I didn't post anything yesterday because it was a pretty boring day. I was in the library archives virtually all day, went to a pizza place that was closed, took a few pictures of the Eiffel Tower at dusk, then went back to my apartment and made another ham and cheese sandwich.
Today was more of the same in the morning, though perhaps a little more productive since I started getting into stuff specifically on the ESOC rather than general ESA histories. After lunch, I was able to meet with two men who had worked at ESOC and could give me some insight.
The first was a Brit who had worked on a few missions at ESOC, plus some at Marshall, JSC, and JPL. He was very nice and was able to give me some very good insights into the operational side of European Mission Control vs. NASA Mission Control. The interview went well over the hour we had set aside, so I had to excuse myself just as we were hitting a stride. He assured me that I could contact him with any more questions I had and he would do the best to answer them. He also gave me another name of someone to look up while I am in Darmstadt next week.
My next interview was with an Irishman working in human resources with a sociology background. He really could not say much about working in the Control Centre itself, since he had not done so, but we had a very interesting talk focusing on the mentality of ESA employees and what it is like to work for a truly multi-national agency. It was incredibly enlightening. So my two interviews were extremely different, but very helpful for some of my most pressing questions. I felt very blessed to have been given the opportunity to talk to these two men. As my ESA history contact said, these oral histories will probably be more helpful than anything I could get out of the archives at Headquarters.
I did end up going to a pizza place tonight, though a different one than I had originally planned. I forgot to bring my menu decoder, so I had to do my best. I ended up getting a pizza with ham, mozerella, and what I thought (hoped) was onions. Nope! They ended up being mushrooms. I tried eating some of them, but took many of them off. It was still quite good, though I somewhat hankering for some good ol' fashioned pepperoni pizza. I could go down to the Pizza Hut or Dominos that I saw around the corner (the only American restaurants, by the way), but I am doing my best to try more local stuff.
One last thing, I am not sure if it has made it back to the States but today started a pretty good sized strike. The demonstrations are no where near where I am, but they are heavily effecting public transportation. Thankfully I am close enough to walk where I need to go, but I am concerned it will continue into next week when I have to catch the train to Darmstadt. I do not know how much it may, if at all, effect my travel, but I would rather not risk the chance.
Anyways, I am actually somewhat looking forward to going back to the library with my new knowledge from my interviews. Au revoir!
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