BONUS BONUS SONNET: In Which I Drop A Subtle Hint

O Ian, dear, I wrote 'bout Sharks in Space
Just for your page; now for you I've a task:
What I want most in life's to see your face
Beneath a foil propeller beanie. Ask
Not why it's so; I no longer recall
Just how this project really got its start
(Though I know that it's my fault, after all).
My wish is true; it comes straight from my heart.
And such a little thing I do request:
Here even are instructions for just how
To build the hat. You can make up the rest!
As long as there's a spinner 'bove your brow
When it's all done. You think sonnets are free?
Now off to work. You've got 'til half-past three.

In Which I Geek Out On Yet Another NASA Mission - To The Moon!

I'm sad Endeavor's now not going to fly

Until next month, but consolation's had:

An Atlas 5 will streak into the sky

This time tomorrow, leave from the launch pad

With two unmanned craft, destination Moon!

The L-R-O will write the Baedeker,

While LCROSS seeks for water and, real soon,

Will land upon the Lunar South Pole, her

Objective to seek out some water ice

That we've long thought a crater there might hold,

Safe from the sun and enough to suffice

For starting a manned base there in the cold

And hostile, airless world that's Luna. I'll

Watch with eagerness, a Lunaphile!

Hardware Wars: Or The Most Famous Stripped Bolt In History

I couldn't help but picture, just today,
My own dear Dad and what he would have done
Had he encountered the sort of delay
Mikes Massimo and Good did, namely one
Stripped, stubborn bolt that held a rail in place
That blocked up Hubble's STIS door.
Massimo tried three tools, then, though in space,
Employed my Dad's best strategy: no more
Nor less than yanking the rail off. And yet,
With thousands tuned in, including the boss
The verbal aspect was subdued I'll bet.
No air to turn blue anyway. The loss
Of time compounded more so when
A power tool lost power. There I've been.

In Which I Eschew Eurovision In Favor Of Something Much Geekier

Content with Milton Mermikides' tweets
(There's lots to be content with; that guy knows
Of what he types), and at work, which defeats
All thought of tuning in to catch all those
Weird wannabes do Eurovision, I
Don't try. At any rate, my work PC
Is soundless. Words can't tell of how much my
Heart breaks at this. Instead I chose to see
Day Two of the spacewalk repair work on
The Hubble ACS. That's soundless, too
But fascinating on its own. Forgone
Is the conclusion that I'd rather do
My long-range gawking at some men in space
Than at what seems a musical disgrace.

In Which I Am Flabbergasted Anew At What The Internet Lets Me Do

For me it's just an ordinary day,
My office is unchanged as is my job.
But tech has let me watch as, far away
Two guys did work that still can make me sob.
Mikes Good and Massimo went for a walk
To tweak equipment and change batteries.
I watched them though I couldn't hear them talk.
Now, I'm not just a stalker - I mean please!
The walk was out in space; as for the work
The Hubble Telescope, as job sites go
Makes any job a wonder many'd lurk
To watch in real time. It's amazing. Lo:
The internet allowed me to sit back
And while they worked, just casually keep track.

Yes, Yes, I Am Both A Hubble-Hugger And A Shuttle Shill

Mollosid-free, Atlantis is aloft!
Because of this, space-junkies still may hope
For more of the eye-candy that, so oft
We've gotten from the Hubble telescope,
We'd cry out foul were our supply to stop.
But more than pretty pictures come from there;
Through Hubble we have peered far back in time
As far as 13 billion years, to where
(And when) it all began. She's past her prime
Our Hubble, but once this trip's complete
She'll show us even more, at wavelengths we
Have never seen. It will be no mean feat
To upgrade it. "More like brain surgery"
Than a construction job, we're told. And this
In weightless space! May nothing go amiss!