To Infinity and Beyond (Once we've fixed the lav)

STS-124: Space Shuttle Discovery has launched, it's now in its initial orbit and will dock with the ISS on Monday. I was watching on CNN, but the commentator was talking to an astronaut-pundit about what it's like during takeoff, about how it's like having three men sitting on your chest and moving is difficult due to the increased G-forces. They were talking about the different abort modes and how there isn't one when the SRBs are firing, they were saying how everyone breathes a sigh of relief when they separate. They didn't exactly say that if something goes wrong while they're still burning then basically you're toast, but they were trying to politely hint that there's no escape.

But just before they separated there was an aura or something (well two auras, one for each SRB) that was all red and blue and pretty, but scary cos I thought OMG they're going to explode!! But they separated just fine and fell away like normal. I don't know what the light was, it might have been how it appears in their TV cameras or something. But they kept talking really loudly and I couldn't hear Houston so I put NASA TV on.

I like NASA TV. I was doing a big download so I thought I might not get it OK but it was fine and clear. I loled at Mark Kelly, sounding like he's done this soooo many times before. And Buzz Lightyear is on board! Can't quite see how useful he's going to be with fixing the lav on the ISS.

So, now the mission is underway: prepare yourself for the general bizarreness of the wake-up music, but listen out for the good stuff that occasionally slips through. And for lots of toilet humour. You have been warned.