When I saw that my space gift was shipping from close to Cape Canaveral, I got really excited. Could my Santa work for NASA? Did I win the Space gift lottery?

The answer is YES! /u/cbentley82 sent me so many cool things from both Florida and Houston, and I'm so incredibly stoked about everything.

First, he sent two coins from STS-134 and STS-135, which were the last flight of the Endeavor and the last shuttle flight ever. They were given to program workers like him, and he sent ones to me! He also sent patches for two other shuttle flights. I was pretty bummed when the space shuttles were discontinued, since the manned space program was a big part of why I became interested in science. It's really special to me to have this memorabilia, so thank you!

Probably the coolest part of the gift to me was the piece of optical glass. I admit that I was confused by it at first, but the accompanying letter said that it was used to protect a video camera that sits directly below the engine of an Atlas V rocket. As you can see in the pictures, the engine heat did a number on the glass! I'm looking forward to showing it to my students; it has definitely interested all of my friends! (Yes, we are super nerdy. We've come to terms with that. )

Speaking of nerdy, I can't wait to wear my Talk Nerdy to Me shirt the next time I lecture. (Nice stalking, by the way, figuring out I'm a chemistry professor!)

But we are still not done! I also received a space book called "The Martian," which is perfect because I love science fiction as well as science fact. And, I got freeze-dried astronaut food (which my roommates and I agreed was surprisingly good), and stickers from the Atlas V GPS launch and NASA commercial crew (neither of which I knew much about, so I got the additional gift of reading about them!

Thank you SO much for these gifts! You rock! :)