Hi Guys! We got to go down and watch the astronauts drive by in their special van on their way to the launchpad (I have video of it). Before their van came by a helicopter popped up into the sky and the person from NASA standing next to me said, "Here they come, when the helicopter rises up you know the "Astrovan" is on the way."

I got my cameras going and as the helicopter got closer to us (it was flying straight above the van) you could see soldiers sitting in it with their legs hanging out watching for any trouble. Next security vehicles came swarming in, and they were quickly followed by the astronauts. We all stated cheering and yelling.



Then their van stopped for a few minutes. Next it turned around and went back. The NASA person standing next to me had gotten a text message on her phone just before that and she showed it to me. It said that NASA engineers had discovered a problem with a heater that keeps the rocket fuel from freezing in space. Next we heard that they couldn't fix the problem right away and the space shuttle would NOT launch today.

We were all disappointed. Many people around me let out loud "OH NO's!" and others asked what was going on. You could see all the reporters and TV crews begin to scramble to get the story out.
So in the span of just a minute we all went from being excited and cheering and anticipating, to deep disappointment that this incredible experience was not going to happen today. We have since found out that it will be at least 3 days before it launches. Maybe it will launch on Wednesday when we launch our balloon!

Things can happen that disappoint us. Sometimes that disappointment can make us angry, frustrated and even fearful. But in my experience that disappointment often changes later. Things happen and we get to do what we missed later. Or because we couldn't get that or do that we get to do something else instead. Think about a time that you were disappointed about something you couldn't get or do, but later things worked out or you got over it. Write about a time that you were disappointed. Tell what you were disappointed about and what happened afterwards. 

I am disappointed, but I get to come back to school on Monday and work with you to launch a balloon into near space. That makes my disappoint much easier to take. I'll post photos I took of the helicopter and Astrovan and more. And I will probably blog here some more today.

Mr. Crosby