Over the past two years or so I've been involved in a feasibility study funded by ESA, the European Space Agency. I was part of a team looking at the utility of a potential new satellite to measure carbon dioxide, using a new technology. It was one of six earth science-related satellites competing for a launch around 2015. After a competition in Lisbon this January, the CO2 mission didn't make it through until the next level, but we still had to finish up the report and present it to ESA. And so I found myself, 8 months pregnant, on a 9 hour train trip to ESTEC, the ESA centre in the Netherlands, on the North Sea.
The train ride was terrible, the meeting was okay, but the view from my hotel room was wonderful. At least there are some perks!
What was less wonderful was my trip back the morning after the meeting, when I had to wait in driving rain for the bus to the train station, and got soaked to the skin. I really wasn't prepared for the weather, and hadn't brought an umbrella. Luckily, I was wearing mostly linen (it was really warm when I left Jena), so at least it dried quickly... And back to the view, so I end on a happier note.
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