Summer Solstice

And so it was the longest day of the year... Sunny to boot.

Where has the Gnome been...? As you'll recall the BIOS was acting out on my Mac when last we spoke. I'm sorry to report that a slew of new technical glitches have kept me off the air, although not entirely away from my camera. I made a special trip to Florida last month... not once, but twice, to see STS-134 (Endeavor) launch on 16 May 2011. What a fantastic birthday experience!

Over the coming weeks, I'll be headed back to the Sunshine State to witness history... The last launch of the space shuttle program, STS-135 Atlantis.

With all the airports and delays, I've had a bit of time to reflect on why the space program is important to me and why I'd still be an astronaut if I could. If all goes well, Atlantis will be 'in the mail' on 8 July 2011... Watch this space a couple weeks later for some great images of the two shuttles and a story or two... =)