I hate to mention this, but July is half over. Just saying.

About a week ago, I went to a very interesting program at Penn State’s Brandywine Campus, near Philadelphia. I was an administrator there some time ago and I get invitations to events every now and then.

The program focused on an initiative called Lunar Lion, and it’s the first ever university-led mission to the moon. More than 100 Penn State students from a range of academic disciplines are working together to change the future of space exploration.

The students–aerospace engineering majors, IT majors, communications majors, even law students–are designing and building a lunar lander. The craft will travel to the Moon and transmit high-definition photos and videos back to Earth. They will even tweet from the Moon.

The aim is to show that space missions don’t have to be controlled by governments–universities can help lower the cost and make space exploration more accessible.

Once the lander is on the Moon, it stays there forever. Amazing feat for these talented college kids!

If you donate to the project, you could have your name engraved in gold on the craft, immortalized forever. Other options are available.

There’s a lot more to Lunar Lion, of course. Visit rockethub.com/lunarlionpsu.

Stuff My Grandson Says:
So he’s lounging on the couch, nose in his IPod. I lean over to poke him a little and get his face away from the technology. He grins up at me.

“Close your eyes and say ‘I don’t like strawberry jam’.”

Ok, I close my eyes and give the line. I open my eyes.

He’s still grinning. “I don’t know why I said that. But you did it.”

Snap.

He’s driving with his dad. They pass a field where horses are grazing.
“Oh, look, horses. I wish they were wearing jackets. I like how they look when they wear jackets.”

?

Overheard:
Ryan: I get it. So when he’s jumping, you have to make the pumpkin come off the string and knock off the peanut’s hat. (It’s got to do with the video game Botanicula. That’s all I know about that.)

Mike (my son, commenting to his sister on something I said): Oh, I don’t know. I don’t understand mom. Sometimes I think retirement’s not good for her.

Well, it is. More musings later.