SPACE JAM 2004
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John Pazmino
NYSkies Astronomy Inc
www.nyskies.org
nyskies@nyskies.org
2004 September 1
Introduction
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The Republican National Convention is running in New York during
2004 August 30 thru September 2. As part of the convention, like at all
such convention, there are many side sessions and parties to celebrate
a this or that politician.
On Tuesday 31 August 2004 there was a special side party, a
reception, for Tom DeLay, Congressman from Texas and House Majority
Leader. The meeting was sponsored by several aerospace companies for
DelAy's general support of the American space program. It was called
'Space Jam 2004'
I was honored to attend as a delegate of the New York regional
astronomy community and newish leader of the NYC Chapter of national
Space Society. Several other NYSkiers were also personally invited,
along with several hundred others from across the country.
Mustering up
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This party ws in a loft near Hudson Yards, site of the proposed
new Olympic and football stadium. With all the street closings and
transit reroutings due to the main convention in Madison Square
Garden, I just walked to the place from my office. Thankfully the
weather dried out and cooled off, allowing me to maintain a brisk gait
without over heating.
A couple other chapter members were already waiting outside at a
little past 17h EDST. Because this was a invite-only affair, we had to
wait for chapter president Candace Pankanin to arrive with the
official tickets and list of guests.
She ambled along at about 17:25 to get our papers in order. By
then others of our delegation and many other guests were milling
around by the loft entrance. After getting our names matched against a
master list at the entry, we were issued a wristband, then directed to
the top floor.
Around the Garden
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I note a couple features of the Convention's effect on traffic in
the area. There are many blocks closed to road traffic and others with
restricted traffic. Parade barriers and police patrols are placed at
the corners to fend off vehicles.
Foot traffic is equally convoluted. The barriers for walkers are
shifted from time to time. Knowing where they were one day, wasn't
much help to me on the 31st. I had to detour for one extra street,
when yesterday that street was unimpeded.
At some corners police asked people where they were going. They
did this not for suspicion of the people's intents, but to warn of
restrictions or closings at the far end of the block. A person
entering to continue thru to the following block may be walking into a
dead end.
On some blocks the foot traffic seemed about as dense as normal.
This was an illusion. Thee were actually far fewer people in the
neighborhood of Madison Square Garden. Myriads took holiday from the
City to escape the disruptions of the Convention. The sidewalks were
crowded because these fewer people were constricted into far fewer
open sidewalks.
Other than a somewhat crooked path from my office to the loft, I
suffered no major hassles from the Convention.
Party time
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On stepping off of the elevator, the wristbands were checked and
nametags handed out. The actual space was an open floor with picture
windows all around. The Sun was dazzling in the late afternoon blue
sky. Altho only a few dozen guests were on hand when we got to the
party, the room quickly filled up with more elevator loads within
about a half hour.
There were a few testimonial speeches by DeLay, retired astronaut
David Low, a couple other politicians, and, near the end, NASA
Administrator Sean O'Keefe. Later in the session there was a doorprize
drawing.
Apart from these, we schnoozed and noshed and bantered about
space. Food and drink were ample. Lots of hors d'oeuvres, canape's,
cheese and crackers, fruit, cookies. Lots of beer, soda, and wine.
The room had a few space decorations, a panel about ISS, some
astronaut dummies. And two astronauts! One was a actor in a Texas
sized suit; he looked out thru holes in the chest. He walked around,
greeted the guests, and got pictures taken with him.
The other was a REAL astronaut, David Low, a three-time Space
Shuttle mission specialist in the 1980s and 1990s. He wore a
regulation size space suit, assembled with a helper. Of course, this
was an empty suit, just the shell with no internal guts. Otherwise it
would be too heavy to walk around in.
David Low is sometimes confused with George Low, his father. The
elder Low was a ground controller for the Apollo project. The full
name of the chap we rapped with is George David Low, so he generally
goes by his middle name.
What a view!
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The loft consisted of one large room and a roof garden. From both
there were spectacular views of the Hudson River and Lower Manhattan.
Midtown was blocked by nearby towers, including an immense one with a
forest of satellite dishes on top.
Some delegates heard about Fay Wray and the Olympic stadium. I
showed them the Gorilla Perch, then glistening in the lowering Sun,
and the railyards where the stadium may sit.
From the garden, many guests were freaked out by the two humongous
tanks on stilts. What the eff are they?!?! I explained about our city
water system and the crucial role of the tanks.
Many were awed at the density and congestion of the City, even
those who came from large towns in Texas like Houston and Dallas.
While these towns have tall towers, they are spaced far apart with
boro-size caryards between them. Here, on Manhattan, the buildings
press together! I showed them on tower with a bare wall, pointing out
that this is deliberate because eventually an other tower will nestle
up against it.
The Sun to me was an real annoyance, there being no curtains,
shades, blinds on the windows. Near the end of the merriment, the Sun
got low into thicker haze and softened his beams.
Prizes and perks
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About midway thru the meeting doorprizes were picked, based on a
serial number on the wristband. The prizes were pretty substantial,
being donated by the sponsoring corporations. Fellow NYSkier and
chapter project director Myrna Coffino won a tabletop model of the
Space Shuttle with autographs on it from several astronauts. No, I
missed getting any prize.
No one went home empty handed. All got a goodie bag of space
stuff. This included a leather=like portfolio, space pens, sun visor,
posters, DVD album.
Rubbing elbows
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By far the greater crowd was the regular convention delegation
from Texas. The men wore Texas cowboy hats. When I first saw them on
the street, before going inside, the hats looked a bit silly. But!,
within minutes they all were rather neat and cool. I guess they were
part of their convention getup because they were almost all of one
style. The women in the contingent wore mostly flowered dresses in an
assortment of colors.
An other large group came from Philadelphia, with a more 'urban'
attire. Some of these folk were part of space advocancies there.
Everyone I spoke with was fixated on getting human space flights
moving again or, more grandly, beginning the human explorations of the
Moon or Mars. No one really promoted ongoing automatic or robot
missions, such as Cassini, Genesis, or MESSENGER. And, of course, the
Texas folk pushed for keeping their state's space economy alive.
I apparently was the only 'astronomer' on the block! The delegates
were surprised and pleased that a real astronomer was on hand; they
asked me a lot of astronomy questions. The inquiries ranged as widely
as those at the typical public astro session. Yes, I handed out both
NYSkies and NSS NYC chapter litterature.
NYC chapter
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The New York City chapter is among the more active ones of
National Space Society under its president Candace Pankanin. The other
delegates were wowed by the chapter's expanded activities. These
include regular monthly meetings, participation in Earth Day and
perhaps American Urban Star Fest, meeting summaries by Eugene and
Frances Cervone, my SpaceWalk column, presence at Hayden Planetarium
space events, occasional joint meetings with the local astronomy club,
renewed liaison with the United Nations, letter-writing to Congress to
promote the space program.
National president George Whitesides and past president Bryan
Chase were at the affair, heading the NSS contingent from Washington.
They and Candace chatted on assorted organization matters repeatedly
during the party. They engaged me and other chapter members in light
talk to better appreciate the caliber of people Ms Pankanin is
attracting to her chapter.
Candace suffered a personal tragedy in the death of her brother in
late August; It wasn't until Sunday the 29th that she recovered enough
to look after the chapter's role in this Delay reception.
Partied out
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The Sun was nearing the western horizon. slowing dimming out in
the haze. The delegates were draining off in small groups. Loft crew
started knocking down the props and cleaning up the food and drink
tables. The last of us finally called it a night. I saw a stack of
posters among other party trash. One of the crew handling them let me
take one as a souvenir.
The Cervone's and I took a taxi from the loft to a nearby subway,
from where we rode home to Brooklyn.