National Aeronautics and Space Administration

I've recovered a bit from my long trip. Here's a map of where I am in Japan. I flew into Tokyo, and then took another truck to Niihama. I'm now at Sumitoma Heavy Industrys (SHI for short) where the neon dewar is waiting.

They piled me in with all that dry ice for the trip, and now we have to wait around for it to melt. OK, OK, I know it doesn't really melt – it “sublimates” ! It's neat to watch it shrink away into nothing but vapors. Reminds me of Halloween.

So I'm warming up slowly but surely. I should have packed shorts! The team hopes that I'll be back to room temperature tomorrow, so they can start checking me out and getting me ready for the next step.