July 27, 2024

WEEKLY MENU 07.28.24

We’re looking to the skies to celebrate NASA’s founding during the Weekly Menu 07.28.24~

During the Weekly Menu 07.28.24, we’re heading to the moon (and beyond). NASA was founded on July 29th, 1958, which makes it sixty-six years old on Monday.

On April 2, 1958, in a letter to Congress, President Eisenhower called for the creation of a civilian National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA), based on the existing NACA, to oversee the U.S. space program. Although a former military commander, Eisenhower believed a civilian agency would be more effective than assigning space to the military, where inter-service rivalries had already demonstrated a lack of results in launching a satellite.

“Light This Candle” (NASA’s Age: 19 months)

May 5, 1961: Lighting candles has a double meaning at NASA thanks to Alan Shepard, the first American in space.

Just 23 days earlier, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin had become the first man in space.

Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr. sits in his Freedom 7 Mercury capsule, ready for launch.

”That little race between Gagarin and me,” Shepard said, ”was really, really close.”

After several delays and more than four hours in the capsule, Shepard was ready to go, and he famously urged mission controllers to ”fix your little problem and light this candle.”

They did, and America’s human spaceflight program was officially off the ground.

NASA

The Weekly Menu 07.28.24 comes just a week after another auspicious anniversary for NASA. Twenty-five years ago, CHANDRA was launched:

NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, which was launched and deployed by Space Shuttle Columbia on July 23, 1999, is the most sophisticated X-ray observatory built to date.

Chandra is designed to observe X-rays from high-energy regions of the universe, such as the remnants of exploded stars.

Chandra X-Ray Observatory

There are some stunning X-ray observations HERE.

Do you know the difference between acronym and initialism?

When I was telling the Boysies about the weekly menu (which is a Friday night “event”), I confused them a few times because I said Nassau (like in the Bahamas) rather than NASA (like I should have). Luckily, they were able to figure it out faster than I. NASA is an acronym: each letter stands for the first letter in a word and is pronounced as its own word instead of being listed, like the FBI, which is initialism. The more you know.

Weekly Menu 07.28.24

We’re celebrating NASA on Monday with Rocket Dogs, Space Fries, and Moon Pies, naturally. Of course, the Moon Pies will be store-bought because they’re classics for a reason.

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11/20/2024 12:49 am GMT

We’ve got Bert manning the grill and Blackstone repeatedly this week. He’s going to be exhausted. Sunday, we’re having Grilled Jambalaya, a deconstructed meal that has grilled chicken, sausage, shrimp, peppers, and onions all tied together with a spicy red sauce. We’re starting out with some fried hush puppies because they’re delightful and we’re being all healthy with the main course. And we’re including a cool watermelon feta salad to tame the heat.

Tuesday is Southwestern Burgers which have all sorts of Tex-Mex flavors going on. Wednesday Bert will take Margarita Pork Chops to the grill. Friday, we’re having steak bites and smashed baby potatoes on the Blackstone.