Remembering The Space Shuttle Challenger

Its hard to believe that its been 30 years since that fateful Tuesday Morning at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 

Photo credit: NASA. 

January 28, 1986: It was the 25th Space Shuttle Mission, and the 10th mission of the Challenger. It had launched like any other of the previous 24 missions, including 9 previous launches of the Challenger. 73 seconds after blast-off the unthinkable happened. The Shuttle exploded, along with 7 passengers, including Christa McAuliffe, a High School Teacher from New Hampshire that had been selected from 11,000 applicants to become the first Teacher in Space.

 The crew aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger on January 28, 1986.
Crewmembers were (left to right, front row) Michael J. Smith, Francis R. (Dick) Scobee and Ronald E. McNair; (back row) Ellison S. Onizuka, Sharon Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis and Judith A. Resnik. Photo: NASA

The 113th Space Shuttle Mission of the Columbia also exploded, breaking up on re-entry on February 1, 2003 scattering debris over a 100 mile stretch of Texas and Louisiana.

There were a total of 135 Space Shuttle Missions spanning over a period of 30 years. The first being the Columbia lifting off on April 12, 1981, and the last was the Atlantis lifting off on July 8, 2011.

Snapshots Across America features the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. In June of 2013, the New Space Shuttle Atlantis Exhibit opened up at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex featuring the actual retired Atlantis Shuttle as the centerpiece.

A video from NASA about the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

Jonas Blizzard Buries Northeastern U.S.

    WEATHER ALERT!    

Snow Blizzard Buries Northeastern U.S.

Winter Storm Jonas buries Washington D.C.
Statue of James Garfield with U.S. Capitol Building in the Background.
Photo taken January 23, 2016 by Geoff Alexander via Flickr. CC BY-2.0

If you have watched the Weather Channel at all the past day or two, you should know that the Snow Storm they have named "Jonas" has buried the Northeastern United States. As of Saturday evening (Jan. 23), the Weather Channel is reporting that Washington DC, Baltimore, New York and many other cities in the Northeast have had over 2 feet of snow.

Here are some other photos:

Queens, New York.

Photo taken January 23, 2016 by John Gillespie via Flickr. CC BY-SA-2.0

Howard Street in Baltimore, Maryland.
Photo Taken January 23, 2016 by Seth Sawyers via Flickr. CC BY-2.0.

But after all, weather happens. It’s been happening for thousands and even millions of years, and depending upon the physical geography of where you are, sooner or later you are going to experience some type of severe bad weather. Whether that weather (pun intended) is a brutal blizzard in the Northeast, upper Midwest or Rocky Mountains, a hurricane along the Gulf or Atlantic coast, a tornado in the Great Plains, flooding along the Mississippi River, a heatwave in the South, or a draught in the West leading to devastating forest fires: weather happens. Yes, WEATHER HAPPENS! And so far all we can do about it is try to predict it, be prepared for it, respond to it and basically just deal with it.

When my wife and I were creating the Dr. Toy Award Winning educational board game Snapshots Across America, we wanted to have a fun “gotcha” factor to create interactive competition with players. Since players are “traveling” across a game board map of the United States to visit tourist attractions from all 50 States, we thought what if your “vacation” got ruined by “bad weather”.

So we introduced “bad weather” cards like this one that would cancel another players vacation to any of the States shown on the card.

Snapshots Across America features other different “Weather Alerts” for different regions around the United States that can be played to “spoil” another player’s vacation to one of the States affected by that bad weather. 

But one of the real benefits of this aspect in our game is it also gives families an opportunity to start talking with their children about what happens if you face or have to experience bad weather. What types of potential bad weather happen in your area? How do you protect yourself in a storm? Do you have an emergency plan? Do you have backup power, heat or water? Do you have an emergency kit with flashlights, food, water and other necessities that might be needed?

A good source of information for what you may need in an the event of an emergency or severe weather is:

http://www.ready.gov/build-a-kit

Snapshots Game Review by Love To Learn.

Here's what Love to Learn says about Snapshots Across America:

Buy Snapshots Across America at:
http://www.lovetolearn.net/Snapshots-Across-America

http://snapshotsusagame.com/

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Snapshots Across America is the Dr. Toy Award Winning Game where players learn U.S. Geography while "travelling" across a game-board map of the United States to "visit" actual places from all across America.

Great for helping families learn U.S. Geography as well as about many great Landmarks, National Parks, Museums, National Monuments, Memorials, Historical Sites, and many other fun and educational attractions all across America.

Honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.

Snapshots Spotlight: Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Site in Atlanta, Georgia.

Tribute to MLK created by Spanish sculptor, Kavier Medina-Campeny near the entrance
 to the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Site in  Atlanta, Georgia.
Photo by Matt Lemmon, CC-BY-SA-2.0

Today, January 18, 2016, we honor one of the most influential persons who helped bring about racial equality in the United States, Martin Luther King, Jr. 

The Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Site in Atlanta, Georgia is a 23 acre Historical Site with over 1 million visitors each year, administrated by the National Park Service. It features many important historical locations including:

The Boyhood home of Martin Luther King, Jr. Atlanta, GA
Photo: Jeff Clemmons CC-BY-3.0

The Visitor  Center at the MLK National Historical Site in Atlanta
features many exhibits on the life of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Photo: National Park Service

The Ebenezer Baptist Churh in Atlanta, GA where MLK was baptized and gave
his first sermon there at the age of 19.
NPS Photo by Gary Tarleton

Martin Luther King, Jr. Tomb at the King Center
Photo by George Paul Puvvada CC-BY-SA-3.0

On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. and delivered one of the most famous speeches of his life,

The words of that speech have became known as the "I have a Dream" speech, and include the following excerpt:

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed - we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.

"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood...

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character...

"With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day." (Source: BBC News)

The Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical site is one of the attractions featured in the educational board-game Snapshots Across America on one of the cards in the American Historical Sites Expansion Deck.

For more information visit the National Park Service Website at:
http://www.nps.gov/malu/index.htm

And the King Center website at
http://www.thekingcenter.org/