The Final Space Shuttle Mission

Best Day Ever

It was the most spectacular day of my life. Well, part of it was. Ok most of it was. I went to NASA last Friday for the FINAL SPACE SHUTTLE LAUNCH. Not just to the Houston Space Center, but to the actual Mission Control as the Johnson Space Center Director's Special Guest.

Special Guest Badges

"What??????" I know that's what you're thinking. Or maybe, "How did Sara swing that?" Well as it turns out, I work for a really generous boss. So that's the truth. My boss was the Special Guest. However, I still got to go because she allowed our entire team to tag along.

Now this trip was not without drama...cause, duh, I was on it.

And that drama started with Mother Nature, days before the launch. As we all sat at our desks in the days leading up to the final launch, we checked the weather as though that was in fact our job. Each day called for a different (and pretty large) chance for rain. A few folks even decided to stay behind the day of the launch because it seemed to have such a small chance of actually taking off.

And so the morning of the launch came. I woke up at 430AM, drove to the capitol, picked up one coworker, and met up with a car full of other coworkers. We would be meeting our boss and her grandson there. So the journey began....

a little coffee and a lot of ipod shuffing along the way.

We rolled into NASA's campus just before 9AM and were as excited as kids on Christmas.

After parking in our assigned lot, we boarded a large shuttle (not one engineered for flight unfortunately) and headed over to Mission Control. As soon as we stepped off the elevator we all acted like we had never seen such a sight, mostly because we had not. It was insane.

MISSION CONTROL

We were set up in the small theater area just above and behind double paned glass from the Flight Directors and his team in Mission Control. We watched as two Flight Directors and two meteorologists all discuss the image that was displayed on the massive screens at the front of the room, the weather radar. We were told then that the launch site weather and flight path had been cleared earlier that morning, but the countdown clock, with 9 minutes showing was at a hold for 9 minutes to determine if the weather in the land site in case of emergency was clear. As we waited, another Flight Director came in and gave us a briefing of what each person we were watching over was responsible for. I'd love to type it all out here to give everyone all the knowledge I gained, but honestly I was trying so hard to read the meteorologist’s lips to know if shuttle was launching, that most of what he said went in one ear and out the other. That was until Dr. Love started talking.

Dr. Love is an astronaut. He's been to space once and was there to give us insight into what is going through the astronauts' minds as they sat in the cockpit of their ship (for over 3 hours) waiting to blast off. He told us about their arrangement, how they only had small windows to the side of them they could barely see out. He told us they had been awake since 230AM that day. He told us about their routines and what it would feel like traveling 15,000 miles per hour. I was in awe. It was so real and right in front of me, yet still seemed so unreal.

Dr. Love

As the 9 minute weather determination time period ended, everyone cheered. We were cleared for takeoff.

On the big displays at the front of Mission Control is not only the countdown clock to take off but also a series of events that take place before takeoff. Things like engine start up and pulling back the devices attached to the ship, holding it in place, etc. Each of these different countdowns expired, and all of a sudden, we were one minute from the final space shuttle launch.

Then OUT OF NOWHERE, with 31 seconds to go one of the Flight Directors who had been giving us the briefs, came in, and said the launch was a no go. It was as though he sucked all the air out of the room with his statement. Every face in the room was shocked. Then, just as quickly as he said it was done, he reappeared and said we are still a go. PHEW! Apparently an engine camera had stopped working momentarily, but was fixed within seconds. And as those last few seconds ticked down, everyone in the Mission Control gallery was silent and frozen. With blast off came cheers, flashes of cameras and a few tears even. It was unreal. And just like that it was over.

Blastoff from the Voice of NASA's computer 

another shot of of blast off as the Voice of NASA gives the play by play

The next thing on the day’s agenda was VIP tour of NASA. We were assigned a tour escort and a Public Affairs gal that were both well equipped to answer our loaded arsenal of questions.

getting the history of the NASA programs via Jay our escort and pictures lining the hallway

We began by walking a few hallways with pictures from throughout the history of the Space programs. This led to the Space Station Control Center. This room was very similar to Mission Control, but obviously managed the activity on the International Space Station, rather than the launch, flight, and mission of the shuttle we just watched.

Space Station Control is very similar to Mission Control, but there are more screens in the front of the room.

From there we headed to the original Mission Control room that is no longer in operation. This is the very control room that the moon landings were navigated from, as well as, the Apollo 13 mission. And let me tell you, the excitement was off the charts.

Each of my coworkers and I acted like classmates of our boss' 11 year old grandson, rather than adults over 10 years his senior. We ran around pushing buttons, pretending to be on the phones, and taking pictures. "Houston we have a problem." was heard hundreds of times in a very short 15 minutes or so that we spent in this room. Sitting at the desk as a Flight Director, the same desk that was at the control of such historical moments was one of the coolest moments of my lifetime.

Sara Marie, the Flight Director

The group in the original Mission Control room.

After a nice lunch as a group we headed over to the Shuttle Mission Simulation building. This part of the tour is only for VIP types like my boss. The normal tour would shoot ya right over to the mock ups in another building. That's where you get to see an actual space shuttle and such, and while it is still very interesting, the Shuttle Mission Simulators were incredible. These are the simulators that the astronauts who we just watched launch were training on to prepare for the flight. I was most shocked by the tight spaces they work in. As one coworker said "In some areas, four crew members are functioning in spaces smaller than the inside of your VW Jetta."

To think that they are traveling at 15,000 miles an hour, have all their daily necessities like food and bathroom facilities all crammed into one small area, not to mention all the research tools and program activity requirements, is just beyond my comprehension.

Obviously the most interesting part was also the most inappropriate. It was the bathroom training area. Yep, training. Remember there is no gravity. So just sitting down to relieve yourself is not really an option. They have an area where they strap down and below its pictured.

Our take on the bathroom training.

training.  

The next stop was over to the Space Station Training Facility. It was not as spectacular as the Mission Simulator area, but only because it was much more technical, less glamorous. There were lots of laptops, panels filled with buttons and other training mechanisms. The most interesting part of this area, I think, was that they do procedures in Russian and Japanese as well as English to learn to work with the other astronauts aboard the Space Station. Rocket Scientists are not only the smartest people ever; they are also fluent in several languages. Awesome, my education is seeming more and more insignificant.

Intense trainning goes on here for the Space Station in 3 different languages, Russian, Japanese, and English.

This is when the tour ended for me.... but not the day. I headed to meet my boyfriend while the tour continued on for the rest of the group. Little did I know, I would see my coworkers again that day.

After I got over an hour away, Lauren called to say that our boss had misplaced her car keys. I checked my car just to be sure and what-do-ya-know? There they were. There was really no option, but to jump in the car, and head back to NASA. Now because my coworkers are such team players, they too, jumped in their car and started heading my way. We met in the middle, but not before both sitting in some heavy duty Houston 5pm traffic. As soon as the keys were exchanged it was back on the same road that I was now driving for the 4th time that day, this time destination: Austin.

I pulled up to the capitol to drop off Lauren and headed home after 490+ miles and over 16 hours between the time I picked her up and dropped her off. A long day for sure, but also one of the most incredible.

Hopefully the Space program will receive necessary funding to continue into the future, and this experience can be had by many more to come.

Final Note: The pictures are all taken by either James or Lauren, two of my coworkers.  And there are a ton more. :)

xoxo Sara Marie