's absolutley nothing to see here.

Okay, so I posted a bunch of photos of the Enterprise prototype-airplane-looking-space-thingy taken during my long weekend working on it with the rest of the Aircraft Restoration Team. Unfortunately, the powers at be would like the work to remain hush hush until the Shuttle Pavillion display for the aforementioned prototype-space-thingy opens next month. I promise I'll share the photos when it's cool to do so.

In the meantime, here's what it definitely does NOT look like inside the Enterprise prototype-airplane-looking-space-thingy:

The Space Shuttle Arrives at the Intrepid!

The Space Shuttle Enterprise OV-101 made its way up the Hudson River today via barge and arrived at its new home, the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum around 1pm. The shuttle will be hoisted up onto the flight deck of the Intrepid where it will be on display until a permanent building across the street can be constructed.

I managed to get pretty close and took these photos:

:::UPDATE:::

Some photos of the Enterprise being moved to the flight deck of the Intrepid*:

*Photos via.