The misadventures of Commander Merlin and the crew of RV-103
Wednesday January 1st 2014

‘Mission #1 Shakedown Cruise 10-25 to 11-29-2009’ Archives

11-14 to 11-29-09 Completion of Mission #1 Shakedown

We stayed at the Philadelphia West Chester KOA while doing our research work at Drexal University Library Special Collections.  This was our first time staying at a KOA and it appeared well run.  Nothing special about it as we learned about all the KOA’s we ended up [Read More]

11-14-2009 Houston We Have A Problem The Sequel

It was a Saturday and we prepared to leave NY for Philadelphia to continue our research work.  The previous Monday I had gone to Camping World and bought a Master Tow Dolly for $1,400.  Camping World said they would have to have one brought in from another store and [Read More]

11-09-2009 Commander Merlin Orders The Crew To Stand Down

We had a free day today thanks to Commander Merlin.  She had decided we all needed a down day and of course led by example by laying in bed all day watching TV. The crew decided to try out their new gold panning kit in the local creek.  Though New York is not known for [Read More]

10-30-09 New York New York!

Evergreen Trails Campground does not accept any club discounts, but with it being off season, the campground manager Mark did give us a nice discount.  The weather up here was already cold with temps getting down into the 20’s at night and they had already had some snow [Read More]

10-29-09 Houston, We Have A Problem!

Prior to leaving we needed a tow dolly to tow the SUV.  I had searched in the local paper and on Craig’s List.  Most tow dollys I found were $1000 or more that were capable of towing our vehicle.  I eventually found a used dolly on Craig’s List for $700 and went to [Read More]

10-28-09 There Is A Reason For Rules

We had established two rules and have found during our travels if we broke them, life became more difficult. Rule #1  Never drive at night if you can avoid it. Rule #2  Never set up your campsite at night. By the evening of Oct 28th we were in Virginia and it was already [Read More]

10-27-2009 3…2…1…LAUNCH!!!!!

“The clock is running!  We have cleared the tower!”  Sorry, I had to quote Commander Lovell in Apollo 13. Yes folks, after all this time, we are finally on our way.  Mission #1 of Discovery RV-103 is a shakedown cruise for the ship and the crew.  With our fearful [Read More]

10-25-2009 Moving to the Launch Pad!

Today is the day!  We packed up RV-103, closed out the condo, and proceeded to our “launch pad” for the shakedown mission of Discovery.  We traveled from our home in the Clearwater/Tampa Bay area to the Port Canaveral Campground in Cape Canaveral FL.   There we got [Read More]

Latest Topics

Goodbye and GodSpeed Discovery RV-103.

Goodbye and GodSpeed Discovery RV-103.

What can I say, but that it is an end to a major chapter in our lives.  Today I turned over the keys to our great and [Read More]

CollisionTEC: A Review

CollisionTEC: A Review

Towards the end of Mission #2, RV-103 had a mishap with a pole, as detailed here.  Last month, I finally got an [Read More]

Breaking News: Obama proposes an end to NASA’s Planetary Science Program

Breaking News: Obama proposes an end to NASA’s Planetary Science Program

“Word has leaked out that in its new budget, the Obama administration intends to terminate NASA’s planetary [Read More]

Mismatched Models

Mismatched Models

Most advocates of Human Space Flight programs always model HSF with the airplane model.  Government subsidized at [Read More]

Human Space Flight Trivia Week 7

Human Space Flight Trivia Week 7

First of all my apologies.  I had to take care of some duties at home that prevented me from posting the newest [Read More]

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