Dash 80

The second week in the nations capitol was packed full of so many cool things...I don't know what other way to put it. Lets see if I can lay it all out....
Monday was the Inauguration, an event so important and momentous it merits its own blog post. Tuesday through Thursday I had work. My boss was very gracious Tuesday morning, she allowed me to start my day off at a Senate Foreign Affairs Committee hearing where the outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testified about the consulate attack in Benghazi Libya. I never imagined I would be able to witness such a thing in person, it was kind of surreal to be in the same room as a dozen Senators and someone who could possibly be the next President of the United States.

Arizona Senator's John McCain and Jeff Flake

(R-L) Acting Chairman Robert Menendez and Ranking Member Bob Corker

CT's freshman Senator Chris Murphy

I wish I had pictures for everything I did this past week, but I don't. I also was honored to attend the press conference Senator Diane Feinstein of California  held along with several of her colleagues announcing the 2013 Assault Weapons Ban. There's really no way to tell how this bill will shape up, but I have a really good feeling this will be something historic. I also had the chance to give a Capitol Tour, that was a thrill. The same tour you can take from the red-coat Capitol tour guides I have been trained to give as well. There were a couple other things I was able to do that were awesome, but I'm not sure if it's proper to discuss in this forum.

Today, I made the trip to the Udvar-Hazy Smithsonian Air and Space Museum Annex in Virginia. This massive place is right next to Dulles International Airport, connected by a small taxiway that allows the museum to quite literally fly some of their exhibits right into the museum, which is a giant hanger. This is a place I have been dreaming of going to for a long time, and it was a bit overwhelming to finally be there. The trip to there was also a bit overwhelming, it included a metro ride to Rosslyn Virginia, a bus ride to Dulles, a 45 minute long wait, and a 15 minute long shuttle ride to the museum. These different legs all departed at very specific times, and it was a bit touchy trying to make sure I made it on time. It was one of those things where if you missed a bus, you'd sit there waiting for an hour...so the key is not to miss the bus (thank God I managed not to).

Here are some pictures:

Dulles International Airport

When you walk into the museum, and you look left, this is what you see

My first glimpse at the Enola Gay, the first plane to drop nuclear ordnance on another nation in anger

Interesting story, she was also on the second mission, but served as the forward weather oberver

The Dash-80, the basis for the first successful jet-powered commercial airliner built by Boeing

The "dash-80" came from the full name assigned to the prototype, the Boeing 367-80

I took this picture right-side up, they hung the plane upside down to show the position in which it apparently spent most of its time

another view of the Dash-80...there was so much around the catwalk I found myself looking back and forth

A retired concorde

I like silver

The first glimipse I got of the restoration hanger

This was certainly the coolest part of the museum, it doesn't look like much, but it was

My second shuttle, it doesn't get old

replica's of satellites sent into our solar system..some were successful, others not

This is like out of a James Bond movie!

The capsule itself was a training module, the balloons were from Apollo 11

These balloons were used to right a capsule that ends nose down to prevent it from flooding

Before NASA figured out they could land in the water safely, they thought they could land on a runway

This deployable...thing...was how they were going to do that....it didn't work

This is the super computer in which I am posting this blog!

One of two gigantic hanger doors

Now that I got to the floor, I thought I'd find the Dash-80 again

The wings come off and this thing turns into a glorified Buick

It would really, really, really stink to get shot down or sunk by this. I mean, think about it, it would really stink

From the observation tower, this is the hanger I was just in

Dulles

I got to listen in to the air traffic controllers at Dulles, it was so cool

 I still have one more day left in the weekend, and three and a half months left in this adventure, and I have done so much. In spirit of the departure of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the many rumors circulating about her future, I thought I'd go into the time capsule to find one of her - in my opinion - best quotes:
"Although we were not able to shatter that highest and hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you it has 18 million cracks in it, and the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time..."

~Fmr. Sen. Hillary Clinton in her concession speech in the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary

I can't wait for a time when a woman running for anything in political office is unremarkable, that it is so commonplace it seems like it was always like that.

Stay tuned...