Walking on the Moon

OK, so they aren't exactly walking on the moon but they are walking on the sand dunes near our house that they say is like the moon's surface (when you kick the ground it floats up like powder). NASA has been here for a couple weeks (really, I'm not kidding) testing out prototype robots and gear they plan to take to the moon by 2020 to build an outpost landing. So in an attempt to be fun (sometimes it's hard for me) and see what's going on around us in this little town, which usually isn't much, we went out to the sand dunes to see the NASA guys. Our first trip was on Sat but we didn't get to see the men in their suits so we headed back out today after school.

This is The Chariot. It has 12 wheels and each set of wheels can turn in dependently and this thing can move around in circles. With people on it, a remote close by or in the case the other day it was being moved by computer clear in Houston, TX.

They were all so nice. A man came over to talk to us and let the kids sit on the robot while it wasn't working. He said after all, it's 'our' money that pays for these robots and his salary. He's right so I said, 'Go sit on it kids'. He confessed to being an engineering nerd that loved robots. He told the kids to study robots in school and maybe one day they could work for NASA. I'm not even sure they were listening at this point but I laughed at his nerd joke.

This crane took that box, moved it to The Chariot, set it down, picked it back up again and lifted it to the platform. I'm not sure why that is so important but at least 10 guys were watching with great interest, ha!

We waited quite a while for them to get their suits on and by this time, the kids were actually more interested in the sand, go figure.

Notice all the people watching to make sure he got on The Chariot safely, ha. Their walkie talkies were going like crazy. Kathryn thought all of it was voice activated and was a little disappointed when I told her it wasn't.

The kids were waving at them like crazy but they couldn't wave back. I guess their suits weigh 500 pounds. I keep wondering if I read that wrong in the paper, I should google it, ha!

They drove around and up this hill (that's another prototype robot behind them. They call that the Winnebago of the group whatever that means) and back down again. I'm being cynical here but it all seems so small and I'm sure it's costing no small amount of $$$.

There are 3 of the robots in this picture. The one off to the right was really fast and the kids thought it was funny. They wanted to control it. Who knows what they will remember about seeing these astronauts and robots. It was a distraction and an outing and this afternoon, I was all over it for sanity's sake.

I should have taken a picture of the kids playing in the sand, totally oblivious to what was going on around them. They loved that sand so lets hope they remember some of the space stuff and not just the sand mountains they made.

We had to hurry home to a hungry 5 month old, dinner and clean up the whole crew to get ready for Nathan's kindergarten graduation. I took some video and I wont promise to figure out how to post it, but if I do, it's worth watching him sing. He's so enthusiastic (and that's an understatement).