Winter Gold

Amy Williams wins Gold for Great Britain in the Skeleton event at the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games \o/ \o/ \o/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympic_games/vancouver_2010/skeleton/8520464.stm

My Bag

Day 51 Couldn't think what to photograph for today, so settled for a pic of my bag:



I bought it in 2008, it was one of my purchases made before I met the astronauts (along with new boots and a new jacket). I think I got it at TK Maxx, some of the stones on the buckle have come away but I still like it. It was the only one of its kind in the shop and I've not seen a similar one elsewhere.

Just finished a two-hour study session, and things are starting to get interesting. Looking at bog bodies and mummies, and use of Xrays, CT scans, MRIs and endoscopy to gather information. Archaeology gets sciency at last.

Almost Time To Come Home

Today is the last scheduled full day in space for the STS-130 crew. Because of the extraordinary hours they've been keeping on the mission (similar to a time zone somewhere in the Pacific) I've hardly seen anything of the mission, which is why I haven't gone on about this mission like I have done in the past. I saw the launch, and I've seen many of the wake-up calls (mostly 9.15pm in the evening my time, recently shifted an hour earlier) and that's been about it. I think I've followed this mission on Twitter more than anywhere else. It would have been nice to be able to follow it more closely, given that I followed the establishment and delivery of the Tranquility Node and the Cupola from Europe and their delivery to NASA for Endeavour's mission. And the pictures are so cool - look up @Astro_Soichi's Twitterfeed for the fabulous photos he's taken.

I'll miss the landing too, as the plan is for the landing to take place between 3am and 5am my time on Monday morning. Haven't missed watching a landing live since STS-122, two years ago. Meh.