Heading Off To Everest

Editor’s note: I leave on Sunday for Nepal and will be there until 31 May. I will have Internet access while I am trekking in to Everest Base Camp via a variety of means albeit limited. At Everest Base Camp, I should have good comms, but they are expensive and I need to conserve them for the tasks at hand. As such, I really won’t be responding to email, phone calls, etc. the way that I normally do. My email will be monitored by Marc Boucher and important messages will get to me. I hope to keep an eye (and a hand) on NASA Watch from time to time while Marc and guest bloggers hold down the fort.
You can follow what Scott Parazynski and I are up to at onorbit.com/everest. I will also be blogging for the Discovery Channel. Once I begin trekking you can follow me at SPOT. And of course, I will be twittering as well at KeithCowing.
Back in the States, Miles O’Brien will be our main anchor or “news sherpa” at our main expedition webpage. Scott, Miles, and I – plus the Challenger Center for Space Science Education, NASA PAO, Discovery Channel, Explorers Club, Boy Scouts, and SPOT – plan to try some things that have not been done before from this remote location.
We plan to do all of this in the spirit of what has now come to be called “participatory exploration” at NASA. If all the technology, weather, climbers, and logistics work out, we will have some interesting – and unprecedented – things to share with everyone. We will also be soliciting your imput at our main website.
Ad Astra – and Namaste
Keith