Yesterday the Space Shuttle Atlantis landed at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), completing its final mission for NASA. I don't feel a special connections to Atlantis per se, but I have had mad love for a space vehicle before, so I can relate to those that have been with her, flown her, and worked on her since she was added to the orbiter fleet in 1985.
I was lucky enough to watch Atlantis lift off on her final flight in the shadow of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), another inanimate structure that I feel strangely drawn towards. I participated in a NASA tweet-up for the launch at KSC and got to hear from several of the people integral to keeping Atlantis flying. I have been obsessed with all thing air and space since the year I saw both Top Gun and Space Camp in the theaters. I am still in awe of the machinery, both human and otherwise, that it takes to accomplish such things.
Everyone one I met at the tweet-up was passionate about space, exploration, education, and of course - rocket launches. I'll let my space-tweep Gene, who witnessed his very first shuttle launch, explain it to you:
Gene Gordon, Fairport, NY
A lot of us wear our heart on our sleeves when it comes to space, and another dedicated space-tweep at the launch took it one step further:
Norah Schneider, Wexford, PA
I'm still coming down from the high of this experience, so it was bittersweet to see Atlantis come back down to Earth yesterday, knowing that she'll be grounded from here on out.
No one likes to be grounded.
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