Reporters like to keep a low profile sometimes, and I’m one of them. I’ve always felt that going place to place with a small recorder and a microphone made me faster on my feet, and was less intimidating for the people I want to interview compared to TV crews with lights and big cameras.

However, my latest visit to the Kennedy Space Center left me sticking out like a sore thumb. WMFE-FM records and broadcasts news in one-channel, or mono. When National Public Radio asked me to do a feature for Morning Edition on KSC’s new Space Shuttle Experience attraction, they wanted stereo. Fulfilling that request left me with a sound recorder dangling around my neck with a microphone in each hand and heavy earphones to ensure the sound was right. In other words, I looked like a "walking radio station". That made moving around interesting, not to mention recording inside the shuttle launch simulator which pitches back ninety degrees with guests strapped in their seats.

The material came together just fine, and it’s scheduled to run this Friday. I’ll provide a link once it does.