The Final Space Shuttle Mission

At the close of the STS-135 shuttle mission, I began to wonder how I would even begin to sum up my experience working on the Space Shuttle Program. It has been the most exciting, invigorating thing I could have imagined doing with my career, and I have been very, very blessed. Working at the TPS Imagery Coordinator console (TIC) in the Shuttle Mission Evaluation Room (MER) in Houston's Mission Control Center (MCC) has been the highlight of my career up to this point. I'm going to miss the on-orbit console support that we provided to the Space Shuttle Program during the next couple of years, but I'm excited about the things to come!

After writing multiple long paragraphs about my work that were way too in depth for this blog, I decided to scrap it all and just go with the pictures and videos from the last flight, STS-135. Enjoy!

This video is of the KSC Closeout Crew saying goodbye to the Space Shuttle Program (God Bless America!!):

My friend and coworker, Dave Melendrez, created this next video to commemorate the final Space Shuttle launch, ever. It's a long one (17 minutes), but good.

Leslie and I were very blessed to be able to make the trek to Florida's Space Coast to watch the April 2010 attempt of the last launch of Endeavor for STS-134. In this trip, we were able to see the final vehicle to take flight in the Space Shuttle Program, the Space Shuttle Atlantis, up close and personal as it was being prepped for it's final voyage in the Orbiter Processing Facility. So amazing!!

The final video I have is an incredibly reflective one about all the things we've accomplished in space. It's a great way to conclude this blog. If you don't watch the others, watch this one. What Kind of World Do You Want:

Geek Moment ...

Every flight, the NASA JSC photographers come around and take our photos on console. It makes me nervous when I realize they are there, and I am never quite sure how to react.

This flight, when the photographer came around, I was right in the middle of working Focused Inspection procedures with other consoles, so I didn't notice him at first. So he got a photo of me really working!

Dwight & me at the TPS Imagery Coordinator console in the Shuttle Mission Evaluation Room in Houston's Mission Control Center

Normally I don't post these. However, there is only one more shuttle flight left, and then everything goes in the history books and off to museums. This is for my family, my parents and my daughter.

When I was a kid, in elementary school, I had decided to become an astronaut. I really wanted to go up in a space shuttle and orbit the earth. I used to imagine myself flying around up there, chasing food, marbles, etc. as they floated around in zero gravity (hey, I was a kid). While I gave up on that long ago, I certainly was blessed to come closer than I had ever dreamed possible. God has truly smiled on me.

I love my job; I really, really love my job.

Space Mania

Yep, that's right! As I mentioned in my previous blog, Leslie and I had gone to Florida to watch the April 2011 launch attempt of STS-134, and the launch was scrubbed a few hours prior to liftoff. So this meant that Eric, Celeste and I were able to make a family trip last week to watch the launch at the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Day 1: Friday, May 13

Eric had oral surgery the day before, which meant that the driving was all up to me (yikes!). We headed out as soon as his followup appointment was over that morning, and I drove all ... day ... long ... and then some.

I kept telling Celeste about the states that we were going through, and it was so cute to hear her say, "Lew-eeee-see-ann-a" and "MiSSiSSippi," etc. Somewhere between Pensacola and Tallahassee, Celeste got sick in the back of the car. Man, that's a pleasant smell! Poor baby though, she was pretty freaked out about it.

The drive was sooo incredible that I had to take these awesome pictures of these incredible places so people would know we've been here.

First, we were here...

Then we passed over this famous bridge...

At last, the scenery began to change...

Finally, we arrived at our resort a few hours after midnight. Boy, was that a welcome sight. The place was like an apartment, with all the amenities of home.

Day 2: Saturday, May 14

Saturday began with all three of us heading to a real, actual Krispy Kreme! It was just around the corner from our resort. Yum!

After we ate, I dropped Eric and Celeste off at Ron Jon's in Cocoa Beach and headed to KSC to pick up the car pass that Armando so kindly reserved for me. Just driving up to the VAB had me reminiscing of my trip a couple of weeks ago, and full of pride for the amazing work that we do.

Then after, I went back to my little family at Ron Jon's and we bought Celeste a "surf board" so she could do some "surfing" the next day. Boy, was she ever excited!

Day 3: Sunday, May 15

So we started our day, yet again, with a trip to Krispy Kreme. Celeste loves watching them make the donuts.

Then we headed down to Cocoa Beach and drove down the beach until we found a great spot to get in the water. These beaches are just stunning. The water is quite clear and blue, and the beaches are pretty clean. And the waves! WOW. They were crashing down on shore, right at the shoreline, and were quite huge. Many of them were easily as tall as Eric.

Day 4: Monday, May 16

Launch Day!!

We woke up at around 4:00am and quickly got ready to head to the Space Center. The launch was set for 8:56am Eastern, and may had told us that we should plan on getting there as soon as possible (4+ hours early). We didn't even wake Celeste; we just took her in her pajamas, brought her blanket and pillows, and she slept the whole way to KSC.

I had this great idea to head to KSC's gate 2 (by the visitor complex) by simply GPSing the KSC Visitor Complex. My GPS gave me the address of a location in Titusville, FL. I assumed this was right, since Titusville is so close to KSC. Let's just say that when I pulled into the tiny, overgrown ghost-town of a roach motel on Kennedy Drive, I knew something was up. Oh man, talk about funny. And no, that one absolutely cannot be blamed on my skills as a female driver. It's all on the GPS.

After moments of confusion, laughter, and minor paranoia, we found ourselves crawling in a loooooooong line of traffic near the real KSC Visitor Complex. Once we got through the gate and to our spot on the Causeway, we made a little pallet near the water and got ready for the launch.

We arrived 3+ hours before the launch, and it wasn't too crowded. It was pretty great, and the view wasn't bad either! Celeste kept excitedly asking when the "rocket ship" would go up. It was so cute!

I kept a close eye on my watch and when they entered the last countdown, our anticipation and excitement was built so extremely high that I'm not sure I can accurately describe it on here. Celeste was anxious; I was excited; Eric was excited.

Then it happened. First, there was this huge burst of smoky clouds as the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) were ignited. Not even seconds later, this magnificent vehicle, supported by it's 2 SRBs and External Tank were lifted off the ground with such a great force.

Randy, one of the KSC guys that we work with on-console during on-orbit inspection operations, had advised me to wear sunglasses when watching the launch because of the sheer vibrance of the flame. Unfortunately, I'd lost mine the day before in the Atlantic. But when that bad boy took off, I realized what he meant. It was like staring directly into the sun; so bright!

A few of my favorite photos from the launch...
 
Wow. I am truly blessed.

These next two photos were taken by a woman named Stephanie Gordon of Hoboken, NJ. She was on a plane from NJ to Palm Beach, FL, and took these photos looking out her airplane window.

 

After the launch, I caught a flight from Orlando back to Houston to begin working the Flight Day 2 TPS inspections from the TIC console in the MCC Shuttle Mission Evaluation Room; Eric and Celeste drove home. This is a long mission (16+0+2 days thus far), and it can certainly make anyone tired to support every day during on-orbit operations. However, it is certainly the most rewarding job I can imagine and I absolutely love it.

Amanda and Dan on console in the MCC for STS-134

Driving home from Florida