SPACE NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM

I am a massive space geek. I wanted to be an astronaut when I was younger - I used to dream of going to space camp, I had a telescope and would stay up late to look at stars, and I was over the moon when my family went to Johnson Space Centre and I got to look at ACTUAL moon rock and speak to ACTUAL astronauts (so cool).

Now I'm 29 years old, and I still want to be an astronaut. Over the years it's slowly dawned on me that it probably won't happen - I am rubbish at maths and physics, and I'm unlikely to pass a fit for orbit test any time soon, but the joy of working at the Science Festival means that occasionally I get to take part in spacey things in a professional capacity. That's basically the same thing, right?!

As you may or may not know, this month is a pretty big deal for the UK and European Space Agencies. Tim Peake, a British Astronaut, is off to the International Space Station as part of the Principia mission on December 15th, where he'll be in space for over six months, doing cool experiments and other very exciting (and presumably, insanely dangerous) stuff.

To celebrate the mission launch, the UK Space Agency are throwing a bunch of space celebrations across the country, and we're throwing the one in Edinburgh!

In partnership with the UK Space Agency and the Edinburgh International Film Festival, the Edinburgh International Science Festival is hosting a Big Screen Space Night in the Grand Gallery of the National Museum of Scotland on Tuesday December 15th.

The night starts at 6.30pm with a live link up to the Space Station, as the hatch opens and Tim starts his six month tour. Then Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti (aka the super-cool astronaut who dressed up in a Star Trek uniform on the actual Space Station) will take part in an audience Q&A, and THEN there's a special screening of The Martian which is this year's best space movie (featuring a very charming, bit sweary Matt Damon, and Troye from Community being the cutest astrophysics student there is). AND there's a space bar, and the Grand Gallery of the Museum is possibly the fanciest place you could ever watch a movie.

Tickets are only £5, and can be purchased via the Filmhouse website or from the Filmhouse box office (on Lothian Road). So exciting!

Galaxy wishlist

I am trying to be very good with money (it's January, I'm poor, I don't need new things, etc etc) so I am going to put all of my shopping energy into wishlists - window shopping, internet style. I've had a couple of these items pinned for what feels like forever, so I thought I'd share them with you lovely lot.

Top row

Ursa Major wooden brooch | Galaxy leggings | Saturn brooches

Bottom row 

Constellation embroidery kit | Starlight comb | Galaxy nail decals

It's space themed. I like space. And I REALLY like that wooden brooch... Oh, one little thing wouldn't hurt, would it?

Happy thoughts

Aw, it has been TOO long since I last did a happy thoughts post, so I thought I'd bring them back. Here's three things that have made my life that wee bit happier recently.

1. It's my birthday week!

Last year's birthday face - I got a Sheriff badge! 

I'm one of those people who, given the excuse, will make a celebration last as long as possible. It's my birthday on SATURDAY (hiya!) so this week is officially my birthday week & I will make sure everyone knows it! I'm not sure exactly what my birthday plans are, but as long as I see my pals & family I'm a happy girl.

I quite often get comments along the lines of "oh, it must be weird having your birthday so close to Christmas..." but I actually really, really love it! My family have always made a big deal of keeping my birthday & Christmas totally separate and it's such a FUN time of year - everyone is in a good mood. Including me. Hooray!

2. The Hobbit

INCREDIBLE Hobbit Hill cake by Katrina Kippen

We went to see The Hobbit last week and I really loved it! I'm a huge fan of Lord of the Rings, and was a little apprehensive about it (would it have the same magic? how on earth could they stretch it out to three films? what is HFR? etc) but it really was everything I wanted in a Hobbit film & I'd highly recommend it!

We watched the high frame rate version (which means you see 48 frames per second, rather than the usual 24) and it was really strange at first! I kept thinking it was like watching a TV show, which was really bizarre (although my helpful friend Murray pointed out that this is because TV films at a higher frame rate - I wasn't just going mental). It takes a while to get used to, but all of the fantastical & 3D scenes look BEAUTIFUL. Go and get lost in Middle Earth for a couple of hours, you won't regret it!

3. NASA

I love NASA so much. I have said it before & I will say it again, but I wish I was an astronaut! Or had a mind that was a little more science/maths friendly, so I could work with them!

The students at NASA's Johnson Space Centre have made a Gangnam-style (I know, I know) parody video.... but it's actually really good! Love you, NASA.

The final frontier

Isn't space AMAZING? NASA launched the space shuttle Endeavour yesterday (off on its last mission), and I watched it live at lunchtime - just incredible. The video above is probably my favourite space video (we all have one, right?), and brilliantly it wasn't made by NASA themselves, but by a fan who was frustrated in how they've failed to market themselves properly to the social media crowd.

I don't necessarily agree, I love how they have astronauts who tweet from space (I still find this mental) like Astro Jeff & Astro Soichi, but it is massively sad that the space shuttle programme is ending this summer and no one seems to care? & there is SO MUCH going on right now (have a look at the missions list), including spacecraft which have been in space for thirty years, are on the edge of the solar system & are still reporting back (Voyager). It's amazing.

I wish I was an astronaut.