Bob Cardenas

Spacefest 3 (no- it's not a Star Trek convention) started on Thursday evening (6/2/2011) with a VIP reception where you could mingle with the astronauts and speakers. I spent some time speaking with General Bob Cardenas who, at 91 years of age, has probably had a more fascinating life/career than any of the famous astronauts in attendance. He was telling me about how his plane was shot down in Germany during WW ll, but he evaded capture by the Nazis and escaped into Switzerland. He was supposed to remain in Switzerland for the remainder of the war, but a woman who was part of the French resistance helped him escape into France and from there he was able rejoin the allies who flew him to England and then back to the United States where he could recover from a head wound. Cardenas said the woman who helped him escape was eventually caught and killed by the Nazis.

He had a long and varied career after the war. A couple of highlights include serving as the command pilot of the B-29 that launched Chuck Yeager in the supersonic aircraft (the Bell X-1) on the flight that broke the sound barrier. (The following pictures are from Cardenas' presentation the following day at Spacefest.)


Cardenas also flew the YB-49, the precursor to today's B-2 stealth bomber. In 1949, he was summoned to Washington to demo the plane for President Truman. Truman asked him to fly the aircraft down Pennsylvania Avenue at treetop level. All of the trees made it difficult to see so it wasn't until the last minute he was able to see the white dome of the capitol building. He was forced to pull up abruptly in order to avoid crashing into the building.


I encourage you to check out his biography. It's fascinating.

Aircraft Boneyard / Pima Air & Space Museum

Picture of the Day for 6/2/2011. My dad turned 90 today! What a milestone! Given his poor health, our family was concerned he wouldn't make it, but he did! So, what did I do to celebrate this momentous occasion? I ditched him and went on a vacation to Tucson, Arizona. Yeah, I'm not winning any awards for "daughter of the year" anytime soon.

In my defense, I did something that my father, a former aviator, would have loved. I visited the aircraft "boneyard" at Davis-Monthan AFB. This is where decommissioned military aircraft are sent to retire since the dry Arizona air prevents them from deteriorating. Currently, there are over 4,000 airplanes stored here.


A short distance away is the Pima Air & Space Museum.



I like this picture (above) of the underbelly of an SR-71 (shown below). I was geeking out that the plane on exhibit was the 2nd one ever produced and the oldest surviving SR-71. (I apologize for the unadulterated nerdiness of that statement. Sadly, it is possible to geek out over things like this.)


My friend was geeking out over this B-52 that served as a drop plane for the X-15 on 93 of the program's 199 flights.


I'm including this picture below. Not because I know what type of aircraft it is or it has any type of significance to me, but because it just makes me giggle.


Sadly, our time was short at the museum. I'd love to go back someday and take some of the tours.

Airport Tradition

Picture of the Day for 6/1/2011. I flew out to Tucson today for yet another space-related activity. More to follow on that in subsequent blog entries. Anyway, I freely admit that at any given time, I'm a pretty shallow human being. Most days though, I try to combat my natural tendencies by being a productive member of society. (Case in point- I'm writing this blog entry after a 14-hour workday.) When I'm traveling though, all bets are off. Before any flight, I buy a copy of People magazine, a copy of US magazine, and a box of Junior Mints. I take these on the plane where I wantonly revel in the shallowness. I mean, it's important to know who has the hot bodies of 2011. C'mon!

I Need One More Day!

I know it's been nearly a week since I've updated my blog. That's because I've been in Tucson doing all sorts of nerdy space-related activities which means I have a ton of material for the blog. I'll work on posting new entries later tonight. Check back tomorrow!

Reclaiming My Property

Picture of the Day for 5/31/2011. I've accomplished quite a feat- I'm single-handedly bringing down the property values in my neighborhood due to the foliage surrounding my house which has grown completely wild. It's like living in a jungle. It not only looks bad, but the branches of the trees in the back yard are entangled with the power lines. Not good. I met with a contractor today to see what can be done. We concluded that if it ain't nailed down, it's getting torn out. That includes the monster bushes in the front yard. Hallelujah! I HATE those bushes and the feral creatures they attract.

Moving Up the White Trash Ladder

Picture of the Day for 5/30/2011. Yes, this is a picture of my living room. No, I am not a hoarder. Despite photographic evidence to the contrary, I abhor clutter. I decided take advantage of the holiday and the time off work to devote an entire day to tackling the mess in this room. Here's the result of about 10 hours off work. I'm getting there. I'd say I no longer look like a candidate for an episode of Hoarders and I'm moving up to white trash status. Hey- it's progress.

Weekend Tradition

Picture of the Day for 5/29/2011. On the weekends, I head to Rich's Bagels to get an asiago cheese bagel (toasted) with scallion/herb cream cheese along with a large caffeine-free Diet Coke with lemon. I never deviate from this selection. I bring a book and read for about 1/2 hour while listening in on the conversation of a group of three men/one women who are in their 70s and are ALWAYS there sitting at the exact same table every time. I leave just about the time a group of cyclists come in. It appears there's a large group of people who have pretty much the same weekend tradition. I always wonder if the other regulars speculate about the red-headed woman (me) who comes alone and reads while eating her asiago cheese bagel.