“Skeletons of the Pasquotank”

Had a great time last week, recording voiceovers for the first time.   I wrote two scripts promoting the feature stories in the latest issue of Coastwatch magazine, the outreach publication of North Carolina Sea Grant.

“Skeletons of the Pasquotank”

“Return of the Bay Scallops”

Sea Grant editors Katie Mosher and Kathleen Angione greenlit my idea for these YouTube promos.   Kathleen and I recorded the voiceovers with Jesse Triplett, a multimedia maestro at North Carolina State University, who was a real pro and great help.   Kathleen produced the final clip in iPhoto.

Fun stuff!

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Astronaut Scott Carpenter: ‘Honor your curiosity’

Scott Carpenter is the fourth American to fly into space and the second American to orbit our planet.

That may not mean much to some in today’s world, when armchair explorers with a cell phone or netbook can scan the lunar surface via GoogleMoon with a few taps of keys.

But some 50 years ago, space travel was still science fiction. Then in 1957, the Soviet Union beat out Americans in putting the first machine satellite in space. The United States felt its power and security in the world diminished by that very fact. Space travel became national security. America had to put a human in space before the Soviets.

On April 9, 1959, the Mercury astronauts were introduced to the world (video here). These seven passed the physical and psychological exams designed by the newly formed NASA. These “Mercury Seven” were to be America’s answer to the Soviets, and America’s answer to the challenge of space.

Scott Carpenter is one of the Mercury Seven, whose exploits are the foundation for all that America and much of humanity have accomplished in human space exploration. I spoke with Commander Carpenter on Wednesday.