Saturday January 24th 2009. Launch -82 days.


With the growing conviction that we are almost there, the countdown is going to start getting very real and ominous. 82 days is still enough that it does not feel too close, but when we tick past T-63 days (the last Ariane launch before ours) and then T-50 days, the clock will suddenly seem to accelerate. There is no question that we are like athletes on the last couple of laps of a highly tactical 10 000 metres race: there have been sudden bursts of pace, but now there is a jockeying for position as everyone is getting ready to unleash a final sprint to the finishing line. The difference is that, in our race, we all have to reach the finish together!

 

Yesterday was a somewhat stunning day. In the afternoon I was offered a considerable promotion (the word “promotion” is slightly misleading, because my position will remain unchanged, but there is no question that it is a big increase in status and responsibilities). This is the second in about 7 months. The Boss and his Deputy explained what it implied and then asked “what do you think?” There were about 20 seconds of stunned silence as the only word that occurred to me was not exactly appropriate for the situation. Suddenly the simulations campaign has got horribly real for me… Am I up to the job? They obviously think so. After two weeks of learning by total immersion we will find out.

 

Today has been a normal day. Tidying, cleaning and shopping. A colleague gave me a lift to the shopping centre meaning that I could buy a lot of things that would normally be far too heavy or too bulky to come with me on the bus. Once home, everything had to be stored. I also bought several new plants and cactuses that had to be attended to. By 8pm I was shattered and ended up taking a totally unplanned two hour nap as my eyes shut while reading Isaac Asimov’s compilation of short stories “Buy Jupiter!” Back to reality! I haven’t got on the exercise machine yet tonight. It’s half past midnight and if I don’t do it now, I never will. Half an hour working like hell on the stepper (don’t believe anyone who says that it’s boring: if you want to maintain 170-180 steps per minute you really have to concentrate hard). In 30 minutes, I burn 700-750 calories at that pace.