Posted on 07/20/2011 6:24:14 PM PDT by KevinDavis
Well this is it folks.. It has been a fun ride.
It is a shame that I didn't get to see those birds launch in person. Oh well should have moved to Florida.
Thanks for the link
5:56 am not 1 am.
It’s typical for the shuttle to come in at night. We occasionally hear the double sonic boom if it lands from the West.
I despise Zero as much as the next FReeper but I think NASA’s judgment on when to land probably wins out.
Scratch that. 5:56 am.
From Wikipedia:
Apollo 11 was the spaceflight that landed the first humans on Earth’s Moon on July 20, 1969 (20:17:40 UTC). The mission, carried out by the United States, is considered a major accomplishment in the history of space exploration.
On July 20, 1969, Armstrong and Aldrin landed in the Sea of Tranquillity and on July 21 became the first humans to walk on the Moon.
_________________
The last Shuttle will land on July 21, 2011.
“We pray for one last landing
On the globe that gave us birth;
Let us rest our eyes on fleecy skies
And the cool, green hills of Earth.”
-Heinlein
“We pray for one last landing
On the globe that gave us birth;
Let us rest our eyes on fleecy skies
And the cool, green hills of Earth.”
-Heinlein
No more flying the gliding brick. We’ll miss you guys.
Anybody remember back when we had a real President?
Ronald Reagan
The Space Shuttle “Challenger” Tragedy Address
delivered 28 January 1986
Ladies and Gentlemen, I’d planned to speak to you tonight to report on the state of the Union, but the events of earlier today have led me to change those plans. Today is a day for mourning and remembering. Nancy and I are pained to the core by the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss.
Nineteen years ago, almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground. But we’ve never lost an astronaut in flight. We’ve never had a tragedy like this.
And perhaps we’ve forgotten the courage it took for the crew of the shuttle. But they, the Challenger Seven, were aware of the dangers, but overcame them and did their jobs brilliantly. We mourn seven heroes: Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe.
We mourn their loss as a nation together.
For the families of the seven, we cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss, and we’re thinking about you so very much. Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace, that special spirit that says, “Give me a challenge, and I’ll meet it with joy.” They had a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths. They wished to serve, and they did. They served all of us.
We’ve grown used to wonders in this century. It’s hard to dazzle us. But for twenty-five years the United States space program has been doing just that. We’ve grown used to the idea of space, and, perhaps we forget that we’ve only just begun. We’re still pioneers. They, the members of the Challenger crew, were pioneers.
And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle’s take-off. I know it’s hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It’s all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It’s all part of taking a chance and expanding man’s horizons. The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we’ll continue to follow them.
I’ve always had great faith in and respect for our space program. And what happened today does nothing to diminish it. We don’t hide our space program. We don’t keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and in public. That’s the way freedom is, and we wouldn’t change it for a minute.
We’ll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and, yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue.
I want to add that I wish I could talk to every man and woman who works for NASA, or who worked on this mission and tell them: “Your dedication and professionalism have moved and impressed us for decades. And we know of your anguish. We share it.”
There’s a coincidence today. On this day three hundred and ninety years ago, the great explorer Sir Francis Drake died aboard ship off the coast of Panama. In his lifetime the great frontiers were the oceans, and a historian later said, “He lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it.” Well, today, we can say of the Challenger crew: Their dedication was, like Drake’s, complete.
The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and “slipped the surly bonds of earth” to “touch the face of God.”
Thank you.
Here's a nice video with professional NASA images and video with the rock song “Countdown” by the band RUSH. They were invited to watch one of the early (perhaps the first?) shuttle launches. A portion of this song has been played often as their wake up calls - I know Endeavor had it her last trip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5vPrrnb6tw
“....This magic day when super-science
Mingles with the bright stuff of dreams.....”
I love that line.
The Shuttle is very inefficient at what it does. It should have been retired decades ago. In fact, it never should have been built.
America's original intent was to have a slow and steady manned space program with winged spacecraft being built first. The Soviets messed up all of that, politicians got heavily involved, and we've never gotten back on track.
The government likes to make big leaps that require a lot of money and time, which leaves us stuck with inferior systems for decades. In contrast the private sector likes to make small improvements with quick iterations.
The US manned space program ends in a little more than 2 hours.
May our ancestors and our descendants forgive us.
WTF? Not to diss the Magnus, but the future is something that is reached by everybody at the rate of 60 seconds a minute no matter what they do or where they are.
I did see one launch from my door in Orlando. Didn’t mean to, but there it was, taking off and making a big, vertical trail visible from miles away.
0749 GMT (3:49 a.m. EDT) Now one hour from the deorbit burn.
0743 GMT (3:43 a.m. EDT) The crew has been given a "go" to start the "fluid loading" protocol. That involves drinking large amounts of liquids and salt tablets to assist in the readaptation to Earth's gravity.
0740 GMT (3:40 a.m. EDT) The shuttle's toilet has been deactivated for landing as the crew marches through the final steps to ready the spacecraft to fly home. Next, the astronauts will complete one more alignment of the inertial measurement units in the orbiter's navigation system.
What are the G-forces experienced during re-entry? (I'm sure the suits have plenty of capacity...)
:-)
“WTF”? You mean as in “Win the Future”!? ;)
I see your point - but it is a speech, some artistic license I suppose. Although I know some folks that are timid and always dwelling on the past (”if only I had done .....”). The past owns them. But others that are looking forward (”What if ...”) - they own the future.
Flight Director about to take the final de-orbit poll in Shuttle history....
And CAPCOM Barry Wilmore has given the GO for de-orbit burn in 36 minutes.
Deorbit burn 36 minutes away.
The trick is to live in the present.
I have the NASA channel on right this moment with about an hour and 35 minutes to go, not a whole heck of a lot of people there at Mission Control.
Looks like regular staffing for a Shuttle de-orbit to me.
I wonder how many NASA people are up to watch this, knowing that once it’s done, they’re out of a job.
The more I think of it, the sadder I get.
I am just plain sad of the amount of hope has been lost since Obama took office, really its basically the morale of America that is being destroyed here.
Kennedy gave us a goal, to be the first to the moon. It built our nation, gave us unity, pride and levels of achievement unheard of.
Obama takes it away.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.