We Located Endeavour’s Gas Leak!

ShuttleA few weeks ago, we were invited to an event at the California Science Center. GWE has a college friend who now works for a prestigious law firm. They hosted a private event for the families of their clients in the temporary enclosure that currently houses the Space Shuttle Endeavour!! As we walked into the room, we found ourselves astonished by its sheer size. It is truly an incredible feat of engineering.

Realizing that there would be children at the event, the coordinators were smart enough to have scientific demonstrations every 20 to 30 minutes. While GWE spent time mingling, Justin and I wandered over to one the demonstration tables.

Two young “scientists” were standing at a table holding a small bouquet of flowers. As we walked up to them, they asked Justin what he thought would happen if they dunked the flowers into dry ice. He correctly responded, “They’d freeze.”  To prove his theory correct, they put the flowers in the dry ice for 10 seconds and then pulled them out. Justin and I saw the steam coming off the top of the flowers and the frozen drops of dew stuck to each petal.

However, neither of us were prepared for the next part of the demonstration. One of the scientists looked at Justin again and asked, “Are you sure they’re frozen? Let’s check.” Then, he slammed the flowers down on the table and they actually shattered into hundreds of pieces.

Science

My immediate reaction was, “CCCOOOOLLLL!” However, I only got to “CCCCOOO…..”

I was cut off by Justin’s reaction. Apparently, he was so excited by the smashed flowers that he could not contain himself and he blasted a long and loud fart which echoed all throughout the shuttle chamber. There was no hiding which excited child had “blasted off.” I did my best to suppress my laughter, but could not contain myself. I politely smiled at the scientists, thanked them for their time, and escorted my hysterically laughing child away to a less populated part of the building as to not offend the $1000/per hour attorneys.

Next time you see the Space Shuttle Endeavour, just know that remnants of my son’s fart are now a part of its long and glorious history!

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