Guys, DREAMS DO COME TRUE! Life is amazing and the people that you meet along the way are magical. When Bob went out to watch the Falcon Heavy last February, he just happened to sit by Justin Foley on the plane ride home. Well, Justin works at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, and he personally invited us to come and take a tour whenever we were out in CA. Bob was like a kid in a candy shop.
Not only were we able to make it fit beautifully into our Cali Coast Adventure, but Aunt Darcie, Uncle Brent, Nathan, and Jess got to go with us! Nathan is an avid space buff, and he loves Uncle Bob. I think it was an amazing moment for Bob to be able to take not only his girls, but his buddy nephew. What a fantastic day we had!
We showed up right on time, and Justin was waiting with personalized name badges for all of us. Won't lie, we all felt pretty official.
Justin started us in the museum area of the Visitor Center, where they have mock ups of all the probes, satellites, and equipment that NASA has launched into space. It was a great way to get started. Technology is an amazing thing and the incredible men and women who engineered all of that equipment are truly remarkable.
Much of what we saw at JPL was a little lost on me, but the enormity of talent represented on campus wasn't. I watched my girls surrounded by greatness and was hit with the possibilities. Dare Mighty Things ladies......the world and beyond needs you!
Justin took us to the command center, and I will admit, this room was my favorite. So much achievement was witnessed, experienced, and celebrated right here and in the adjoining rooms. There was just something about the colors, the lights, and watching the current satellite information update in real time. Pretty cool.
All throughout the campus everywhere you looked there were engineering marvels headed for space travel. So much testing, planning, building, and mechanical brilliance goes into the final product and it was amazing to see.
I think the highlight of the entire trip was the Rover practice grounds We had one of the most unique experiences because the replica of the "actual" 2020 Rover, which is usually kept under tight lock and key, was out in the open for us to meet personally. It was grounded and we had to be very careful not to get close to it, but this is the mock up of what will actually be launched to Mars for exploration! So cool!
Bob could tell you all the specs, but one thing I was BLOWN AWAY by, is its incredible speed. I mean wow......this thing moves at 10cm per minute. I mean, that is a 28 hour marathon pace. Smokin.' It really does make sense though because there is a signal delay between here and there. So in a nutshell, the thing CANNOT flip over......its got to go SSSSSSLLLLLLOOOOOWWWWW and steady. After all, if it malfunctions or tips over its 15 minutes before we know and then a lot of time before we can do anything about it!
The final stop on our tour was the clean room environment where they are currently constructing the actual rover that will be going to Mars in 2020. There are only a handful of people that will ever get to go into that room, but that my friends will one day walk on Mars.
I won't lie, seeing the actual equipment that will make the journey was a surreal and exciting experience. That belief that we can do really exciting things and go to really exciting places lives in all of us.
The tour ended and we were all a little bit wiser and a lot more excited to watch Justin and his team get their gear to MARS. I am looking forward to 2020.
We left and made our way to Chic-fil-a. While we were there one of Bob's friends from high school, AKA last seen 18 years ago, noticed that we were in Pasadena right next to him. Thanks to the power of technology, Christian hopped on over to the restaurant and we spent a good hour meeting him and reconnecting old friends. What an amazing world we live in!
Our day at NASA JPL was incredible and a time we won't soon forget! To infinity and BEYOND!
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