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elfsToday was one of the best days I've had in a long time. Being laid off does have its advantages, number one being that I have time to chaperon my kids off to school events and other things like that. The school had arranged a field trip to the Boeing Museum of Flight, and that was not an opportunity to be missed.
When I got to the school, Yamaraashi-chan was thrilled to see me. "Are you embarrassed because I wore my kilt?"
Y-Chan "Yeah," she said, but her eyes were alight. "But it's very cool." Apparently, having her dad show up is still better than not. We boarded the school bus and were off. On the bus, the two boys in front of me blared music out of their tinny little cell phone. Behind me, two girls shared earbuds on another cell phone loaded with music. Yamaraashi-chan wanted me to make sure I got a picture of her in her Sooj t-shirt. The boys in the back of the bus moved in uniform, staring out the back window at whatever stimulus caught their attention.
Blue Angels Video
We arrived early and the exhibits weren't open yet. The Museum staff herded us into the theater and showed us a video of the Blue Angels, a Navy production which of course made it jingoistic, but in a good way. Our military deserves better attention than it usually gets. The video tried way too hard to show how, in the off season, the Angels staff reaches out to schools loaded with minorities and special needs students. The C-130 shown in one sequence is not the Angels'; I doubt the Angels use STOL rockets routinely on their cargo plane.
The video was quite old; the computers shown were late 80's or early 90's era greybox desktops running DOS software.
"Narrated by Earnest Borgnine." Wow.
Spaceflight Exhibit
After the video, we were allowed back into the main exhibit. It started with a lot of early 20th century rocketry. I was herding two girls (Yamaraashi-chan and her best friend) and five boys, and I kept asking odd questions like "What was the name of the first dog in space?" (Laika, and they knew the answer to that) and "How powerful were the computers on Apollo?" (Less than their cell phone, and they didn't know that.)
One boy was an exercise in patience. He didn't seem developmentally challenged; quite the opposite. But from the very moment we got into the Museum he was obsessed with the damned gift shop. Every time we moved from one exhibit to the next, he said, "Gift shop. We're going to the gift shop next, right?" "No, we're going to the Mars exhibit." "Gift shop!" Sigh.
The modern spaceflight exhibit was like home. Carl Sagan's sweater! The inside of the Apollo capsule! A mock-up of the space station! We discussed Spirit and Opportunity for a few minutes. "Why can't they just drive it by remote control?" one boy asked when we read about the on-board computer control.
"Because it takes as much as nineteen minutes for messages from Earth to get to the robot, and then that much time for the message to get back telling us whether or not it worked."
"Why can't they make it go faster?"
"Because the universe doesn't allow it. That's the speed of light. That's how fast radio signals go."
"Oh. That sucks!" Oh, well, kid, yeah it kinda does.
The space exhibit also includes some video game-like simulations of landing a LEM or the space shuttle, and the boys had to be pried off them with a crowbar.
Darkstar We went to the big plane exhibit. It's a vast room in which airplanes cover the ground and hang from the ceiling. The biggest plane there is the SR-71 Blackbird, a complete plane, but there's also a Lockheed Darkstar and a WW2 Corsair, and dozens of other planes.
As we walked through the display, my charges spotted another man wearing a utilikilt, a khaki-colored carpenter's kilt. We passed by each other and I leaned over to him and held out my hand. "My kids couldn't help point out that I wasn't the only man in here wearing a kilt."
"Mine, either," he said, returning the handshake. So there is a Utilitribe!
Air Force One and the Concorde
The last exhibit we had time for before lunch was the parked airplanes exhibit. It has two major draws: The first jet-powered Air Force One, and the Last Concorde. Getting there was a challenge: we had to walk past the gift shop.
The Concorde was disappointing; I now know how small that airplane is, but all of it was walled off with Plexiglas to keep people from adding their signatures to the signatures on each seat-- those of the last passengers of the last flight of the Concorde.
Air Force One was an exercise in youth management. Unlike the Concorde, the layout of Air Force One allowed the boys much more room to be rambunctious and despite the signs asking people to respect and stay off the furniture, the boys had to try and sit in Nixon's chair. Still, that was fun, and we talked about the safe where they kept The Football at the front of the plane. Nixon's office was fascinating.
After we left and started walking back toward the indoor museum, Yamaraashi-chan and her friend caught up with me while the boys ran. Her friend said, "You never stop teaching, do you?"
"Should I?"
"No, it's cool, Mr. Dude." Apparently, that's my nickname.
Since we had ten minutes to spare, I finally let them into the damned gift shop. As we were in there, my cell phone went off with the "time for lunch" alarm. I pulled it out and turned it off, then told everyone it was time for lunch.
Lunch: Yes, I have a Kilt, an Earring, and a Pink Cell Phone
Lunchtime While we were at lunch, Yamaraashi-chan said, "The boys think you're pretty odd, dad. You have a kilt, an earring in your right ear, and a pink cell phone. But I think you're cool."
"You have a pink phone?" her friend said. I pulled it out and showed it to her. "How can you have a pink phone?"
"I'm a very confident man," I told her.
I finished my sandwich and drink. While I sat around with Yamaraashi-chan and her friends, another boy from her class came up and said, "You know, you're not supposed to wear any underwear with one of those." I guess he meant my kilt. "What are you wearing under there?"
A whole bunch of answers came to mind. I finally said, "I'm wearing what I'm supposed to be wearing."
"Why don't you reach up and find out?" another boy teased him. He turned bright red and left.
Mission to Mars
After lunch, the museum had a special parties thing where two groups of kids were put through a mock "Mars Landing," one as the crew stranded on Mars, and the other as the relief crew. Halfway through the exercise they switch roles.
The Mars geek in me was rather disappointed with the presentation. The people giving it seemed tired and maybe a little burned out. It was Friday, and I learned that this was the sixth gaggle of kids they'd shepherded through this that week. Much was lost: the distinction between mass and weight, the radiation issue, stuff like that. One of the people giving the presentation said, "Mars is red because it has a lot of iron oxide. Knowing that is useful, because we can turn that into aluminum." Aluminum?
The software was all Apple-based, but well-hidden by the interface. The woman running the show clicked on various crises and solutions, at one point the crew was almost out of air, a camera broke down, probes were launched at Phobos and Deimos, and so forth and so on. Yamaraashi-chan was "Comm Ops," and she did a good job of relaying messages to the other team. There wasn't much for me to do; this was very much a scripted play.
Class picture After that, we finished up with class pictures and boarded the bus home. Yamaraashi-chan sat in the back with her friends, and I sat in the front, hanging out with the other parents.
It was a wonderful day. I spent it with my daughter, and at the Flight Museum, and it just doesn't get much cooler than that.
More photos are at Flickr.
When I got to the school, Yamaraashi-chan was thrilled to see me. "Are you embarrassed because I wore my kilt?"
Y-Chan
Blue Angels Video
We arrived early and the exhibits weren't open yet. The Museum staff herded us into the theater and showed us a video of the Blue Angels, a Navy production which of course made it jingoistic, but in a good way. Our military deserves better attention than it usually gets. The video tried way too hard to show how, in the off season, the Angels staff reaches out to schools loaded with minorities and special needs students. The C-130 shown in one sequence is not the Angels'; I doubt the Angels use STOL rockets routinely on their cargo plane.
The video was quite old; the computers shown were late 80's or early 90's era greybox desktops running DOS software.
"Narrated by Earnest Borgnine." Wow.
Spaceflight Exhibit
After the video, we were allowed back into the main exhibit. It started with a lot of early 20th century rocketry. I was herding two girls (Yamaraashi-chan and her best friend) and five boys, and I kept asking odd questions like "What was the name of the first dog in space?" (Laika, and they knew the answer to that) and "How powerful were the computers on Apollo?" (Less than their cell phone, and they didn't know that.)
One boy was an exercise in patience. He didn't seem developmentally challenged; quite the opposite. But from the very moment we got into the Museum he was obsessed with the damned gift shop. Every time we moved from one exhibit to the next, he said, "Gift shop. We're going to the gift shop next, right?" "No, we're going to the Mars exhibit." "Gift shop!" Sigh.
The modern spaceflight exhibit was like home. Carl Sagan's sweater! The inside of the Apollo capsule! A mock-up of the space station! We discussed Spirit and Opportunity for a few minutes. "Why can't they just drive it by remote control?" one boy asked when we read about the on-board computer control.
"Because it takes as much as nineteen minutes for messages from Earth to get to the robot, and then that much time for the message to get back telling us whether or not it worked."
"Why can't they make it go faster?"
"Because the universe doesn't allow it. That's the speed of light. That's how fast radio signals go."
"Oh. That sucks!" Oh, well, kid, yeah it kinda does.
The space exhibit also includes some video game-like simulations of landing a LEM or the space shuttle, and the boys had to be pried off them with a crowbar.
Darkstar
As we walked through the display, my charges spotted another man wearing a utilikilt, a khaki-colored carpenter's kilt. We passed by each other and I leaned over to him and held out my hand. "My kids couldn't help point out that I wasn't the only man in here wearing a kilt."
"Mine, either," he said, returning the handshake. So there is a Utilitribe!
Air Force One and the Concorde
The last exhibit we had time for before lunch was the parked airplanes exhibit. It has two major draws: The first jet-powered Air Force One, and the Last Concorde. Getting there was a challenge: we had to walk past the gift shop.
The Concorde was disappointing; I now know how small that airplane is, but all of it was walled off with Plexiglas to keep people from adding their signatures to the signatures on each seat-- those of the last passengers of the last flight of the Concorde.
Air Force One was an exercise in youth management. Unlike the Concorde, the layout of Air Force One allowed the boys much more room to be rambunctious and despite the signs asking people to respect and stay off the furniture, the boys had to try and sit in Nixon's chair. Still, that was fun, and we talked about the safe where they kept The Football at the front of the plane. Nixon's office was fascinating.
After we left and started walking back toward the indoor museum, Yamaraashi-chan and her friend caught up with me while the boys ran. Her friend said, "You never stop teaching, do you?"
"Should I?"
"No, it's cool, Mr. Dude." Apparently, that's my nickname.
Since we had ten minutes to spare, I finally let them into the damned gift shop. As we were in there, my cell phone went off with the "time for lunch" alarm. I pulled it out and turned it off, then told everyone it was time for lunch.
Lunch: Yes, I have a Kilt, an Earring, and a Pink Cell Phone
Lunchtime
"You have a pink phone?" her friend said. I pulled it out and showed it to her. "How can you have a pink phone?"
"I'm a very confident man," I told her.
I finished my sandwich and drink. While I sat around with Yamaraashi-chan and her friends, another boy from her class came up and said, "You know, you're not supposed to wear any underwear with one of those." I guess he meant my kilt. "What are you wearing under there?"
A whole bunch of answers came to mind. I finally said, "I'm wearing what I'm supposed to be wearing."
"Why don't you reach up and find out?" another boy teased him. He turned bright red and left.
Mission to Mars
After lunch, the museum had a special parties thing where two groups of kids were put through a mock "Mars Landing," one as the crew stranded on Mars, and the other as the relief crew. Halfway through the exercise they switch roles.
The Mars geek in me was rather disappointed with the presentation. The people giving it seemed tired and maybe a little burned out. It was Friday, and I learned that this was the sixth gaggle of kids they'd shepherded through this that week. Much was lost: the distinction between mass and weight, the radiation issue, stuff like that. One of the people giving the presentation said, "Mars is red because it has a lot of iron oxide. Knowing that is useful, because we can turn that into aluminum." Aluminum?
The software was all Apple-based, but well-hidden by the interface. The woman running the show clicked on various crises and solutions, at one point the crew was almost out of air, a camera broke down, probes were launched at Phobos and Deimos, and so forth and so on. Yamaraashi-chan was "Comm Ops," and she did a good job of relaying messages to the other team. There wasn't much for me to do; this was very much a scripted play.
Class picture
It was a wonderful day. I spent it with my daughter, and at the Flight Museum, and it just doesn't get much cooler than that.
More photos are at Flickr.
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Date: 2009-05-02 05:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-02 08:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-03 01:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-02 08:41 pm (UTC)Very cool trip, thanks for sharing it!
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Date: 2009-05-03 04:34 pm (UTC)