We recently received the  very kind note on our electronic mailbox. How could we not share it?

Hello Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co.!

I'm getting in touch with you guys because I think I may have found myself in a business/storefront form today. When I started my undergraduate journey at the University of Florida in the fall of 2005, I initially decided that astronomy was going to be my preferred route and final destination in life. I have a huge love for the great wide unknown. The grandness of it all is so compelling that, in my humble opinion, it's baffling to think anyone wouldn't want to study it's persistent mystery. Eight classes into my future in astronomy, there wasn't a single assignment that I didn't think was the hardest thing I ever had to do. The math was getting way over my head, the concepts were becoming more and more complex, and I eventually decided that my future in astronomy was probably safer in the hands of casual reading, BBC documentaries, and kitschy sci-fi flicks. I then decided to make the obvious transition to becoming a graphic designer instead. I still, however, worked (and work) space themes into my projects/pieces whenever it's possible. I wrote my senior art history research paper on science fiction magazine cover art from the 30s, 40s, and 50s, I made a board game in my junior year (when my classmates and I were all young pup designers) about "making the planets align" in order to conquer the universe... it's on my website to this day. All this being said, you can only imagine the kid-in-a-candy-store reaction I had when I stumbled across Greenwood Space Travel Supply. I was in my room laughing and bouncing up and down at how wonderfully creative, and well designed the items were. I'm now on both email lists, and you can expect to be soon sending an order to me out in Austin, TX. Keep up all the killer work.

Your friend,
Robbie

Terraforming starts at home.

As any well-versed space jockey will tell you: “A lack of preparation is a prescription for mishaps.” This is exactly why it’s important to start planning for the winter holidays in July (or even better, in May). One can never start too soon--particularly when it comes to the most important decoration: the Holiday/Christmas Tree.

Of course I had to pop the top on one of Dr. Darwin’s Breath of Life ® Christmas Tree kits. Everything you need, including sweet sweet Terra Firma, is provided on one compact can. It sure makes hauling seedlings to un-terraformed moons a cinch.

Our little buddies have recently begun to sprout, and I’m excited to watch them grow over the summer and into autumn.

These Norway Spruce are an exciting bunch. They can grow up to three feet in a year,  so--fingers crossed--they will make it through the harsh Greenwood summer and be ready for decorating and present-sheltering come December.

If you’re interested in taking a gander at the little seedlings, they’ll be on display in the Greenwood Space Travel Supply store until they begin to crowd their little home. I’m letting the plantletts take root here Because earth’s gravity is far more hospitable to plants than outer-space. I’ll also be checking in periodically to make sure my assistant isn’t neglecting them, so maybe I’ll get to say, “Hello!” to some of my adoring fans.


Also available, in the same convenient kits: tomatos, pansies, basil, celery and more. 

GSTS takes to the streets!

It may have been a dismal day in Greenwood this past Saturday, but spirits were high when we took to the streets at 2pm. With a loud explosion of cheers, we marched to protest the 2006 IAU decision to redefine “planet”, thus removing Pluto from the planetary pantheon. Over 30 protesters participated, chanting “Hey hey, ho ho, the IAU has got to go” and “Damn it, Janet – Pluto is a planet.”

At 2:15, we invaded the aptly named Neptune Coffee for our rally. We celebrated our littlest celestial neighbor with the help of special guests Alan Boyle (msnbc.com science editor) and Jackie Giuliano (president of Seattle’s Center for Lifelong Learning and former Educational Outreach Manager for NASA's Pluto Express project). Passions ran high. 

We even had a counter-protester.  His protestations were no match for our cheers of triumph!

For a full recap of the day's events, take a gander at the Seattle PI's Big Blog report.

See you next year!

GIFT IDEAS FOR YOUR VALENTINE

Even if you are dashing about, light-years from Earth, you have no excuse not to think of your beloved on Valentine's Day. Luckily, the Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. is here to help:

Sure, he may be seven feet tall owing to the effects of lower gravity, but your Mars-born boyfriend is your Valentine nonetheless. Show him how much you appreciate his origins with a MARS! poster (designed by Jacob Covey).

Is your girlfriend 850 degrees of total smoking hotness? Nothing says “Babe, you’re my Venus,” like a Venus Tee Shirt.

And finally, our number one gift for newlyweds: a bottle of Certainty.

Mary Roach knows a thing or two about Space Travel

I recently received a package at my private residence on Titian (I’m still scratching my head as to how they got the address. I mean, this place is exclusive) containing a book about space travel, called Packing for Mars. Usually, I just toss these things aside; if anyone knows anything about space travel, it’s me. But then I noticed it was by Mary Roach, who I recently saw on the Daily Show with John Stewart. So I cracked it open and started to read. 

It’s a pretty darned good book, if not a little behind the times (I mean, Mars? That was so three decades ago). I could really relate to the stuff about the chimp and the troubles of vomit in the space helmet (not that I’ve ever done anything so amateur). Here – the publicists say it best:

The best-selling author of Stiff and Bonk explores the irresistibly  strange universe of space travel and life without gravity. Space is a  world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot  showers, fresh produce, privacy, beer. Space exploration is in some ways  an exploration of what it means to be human. How much can a person give  up? How much weirdness can they take? What happens to you when you can’t  walk for a year? have sex? smell flowers? What happens if you vomit in  your helmet during a space walk? Is it possible for the human body to  survive a bailout at 17,000 miles per hour? To answer these questions,  space agencies set up all manner of quizzical and startlingly bizarre  space simulations. As Mary Roach discovers, it’s possible to preview  space without ever leaving Earth. From the space shuttle training toilet  to a crash test of NASA’s new space capsule (cadaver filling in for  astronaut), Roach takes us on a surreally entertaining trip into the  science of life in space and space on Earth.

Better yet, Roach is coming to Seattle on her book tour. She’ll be at the University of Washington, Kane Hall (Room 210) on Wednesday, August 18 at 7 pm. Tickets are free with the purchase of Packing for Mars from University Book Store; otherwise tickets are $5. Books and tickets available at the University Bookstore (NOT the GSTS) beginning August 2 .

The best part? The Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. will be on hand to sell a selection of space travel supplies for all those aspiring astronauts. *

See you there!
- The Captain.

* Well, maybe not “the best part,” but we are pretty darned excited.

Join me, Captain T. McGillicuddy, July 17 as the GSTS celebrates the historic Moon Landing.

I’m not one to wax poetic—at least about the successes and exploits of other adventurers—but in less than a fortnight, the world will celebrate the single most significant step in human history. July 20th marks the 41st Anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon and Neil Armstrong’s giant leap. Needless to say, a lot has happened in the intervening forty-one years, but had it not been for Neil, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins and, mankind may still be flopping about in the stratosphere without a paddle.

I recently sat down with Neil and Buzz at a Lodge of the Celestial Adventurers lutefisk dinner and asked them about their contribution to modern space travel. When I asked Neil what it was like to stare up and see the globe, so small in the darkness, he got uneasily quiet, shifted the jellied fish about on his plate, and turned briefly to Buzz. “Well, you know how it is. It sort of…well, it sort of felt like Idaho.” And then he winked.

I kid you not.

He wouldn’t elucidate, and then Buzz started talking about Canada and landing gear and I sort of lost the course of the conversation. I was too busy thinking about Neil and his conspiratorial wink and to this day I have no idea to what he was referring. Maybe the fish tasted weird?

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I digress. On July 17, the Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. will celebrate the 41st Anniversary of the Moon Landing with special pricing on Moon-themed items, free moon pies, and an opportunity to meet me, Captain T. McGillicuddy, as we fake our own Moon Landing. The fun starts at 12noon and goes until 1:30pm. Find more information on the Events page.

See you on Saturday!

(PS—and this is a big PS—but in order to get the special pricing, you have to bring in a coupon. Which you can find here. Not in the Seattle area? There are special  on-line deals too if you order between now and July 20. More info here)

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Can't wait for the Big Day? We recently discovered this amazing website created by the  John F. Kennedy Presidential Library that recounts all phases of the mission in amazing  detail. Copious amounts of video, audio, and photos pepper the site. You can even relive the entire three-day journey with a minute-by-minute streaming audio. Visit WE CHOOSE THE MOON

Secret transmission delivered by robot assistant

Today, my ship's on-board computer starting behaving badly. It may have been the cup of coffee I recently introduced into the mainframe (inadvertently, of course). It starting singing "Daisy, daisy..." and muttering forlornly. I started to get very worried.

I called to my robot assistant, Pal, to try and talk some sense into the thing, but he was in the corner...acting very sheepish. I thought he might have been crying. But--believe it or not--he was snickering, because one of his Robot Assistant Training Camp chums had emailed him a couple pictures from his new place of employ, the Liberty Street Robot Supply and Repair Co. It seems some humans thought it was all romantic and that they decided to get married -- right in front of the store. Here is the picture I was finally able to pry from Pal's hands:

I don't understand what Pal and his robot friends have against human emotions. Maybe they are jealous that what they call "love" amounts to a tin can and a wet soda cracker. Anyway, read more about it here : ONWARD ROBOTS