I've been following NASA on twitter and it is a BLAST!  

I've been following NASA on twitter and it is a BLAST!  There was a meeting yesterday about an upcoming launch.  Someone updated the twitter feed every few minutes.  Half the time I had no idea what they were talking about it but that didn't keep me from being utterly fascinated.  For example: Discussed a missing ceramic plug from around a window on Discovery's mission. So we installed STS-132 plugs with new locking cords. I was so excited that I told my husband.  He asked me what it meant.  Admitted I didn't know but, "Isn't it just cool?" He might not have been as into it as I was.  Here is something else I learned that really is interesting: Risk for the loss of crew or shuttle from micrometeoroid & orbital debris is 1 in 379, typical for shuttle missions to space station. Did you know that?  I didn't.  Doesn't that seem high?

Anyway, the little girl in me who was fascinated with the stars, the teenager who devoured Andre Norton books, and the grown woman who keeps looking for adventure around every bend are all completely enamored with the NASA twitter feed.  And no, you don't have to sign up or join twitter or give blood or anything.  Just click here:  twitter.com/NASA

The exhaustive attention NASA now devotes to making sure shuttle heat shields are damage-free and safe for re-entry is a direct result of the 2003 Columbia disaster. But a blacked-out military flight 21 years ago still stands out as a warning to astronauts, engineers and managers, a frightening "close call" that had the potential to bring the shuttle program to an early end.

It was that close.