Yesterday, on July 8th, 2011, NASA launched the 135th and final space shuttle mission. I had a lot of internal business stuff to take care of, so I worked from home. I needed the alone time to get some stuff done, but selfishly, I also wanted to watch this lift off, which was scheduled for 11:26AM Eastern Time. I have a small TV in my office, so I had it on in the background. I was listening to Anderson Cooper and the rest of the talking heads on CNN blather on about the Shuttle and NASA while the launch team worked through a weather delay, which stopped the countdown at about 9 minutes.
So, slogging through conference calls, a couple of RFP's and some other business stuff, I kept peering over to see what was going on. About the time my cell phone rang with a call from our Atlanta District Manager about some staffing issues, NASA started the countdown again. I had my back to the TV and was deep into the conversation, when I happened to turn around and saw the Shuttle had already launched and was screaming off into space!!! My daughter was home at the time in another part of the house.
Next thing she hears from me is "DAMN!, DAMN!, DAMN!!!! I MISSED IT!!!"
I know our local DM thought I had lost my mind. I started fussing "Dammit Rich, you made me miss the shuttle launch!!". This guy is sitting in the office and and I am sure he thought I was sitting here in my Bunny Slippers. The phone call ended quickly after that.
I'm pretty attached to the Shuttles. I grew up watching Gemini missions when folks like Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley and Eric Sevareid would announce the launches back in the 60's. Then the Apollo missions came. Alas, Apollo ended in the 1970's when the moon mission had fulfilled Kennedy's promise and the political juice ran out after the 1973 oil embargo.
We waited 6 long years for the next launch system to come along. It was the Space Shuttle. Arguably the most complex, and most Herculean transportation system ever developed by man. I vividly recall sitting in my parents home in 1981 when John Young and Bob Crippen took the first shuttle up from Cape Canaveral. What an emotional event that was. America was leading again. Reagan was in the White House. America was in the ascendency again. Literally.
Then Challenger happened. Like the Kennedy assassination and later 9/11, I think every American remembers where they were when Challenger blew up. I was in my office when my wife called and told me. I felt like I had been kicked in the groin. It hurt. America hurt. Two years later, the Shuttle returned, this time safer and NASA was humbled into a stronger, safer space program. On the backs of Astronauts like Story Musgrave, Hoot Gibson, Bruce McCandless, Sally Ride and others, the Shuttle accomplished the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, its subsequent repair and ultimately the missions to build the first permanent International Space Station. Despite the sacrifices of 14 American patriots in the astronauts who died in the Challenger and Columbia accidents, the Space Shuttle has been an unparalleled success.
STS-135 was essentially a housekeeping mission, taking supplies to the ISS. It wasn't even supposed to take place. However, NASA has Atlantis ready to go as a back up shuttle for the earlier missions this year, and decided to fly one last time. I'm delighted they did.
At some point in the future, America will have the political will to venture into space on its own again. Whether through NASA and the Orion program, or through brilliant commercial minds who are developing private launch capacity, America will go back to space. I can't wait. The sooner we get a Republican back in the White House again, the sooner that will be.
Enjoy the video above. That's how I got to see the last mission blast off into space.
Eric
I really like it. Great Job!
Posted by: Arthur Lopez | July 29, 2011 at 06:39 AM
Yeah but it was Bush's White House who cut the funding for the shuttle, so I'm not really sure where the "Republican" comment comes from here.
http://galvestondailynews.com/story/155779/
Given that that party seems to enjoy the prospect of austerity more than stimulus, I really don't see how a Republican in the White House would help the space program in any way. At least in the exploratory form. Maybe some kind of automated defense program :/
Posted by: matt | July 22, 2011 at 02:11 PM
Found this blog and thought it was going to be about freight, the everyday kind. It was a pleasant surprise to read about the final space shuttle mission.
Posted by: David | July 22, 2011 at 07:11 AM
Drew your comments are appreciated, but the Obama administration has shown little in the way of support for the space program, and congress hasnt either. Democrats tend to take potshots at a few things to get elected...these include big business, the military and government programs that can be cut without perceived threat to their core voters which tend to be lower income folks, unions and other interests whose bread is buttered by domestic issues.
Thats not a carte blanche statement, but I believe that any Government big space programs going forward are going to be Republican championed. Just my opinion.
Some will see irony given Kennedys major push to the moon, but that was as politically motivated a propaganda move as anything else. Space isnt the political high ground it used to be, so it falls now to compete with other domestic spending.
Posted by: Eric | July 13, 2011 at 07:27 PM
Not trying to troll, but why would a republican, who supposedly champion small government and little spending, mean a return to the national space program where a democrat, who are supposedly more liberal in their spending, would not?
Genuinely interested in why you feel this is so. Greatly enjoy reading your blog, especially since logistics is so far removed from my industry (software development.)
Posted by: Drew | July 12, 2011 at 10:15 AM