As you all know, last Friday morning the Space Shuttle Atlantis launched from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, defying the odds placed by every expert, and spitting in the face of NASA’s 30% likelihood that she would even get off the ground that day.

As one who witnessed the events first-hand, there’s no way you could have written a better script for this historic launch – the swan song of the Space Shuttle program.

I arrived in Orlando on Wednesday, July 6, knowing that the areas in and around Kennedy Space Center had been plagued all week by clouds, rain and thunderstorms – all of which spell death for any Space Shuttle launch.

What fascinated me more than anything else was the attitude of every Floridian I talked to. You could just sense the doubt in their voices and I couldn’t blame them either. For 30 years, they’ve witnessed Shuttle launches, and experienced the constant delays that became part of the Shuttle’s M.O.

Sure, I heard the token responses of hope like, “well, you never know”, or “hey, I’ve seen it go up when there’s only been a 10% chance.” Deep down, though, everyone including me knew it wouldn’t happen on Friday.

The next day, Thursday, was the first time all 150 NASA Tweetup tweeps met together. It was a day full of incredible speakers and VIP tours, but we still weren’t hearing what we wanted to hear.

With every NASA astronaut, engineer or administrator that talked to us, the general attitude was the same – we’re glad you’re here, what you’re doing is fantastic, but good luck seeing a Shuttle launch tomorrow.

Then, the storm came.

I’ve seen some pretty incredible storms before, but the one we experienced on Thursday ranks near the top. Thunderous rain forced speakers to basically yell into the microphone, leaks popped up at various spots throughout the Tweetup tent, lightning strikes forced NASA to prohibit anyone near the press area from walking outside and NASA TV had to shut down the broadcast from our tent because of safety concerns.

At that time, if anyone would have said, “Don’t worry, in less than 24 hours Atlantis will launch,” I would have bet my life savings against it. Good thing I didn’t.

Upon leaving Kennedy Space Center on Thursday, it was clear that, at best, we were looking at a Sunday launch. In fact, the NASA communications team repeatedly suggested that we look at our email for updates prior to making the trek to the Space Center on Friday. No email ever came.  Game on!

At 3 a.m. Eastern on Friday, my carpool buddy, Jess and I met to take the drive out to Kennedy Space Center. There, we would hook up with the rest of the NASA Tweetup participants. It was completely dark outside, and off in the distance sat Atlantis on the launch pad, basking in the light of massive spotlights.  By that point, NASA had already decided to move ahead with all launch preparations, a significant milestone, and the first of several unlikely milestones that would be achieved that morning.

The milestone that hit me the most was when the astronauts were shuttled down to the launch pad approximately three hours before launch. I thought to myself, “There’s no way NASA would go to this extreme if they weren’t serious about launching.” It was at that moment that I realized this thing might actually happen.

It’s hard to describe the feeling in the press area that day. In just a matter of hours, everyone’s attitude literally changed from frustration and let-down, to extreme excitement and anticipation. That’s a significant swing in such a short time, but it’s one that was incredible to witness.

Around 11:15 a.m. Eastern, the sun was shining and area surrounding the historic countdown clock was filled with thousands of spectators including reporters, anchors, producers, photographers, dignitaries, tweeters, and NASA employees. Most people were laughing and smiling…others were clearly nervous, pacing back and forth…a small minority were already getting emotional. Honestly, it was surreal.

As the final minute started counting down, I reflected on my fortunate situation. How lucky I was to even be a part of this experience – to be a part of history.

Then, at T-minus 31 seconds, it all came to a screeching halt.

Nobody around me knew exactly what was going on. We just knew there was a delay and NASA had a tiny window in which to fix it. My group didn’t have a direct view of the countdown clock, so, in all of the confusion, we didn’t realize it started back up. All we heard was the familiar phrase, “Go for main engine start.”

That’s all we needed to hear. A cheer went up from the crowd. It was time!

Instantly, everyone’s heads shifted to the launch pad, and before you knew it, we could see the signature puffs of smoke as the solid rocket boosters ignited.

We all watched Atlantis silently lift off the pad in a way that I can only describe as peaceful, graceful and elegant. You see, the sound hadn’t reached us yet. When it did, it was unbelievable. The shockwaves and the thundering sound were incredible…I didn’t want it to end.

Then, we all watched in awe as Atlantis disappeared into the clouds and that was it. She was gone.

Looking back, the decision to participate in the NASA Tweetup was a no-brainer. It’s an experience I’ll never forget, and I’m thrilled that I got to witness history. Unfortunately, I also share in the disappointment of many NASA employees and space fanatics when I say I wish there was something to replace the Space Shuttle program.

I’ll always have my memories and descriptions of this launch, but when you really think about it, those memories and descriptions can only go so far. I hope that one day my kids and everyone else for that matter, will have the chance to see a grander, more spectacular and louder launch than I got to see in July, 2011.

Many thanks to NASA for the opportunity to witness this incredible event, and many thanks to Clark Planetarium for letting me write about it. It’s been the ride of a lifetime for me and hopefully you got some enjoyment out of it as well.

My name is Paul. I’m 37-years-old, live in Kaysville, am married to my best friend, and am a father of five kids. I wouldn’t consider myself a “space geek” necessarily, but the idea of space travel has always intrigued me. Call me crazy, but the idea of strapping humans to massive rockets, and launching them into places that are still very much unexplored, is fascinating.

On Friday, June 10, I received an email from NASA confirming that I had been selected to attend the NASA Tweetup for the launch of STS-135 to the International Space Station…Space Shuttle Atlantis…the last launch in the Space Shuttle’s storied history. The email said it all. “Congratulations, you have been selected to attend the NASA Tweetup on July 7-8 for space shuttle Atlantis’ targeted launch at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida!”

It’s hard to describe exactly how I felt. I originally registered knowing that my unlucky past would continue to follow me. After all, it was my first time registering for a NASA Tweetup, and nearly 5,500 people around the country registered for the same opportunity. In the end, only 150 were chosen and I was one of them. Yeah, my luck had definitely changed.

Since being selected, I’ve done research and spoken to other Utahns fortunate enough to experience previous NASA Tweetups. Apparently, I’ll have access to places and things that most people never get to experience: a VIP tour of Kennedy Space Center; an opportunity to talk with shuttle technicians, engineers, astronauts, and managers; and a chance to witness the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis from the press area, located just 3.1 miles from the launch pad. As my brother, who lived in Florida for several years and witnessed many shuttle launches, told me on the phone, “I’ll bet you feel the ground shake!” Here’s hoping so!

Part of my responsibility between now and the launch will be to tweet about my experiences. If you feel so inclined, please follow me on Twitter @GoodGadd. You can also follow the official Twitter handle @NASATweetup, or the hashtag #NASATweetup.

Clark Planetarium has been kind enough to let me blog about the experience as well, which is an absolute treat! I’ll post updates about what’s going on before, during, and after the experience as often as possible. I hope you enjoy them.

To say that I’m excited about this opportunity is an understatement. My only hope in all of this is that I am able to do the experience justice!

Until next time…

Developed in cooperation with the popular Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center in Pleasant Grove, the iWorlds Space Center at Thanksgiving Point gives you the opportunity to go on a thrill ride through the universe. During the course of your mission you may encounter alien races, race to save entire planets and civilizations from destruction, meet rogue space pirates, fly your starship through asteroid belts, and battle with enemy spaceships. You’ll collaborate with your teammates to solve problems and successfully complete your mission. Bring your friends and family—the iWorlds Space Center experience will take you to places you’ve never been before.

Additional information on the iWorlds experience is available online. Call 801.768.2300 to reserve your place on an upcoming mission or to book one for your own group. Provide your Clark Planetarium membership number upon booking and receive a 10% discount.

Clark Planetarium/Red Butte Gardens Camps:

Mission to Mars/Bizarre and Amazing Plants Camp

July 11 – 15

5th – 6th grade (full day camp) $235

During the week of July 11 through 15, Clark Planetarium will be at Red Butte Gardens to teach campers about life on Mars.  Through experimentation and discovery, campers will learn all about our mysterious planetary neighbor.  This will be followed by an afternoon session about some seemingly other-worldly plants such as the Corpse Flower and the Dragon Blood Tree.

Out of this World Science/Weather Watchers Camp

July 18 – 22

3rd – 4th grade (full day camp) $235

During the week of July 18 through 22, campers will learn to explore “out of this world science” and Weather Watchers activities.  Campers will spend the first part of the day with our education staff learning how to build comets, design spacecrafts and perform a variety of other exciting experiments.  During the afternoon, they will continue learning about the physical world as they discover how Utah’s unique weather affects our local plants and animals.

For more information on our camps partnering with Red Butte Gardens, click here.

Clark Planetarium/Discovery Gateway Children’s Museum Camp:

Summer Science Adventure Camp

August 2,3,4

4th – 5th grade (full day camp) $195

Our Summer Science Adventure Camps give kids hands-on training that will inspire teamwork, creativity and innovation.  Campers will be challenged to see the world differently, whether it is looking at something a thousand times smaller than the diameter of a human hair, or larger than galaxies in the universe.  This three day camp will be jam packed with activities, games, and fun filled experiences.

Please email reservations@clarkplanetarium.org for more information on our camp partnering with Discovery Gateway Children’s Museum.

Although the Earth has survived thus far, there have been some close calls.  To date, scientists have confirmed 172 locations on Earth determined to be “impact structures” from meteors, asteroids, and pieces of comets. Two notable impacts are the devastation at Tunguska near the turn of the century, and the huge craters near Flagstaff, Arizona where an asteroid traveling at 26,000 miles per hour pummeled the Earth approximately 50,000 years ago.

Future objects descending onto our planet may be more than our Earth can handle.  Could a large asteroid with Earth in its sights be our doom?  Or perhaps a star a million times bigger than ours exploding and enveloping everything in its path?  Is the destruction of Earth eminent?

Violent Universe explores all of these questions and allows viewers to witness the raw power of the cosmos.  Experience the full intensity of our Hansen Dome Theatre with sprawling stars capes and phenomenal cosmic imagery.  Violent Universe: Catastrophes of the Cosmos opens February 18, 2011 and will play daily at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m., and at 6:45 p.m. on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  View the trailer or purchase tickets here.  Admission to this program is complimentary for current Clark Planetarium members.

Beginning June 5, 2010 at 6:45 p.m., “Gateway to the Stars”  will highlight some of the most prominent objects in the night sky each month, using them as examples to teach observing techniques that will help maximize the stargazing experience.

Audiences will learn to navigate using basic techniques involved in stargazing and finding their way around the night sky by becoming familiarized with stars and constellations, planets and other galactic objects visible to the naked eye. Viewers will also learn to explore deep sky objects like double stars, star clusters, nebulas and galaxies to gain insight and perspective on the different components of our universe.

This innovative and interactive experience combines the most recent technology, space imagery and current night sky information to give viewers a truly out of this world experience.  “Gateway to the Stars” begins on Saturday, June 5, at 6:45 p.m.

Tickets for the lecture series are free for Clark Planetarium members. Tickets for the general public are just $1 each or $2 0nline. “Gateway to the Stars” will be featured the first Saturday of every month in the Hansen Dome Theatre at 6:45 p.m.  Additional information and tickets can be found online.

Our new Summer Science Adventure Camps give kids hands-on training that will inspire teamwork, creativity and innovation.  Campers  will be challenged to see the world differently whether it is looking at something a thousand times smaller than the diameter of a human hair, or larger than galaxies in the universe.  The three day camp experience will be jam packed with activities, games, and fun filled experiences that you will cherish for years to come.

Clark Planetarium

What will be offered?

Adventure begins with Clark Planetarium’s Space Adventure Workshop.  Campers will be familiarized with astronomy, rocket propulsion and planetary exploration.  Campers will also participate in the Great Balloon Rocket Race, build launch straw rockets and leave with their own UV detection bracelet.  Then, the adventure continues at Discovery Gateway where campers will become official Discovery Gateway Curious Science Investigators.  As a CSI, kids investigate the basics of chemistry, learn to ask scientific questions and conduct their own scientific experiments.  Campers will learn the mysteries of M & M’s, identify colorful crystals and experiment with chemical change.

Discovery Gateway

What your child will take home:

• Summer Science Adventure T-shirt
• UV bracelet
• Straw rocket and Bernoulli blower
• Science in Action Lab worksheets
• “Let’s review” sheets
• “Think about it” take home sheets
• CSI lab folder and pen
• Certificate of completion

Why are we different?

1. We have fun down to a science.  We strive to promote education in a fun and entertaining environment.  With the partnership of Clark Planetarium and Discovery Gateway Children’s museum your children will get to explore over 50,000 square feet of exhibit space.

2. We are exclusive.  We only allow 20 participants per camp session to provide our campers with as much one-on-one attention as possible.

3. Our education staff loves what they are teaching.  Our camp activities are planned, conducted, and supervised by veteran educators trained in space and science education.

When?

Camps are being held June 29 – July 1, 2010 (3-4 grades) and July 13 – July 15, 2010 (5-6 grades).  Sessions will be from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Where?

• Morning drop off (8:30 am):  Clark Planetarium.  110 S. 400 W. SLC UT
• Afternoon pick up (4:30 pm):  Across the street at Discovery Gateway 100 S. 444 W. SLC UT

Cost?

$195 per session (15% discount for members of Clark Planetarium or Discovery Gateway).

To register call 801.456.4979

A detailed look at the evil pirate ship in Attack of the Space Pirates

Attack of the Space Pirates is that show.  It’s a 35-minute feature designed to keep children and adults engaged and entertained as they experience a wild ride through the galaxy on a journey with all of the great sci-fi story elements: mystery, conflict, intrigue, fun, ingenuity, battle, hope and discovery.  It’s our most ambitious digital dome cinema project to date, including amazing sound effects by George Lucas’ Skywalker Sound.

Join the crew of the Starship Intrepid and travel through hyperspace to visit real destinations. You’ll encounter supergiant stars, rogue planets, a black hole and more in your quest to find and assemble a wormhole generator. On your journey, you’ll use real science to help solve the numerous challenges thrown your way. If you survive the dangers of space, a band of pirates will be waiting to take what is yours.  You’ve never experienced an immersive adventure like this!

Bring your family with showings daily.  Visit our website for  more details, the show trailer and show times!

“If the speed of light is the highest attainable speed, why can’t it escape a black hole?”

First, a few words about the speed of light, which is indeed the fastest speed attainable through space.  How fast is it?

The speed of light: It's not just an engineering challenge - it's the law.

The speed of light is 299,792,458 meters per second.  That works out to about 186,000 miles per second.

Trying to go at or faster than light through space requires inventing exotic new mathematics that permit real number answers to equations that involve division by zero and square roots of negative numbers. If you can figure out how to do this sort of math, a Nobel prize is yours for the asking.

The speed of light is more than just a zillion times faster than we’ve ever been able to achieve with our technology, it’s also a fundamental constraint on everything – both matter and energy – in the universe.

So if nothing is faster than light, than how can a black hole “trap” light?

Light is trapped in black holes because black holes bend space itself.

All objects with mass curve the space around them.  Objects with little mass, such the Earth and Moon, only curve space a tiny amount, while objects with the mass of stars curve space a lot more. For a really massive object, like a black hole, the curvature of space they create in their vicinity is so severe that space is wrapped completely around itself.

Here’s a way to create a model of a black hole:

Take a sheet of paper.  That’s the universe.  To keep things simple, let’s declare that this is a one-dimensional universe, in that objects within this universe all exist along a single mathematical line and they can move in one direction only – left and right along that line.  In this 1-d universe there is no such thing as moving up and down on the paper, nor can you be anywhere except on the paper.

A one-dimensional universe. Everything exists on a straight line.

To get from the left side of the paper (we’ll call that point “A”) to the right side of the paper (we’ll call that point “B”) you have to move in a straight line on the surface of the paper.

Without massive objects being present, the 1-d universe lies completely flat, and the shortest route (indeed, the only route) between A and B is along that flat straight line.  So far so good.  The shortest path between two points in flat universe is along a straight line.

But what if you introduce a massive object, like a star, into your 1-d universe?

The mass of the star bends space itself.  You, living on the paper in this simplified universe, don’t see this curvature because your line of sight can only follow the line through space.  Seen with the benefit of having extra dimensions (as you are when you hold the paper) you see a straight line traveling on a curved piece of paper. Is the line still straight?  YES.  It’s the space itself that’s curved.

The line from A to B really is straight, it just travels through curved space.

In this 1-d universe imagining a jump from A to B without following the straight line is the equivalent of imagining a science-fiction jump through “hyperspace.”

What if the object on the line of your paper is so massive that it curves space completely around on top of itself?  What if point B were inside the region where the curvature of space exceeds 360 degrees?

Then you’d have a black hole.  Traveling along a straight line from A to B (as you must in this 1-d universe) you’d encounter a place where space had wrapped around itself and once you enter this region, no matter how fast you go, even at the speed of light, you can never leave.

That’s a 1-d black hole.

Once inside a black hole, you can't ever leave no matter how fast you're going.

Now try imagining a point in space where space itself has been curved on top of itself in all dimensions – left-right, up-down, forward-backward, and time itself.

Black holes capture light (thus making them “black”) because light is trapped within a region of infinitely inward-curving space.

In a real-world Black Hole, space curves on top of itself in all dimensions.

The term “mind-bending” seems appropriate, don’t you think?