Friday, June 26, 2009

Newbie at the CSA

I started work (finally!) at the Canadian Space Agency on Thursday. The work itself hasn't settled down enough yet for a potted summary, but a few early observations:

The gorgeous building was designed by Starfleet (aka WZMH Architects), and is ready to to take off the instant we figure out what dilithium crystals are and how they work. In fact, that's my job for the next six months. Unfortunately, I'm neither a doctor nor a geologist, so that joke just isn't going to work.



Security is taken very seriously and seems very effective, but has its... moments. We have these cards that allow us to get through doors (six between the main entrance and my office, three between my office and the nearest toilet). Some of said doors are circular, miniature versions of those you find at better department stores. The catch is that, for security reasons, only one person is allowed in at a time. So, if the next person holds their card up to the sensor a moment too early, the mechanism immediately locks, causing the previous person's face to slam into the glass. One of these contraptions is at the cafeteria entrance, allowing for some excellent people-watching over lunch. [CSA security people: you're doing a wonderful job, and I'm sure these doors are absolutely necessary. Please don't purge me from the system.]

Here's the sweetest thing - my gym:



Better believe I'm motivated!

7 comments:

Blasé said...

Congrats, and please stay "motivated". Peace

Unknown said...

An official Astronaut museum. How fricking cool. Miss you!

Jen said...

Amazon just delivered a book here that you ordered? Is it a giftie on the order of the awesome potato chips, or do you need me to do something else with it?

Kim Binsted said...

Jen: I think that's a book I pre-ordered a million years ago. You're welcome to read it, and I'll get it off you at some later date. Did you have fun with the chips?

Lora: Damn right it's cool! Miss you too...

Evgenya said...

I'm so glad you are posting here again! I wish I could come up for a tour of CSA sometime, and check out the gym. I suspect it's probably true about astronauts as about pilots: They are all so good looking! Can you please confirm?

BrianShiro said...

What are you doing at CSA? Is it a permanent move, or are you on sabbatical?

Kim Binsted said...

Technically it's a secondment. The original plan was to stay until December, but now it's being extended until Aug 2010.