I love watching the Shuttle take off and land. I just think that the whole idea of space travel is so neat. But what would really be neat would be if Obama were to tell NASA to scrap the Shuttles and build something new. Wouldn’t it be outstanding if companies like Microsoft and Hewlett-Packerd were asked to help with the new project? A new shuttle. Now that’s a neat idea.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
I’m a nerd. I admit it. I love NASA and the space shuttle. I follow every mission as close as I can given my schedule. I was seriously bummed when we lost the 2 shuttles.
Atlantis took off today. (I should have the video soon.) In the first 2 minutes of any shuttle flight there are 2 procedures that I just love. The first one is the roll of the shuttle just after takeoff. To take something that big and going that fast and precisely roll it, is amazing to me. The second is the shuttle going through the sound barrier. The shuttle has to throttle down to reduce stress. After it passes through the sound barrier, Mission Control simply says, “Atlantis, go with throttle up.” Now, here is where my love for speed would kick in. The Commander will usually say something like, “Throttle up.” Very calm and understated. I’m sorry. I would have worked over 10 years to get in that chair and to be in that position. My response would be, “Hell, yeah. All of you Porsche and Ferrari owners, bite me. Throttle way up!” In a matter of seconds, I would flying faster than 2,000 mph. So, that is one reason why I won’t be flying the shuttle. The other reasons are I’m terribly out of shape and I get sea sick watching a glass of water. Besides that I’m ready!
BTW, not to bring up politics, but didn’t Bush promise to send a man to Mars and back to the moon? Those proposals were DOA before the echo had died in the room.
This was a huge mission. Prolonged difficult spacewalks. Absolutely a great accomplishment. We need more of this. I need something to be proud of.
———
From CNN.com:
Discovery and its crew returned to Earth on Wednesday and concluded a 15-day space station build and repair mission that was among the most challenging — and heroic — in shuttle history.
The space shuttle touched down just after 1 p.m., after safely crossing the continent in the first coast-to-coast re-entry since the Columbia disaster almost five years ago.
Commander Pamela Melroy was greeted by crisp fall weather as she brought Discovery down on the runway. (more…)