Posted for the (junior) scriblet who has one week of freedom left. Sort of, since bandcamp was last week and that season has started – meaning YHS and the missus will have no social life for the next 4 months outside of band…
Ahhh, memories. Did marching band for 8 years back in the day. Was even a drum major. August in NoVA was always great time to be wearing a heavy wool uniform (think dress whites but thicker) and carrying a 50 pound brass Sousaphone. Mom and dad were always there, either as chaperones or spectators. Footbal games every Friday night, and competitions every (!) Saturday for all 4 years of High School. Great fun and I leaned more about teamwork and leadership there than anywhere else. ‘Tis an underappreciated field of endavour for those who’ve never tried it.
… and fundraisers, don’t forget the fundraisers This is our 11th straight year of marching band (counting the 4 years we had down in Chesapeake w/yon furry -headed oldest son). Both programs were/are excellent, but the one up here in NoVA has been a Virginia Honor Band for 15 consecutive years (since the HS was founded). Great kids to work with and watch perform – gives one a bit of optimism for our nation’s future working with them…
- SJS
The Dream Chaser model with its Atlas V launch vehicle is undergoing final preparations at the Aerospace Composite Model Development Section's workshop for buffet tests at the Transonic Dynamics Tunnel at NASA Langley. The scale model is being tested as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Development program to regain the American capability to launch astronauts safely to the International Space Station. The lifting body reusable spacecraft would carry as many as seven astronauts to the space station. Sierra Nevada Space Systems is developing the craft under a Space Act Agreement with NASA. With the help of hundreds of pressure transducers, engineers from Sierra Nevada Corporation, the United Launch Alliance and NASA Langley will look at the pressure fluctuations the model and launch vehicle stack experience during the critical ascent to orbit, especially at transonic speeds. Shock-waves form on launch vehicles as they approach the speed of sound and may result in regions of highly unsteady flow. Within these regions of the Dream Chaser and launch vehicle, the resulting buffet forces and high frequency acoustic noise must be clearly understood as part of the vehicle design process. Transonic wind-tunnel testing of large, highly instrumented scale models is the only method of determining the buffet environments of launch vehicles with complex shapes. Image Credit: NASA EDGE/Ron Beard Read More
Now Reading
Planned books:
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Current books:
Strategic Culture and Weapons of Mass Destruction: Culturally Based Insights into Comparative Nation by Kerry M. Kartchner, Jeannie L. Johnson, Jeffrey A. Larsen
Bankrupting the Enemy: The U.S. Financial Siege of Japan Before Pearl Harbor by Edward S. Miller
The Admirals: Nimitz, Halsey, Leahy, and King–The Five-Star Admirals Who Won the War at Sea by Walter R. Borneman
Ahhh, memories. Did marching band for 8 years back in the day. Was even a drum major. August in NoVA was always great time to be wearing a heavy wool uniform (think dress whites but thicker) and carrying a 50 pound brass Sousaphone. Mom and dad were always there, either as chaperones or spectators. Footbal games every Friday night, and competitions every (!) Saturday for all 4 years of High School. Great fun and I leaned more about teamwork and leadership there than anywhere else. ‘Tis an underappreciated field of endavour for those who’ve never tried it.
… and fundraisers, don’t forget the fundraisers
This is our 11th straight year of marching band (counting the 4 years we had down in Chesapeake w/yon furry -headed oldest son). Both programs were/are excellent, but the one up here in NoVA has been a Virginia Honor Band for 15 consecutive years (since the HS was founded). Great kids to work with and watch perform – gives one a bit of optimism for our nation’s future working with them…
- SJS
Totally forgot about that fund-raising. I must have blocked out those memories of selling wrapping paper and mail-order cheesecake door-to-door.