Earlier this evening I returned to the Blue Danube Airport Linz, to try some more time exposures. This time all corn was harvested, so I had a unrestricted view on the runway. My conclusion after taking a couple of photos: tiny aircraft are quite unstable; at least more than they seem to be. Have a look and form your own opinion!

“To my mind, most people go through life recoiling from its best parts. They miss the enrichment that just a basic knowledge of the physical world can bring to the most ordinary experiences. It’s like there’s a pulsating, hidden world, governed by ancient laws and principles, underlying everything around us–from the movements of electrical charges to the motions of the planets–and most people are completely unaware of it. To me, that’s a shame.”

Carolyn Porco
Senior Researcher
Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado
from The New York Times (Der Standard)
Taking a Tour of Saturn’s Famous Rings
Monday, October 12, 2009

On Friday, driving from Linz to St. Anton am Arlberg, we stopped in Salzburg at Hangar 7. Our intention wasn’t only to see some aircraft; the Carpe Diem Lounge-Café offered us a wonderful breakfast. I found something interesting on the menu that I couldn’t resist: poached egg with ham espuma. I had no idea what to expect and was quite surprised: a bowl filled with a very fluffy foam covering the poached egg. After talking to the waitress and additional research, I am still wondering about the preparation of the foam.

Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down.
Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask: How are you?
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done,
do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?

You’d better slow down.
Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.

Ever told your child,
We’ll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say, “Hi”?

You’d better slow down.
Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It’s like an unopened gift thrown away

Life is no race.
Do take is slower.
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

David L. Weatherford
from “The Four Hour Workweek” by Timothy Ferriss
http://fourhourworkweek.com

Tonight I tried to take another time exposure. I took a great photo of the fair that currently happens in Linz, using the Danube for reflections. It worked out pretty good! The Ferris Wheel is to the very left.

Recently, I tried to take a time exposure photo of a departing aircraft. The closest airport, Blue Danube Airport Linz, offers a perfect spot for taking such a picture. Currently, there is too much corn around to take this picture. I switched to another spot this time and will try again in several weeks.

Today we finally made it! It has always been my wish to hike this mountain. Starting at around 7.30, hiking the Naturfreundesteig trail, we’ve been up around 1 (we are not really experienced hikers ), having one break (see picture below!). After a good break for lunch and coffee we hiked down the (easier) trail via Mair Alm.

After all, for the last 30 minutes walking back to our car we experienced a thunderstorm and got pretty soaked. My hiking boots did not really turn out as waterproof . It is a wonderful hike but take into account it is one of the most dangerous mountains to climb in Austria.

I just took this amazing photo of an ISS and STS-127 pass (the space shuttle is docked); 362 seconds exposure. The pale line above the shuttle track is an airplane. Unfortunately it was a little bit cloudy. In the top right corner you can recognize parts of Ursa Major.

The last of numerous highlights at my south-west trip I decided to be the musical Wicked. I actually never planned to see it. Also I was very skeptical about this production. Anyway, I recognized it is played at the Orpheum Theatre so I just tried my luck. Fortunately, there were some tickets left at the box office.

The stage design and the music where just awesome! I purchased the cast album and the souvenir book during the intermission. Now it is your turn to discover the untold story of the witches of Oz!

Spaceflight is something really fascinating for me ever since childhood. So we decided to drive down to Cape Canaveral for the Space Shuttle Launch STS-119, scheduled for Wednesday, March 11th. Around 30 minutes before we arrived we saw on a highway information panel that the shuttle launch was canceled. What a bad luck!

Anyway, after we checked in at our motel, we drove over to the place in Titusville where we were supposed to watch the shuttle launch. We just arrived in time for an awesome moonrise! After great dinner and some walk in Titusville we headed back to our motel.

Next day we spent pretty much at the Kennedy Space Center. We started our tour at the Rocket Park and got right afterwards on the bus tour to the Shuttle Launch Pads, the Saturn V Center and the ISS Assembly Buildings. We also did the shuttle launch simulator and had a look at the shuttle model at Shuttle Plaza.

Late afternoon program was hanging out on Cocoa Beach. After dinner (and some Starbucks coffee) we started our way back to Atlanta. Basically we drove 1150 miles for a three-minute-thing that didn’t happen. But it was a great trip! We had fun and I am impressed by spaceflight more than ever!

We ended up watching the Shuttle launch this evening on NASA TV.