Captain's Got a New Log!

To all brave space travelers and faithful readers,

Set coordinates to my NEW Captain's Log over on tumblr. Stay updated with the news about yours truly as well as the goings-on over at the Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. and the mother ship, 826 Seattle. 

I want to give an astronomically huge THANK YOU to 826 Seattle volunteer and GSTS crew member, Sean Palmer, for setting up the tumblr page and giving my invaluable Captain's Log a beautiful new home.

Follow us on the new Captain's Log and feel free to share with friends, family, extraterrestrials, and any robots you trust. Safe travels, explorers, and stay prepared and well stocked at the Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co.

Galactically yours,

Captain T. McGillicuddy

Keepin’ Time By Keepin’ Track

The fourth dimension is quite an enigmatic thing. It moves forward whether we notice it or not. And as my robot assistant PAL will tell you, I always notice the fourth dimension well after I was supposed to. Luckily, the fine folks at the Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. have two new stunning calendars to help me stay on track by tracking the celestial bodies in our Solar System.

  

Lunar Calendar

Ah, the Moon. That constant satellite that is constantly changing how it looks to the denizens of Earth. PAL, my robot assistant, is quick to inform me that, from space, the Moon looks the same all the time. Of course it does! I can see that from any of my space ship’s windows. But on Earth, that same heavenly orb becomes hidden in shadow and with great anticipation reveals itself again with as much luminosity as reflective moon rocks can offer.

No matter where you are on Earth, the Moon shifts through its phases in a regular pattern unchanged since the Moon first coalesced in our orbit, or at least for as long as humans have noticed it. Presented in this gorgeous silver print on a navy background, never lose track of the Moon. Northern and southern hemispheres share the moon as they share this calendar, just orient it to where you are and follow the phases all year.

 

Planetary Calendar

Ever try to keep track of all the stuff in our Solar System? There are the major planets and their moons. There are a bunch of minor planets and some that haven’t been named yet. We’ve got comets flying by at regular intervals not to mention a couple of belts full of asteroids and who-knows-what. On Earth, we use small, large, and even very large telescopes to note, monitor, and discover what hangs above us. Not bad, wouldn’t you say?

Sure, we have a lot of advanced tools now, but with so much to follow in the night sky, keeping track of it all is still pretty hard. It’s not easy to know what part of the sky any given object will be at any given time of the year just by looking up. Good thing there’s a planetary calendar to guide the way! On a navy background, follow the Sun in gold ink and the planets in bronze as they make their way across the night sky, criss-crossed with the constellations in silver. Know when you are and you’ll know where they are!

 

Fly by the Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. to pick up your Lunar Calendar and Planetary Calendar before the end of this solar revolution. Supplies may run out before time does!

The Revolution Begins NOW!

Already a month into our latest revolution around the Sun? My how quickly we orbit. And at a rate of 108,000 km/h, I'd say that's a pretty fast clip. Best to take advantage of the time ahead before we find it behind us, no? So let’s lift off!

Looking into the future, by which I mean asking my robot assistant PAL to check my calendar for me, I can see a full schedule of exciting events, activities, and delectable holidays. Save the dates because you do not want to miss the fun, frivolity, and food at the Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co.!

The 5th Annual Pluto Day Rally!

 

I haven't forgotten about Pluto and its reclassification to "dwarf planet". I remember when it was a planet. The 9th planet. The littlest planet with even littler moons including a newly discovered FIFTH moon! Then there were new rules that left us with a new planetary pantheon and Pluto was left out in the cold.

As it turns out, there are tons of Pluto-sized objects that are neither planets nor satellites of planets in our solar system. They don't follow regular orbits nor does their gravity affect their neighbors too strongly. They're out there doing their own thing, forging their own paths, and making the far reaches of our solar system way more interesting.

The Kuiper Belt is chock full of these objects! So far, we've got five dwarf planets: Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris. Who knows how many we will find once all the data is in?

So join us in March as we shout to the heavens and celebrate Pluto, the dwarf planets, and the yet-to-be-discovered objects in our very own solar system. Even the smallest celestial bodies deserve a big party. Be sure to check in for more info! You won’t want to miss our 5th Annual Pluto Rally!

Happy Pi Day!

Our new favorite holiday is Pi Day where we celebrate pi, the mathematical constant that is so ubiquitous and so remarkably helpful, it's easy to take for granted how powerful a ratio - circumference to diameter, 3.14 - can be. So clear your calendars on March 14 ‘cause it’s Pi Day! Get it? That’s 3/14. Yup. You get it.

Everyone loves pi. Everyone also loves pie. See what I did there?

So for the love of pi, join us on March 14! We will honor pi by eating pie, that most delicious of circular desserts. We may even have round cakes and cookies. In fact, let's eat everything that boasts a circumference! Oranges! Pizza! Quesadillas! Watermelon! Cheese wheels! The possibilities are as infinite as the corners on a circle!

Come back for the details as we round out our plans. Ha! That was a good one.

Little is the new Big!

There is a crispness in the air, a chill at the edge of a breeze, a golden tone that has draped the neighborhood... what would this time of year look like if the Earth’s axis was not at a 23.4° tilt? Amazing how a little thing like that can be such a huge influence on seasons on my home planet.

Of course, there are no seasons in space, but think of all the little things that make space amazing: leptons, quarks, bosons, atoms... all adding up to EVERYTHING IN THE UNIVERSE! So. Much. Universe.

Sorry. Where was I? Oh yes, the little things. While scientists continue to work on exploring the influence of subatomic particles, we can marvel at the ones that exist right under our noses. Take a close look at something. Get closer. Closer. And now your nose is in the dirt or covered in dust or way too close to something that could jump in your eye. Your favorite eye.

Hmm... How can people see little things as big things without losing optical capability? … I’ve got it! A BIGGIFIER!

Place the Biggifier above the object you want to examine and stand back! It’s HUGE! Look at the detail! Ponder the intricacy! Marvel at the complexity! For such a teeny, tiny thing? Are you SEEING this? I can’t take my eyes off it. Simply amazing, no? Yes.

In your intrepid travels, you will come across a galaxy of little things that can so easily go unnoticed... especially without a PORTABLE BIGGIFIER. Same biggification. Smaller Biggifier. The tool of exploration and discovery is right there in your pocket!

While you’re looking at your world through a new lens (literally!), you might notice the denizens of your world looking at you. Like that guy behind the laptop! Or the lady with the latte! Fret not, fellow space traveler. Adorn your abdomen with the new Captain McGillicuddy t-shirt and you will never want for style or conversation.