STS-135 and Memories
Yesterday, while I was in lab, I managed to watch Atlantis launch for the last time. Although, because my internet is really slow, I mostly just heard audio coverage of it and saw a few still frames of the launch. Sadly, it seems that the shuttle won’t be passing over Cambridge after dark at all during this mission, so although there are clear skies, unlike during STS-134, I still won’t get one last chance to see a shuttle on-orbit.
I think my first awareness of the shuttle was hearing about STS-49, Endeavour‘s first first flight on NPR. I know that my family went to my dad’s coworker’s apartment to watch the STS-71 docking of Atlantis with Mir on NASA Cable, and I think we watched one of the other dockings there as well. I also saw Atlantis and Mir passing overheard while Atlantis was still catching up with Mir on one of the docking missions, but I don’t remember which one. I also remember hearing fairly constant news coverage of the 1997 Mir-Progress collision while my family was in Detroit for the Fourth of July that year. I heard about the STS-107 disaster from my dad screaming at the television while I was in the kitchen getting a glass of water, having just woken up. In June 2005, I saw Enterprise at the Udvar-Hazy Center, the Smithsonian’s nearly-inaccessible annex at Dulles Airport. Perhaps, when the Metro Silver Line there opens in 2016 or later, I’ll be able to go again to see Discovery, which is slated to replace Enterprise. While STS-117 (Atlantis), STS-126 (Endeavour), and STS-125 (Atlantis) landed at Edwards during daylight in Los Angeles, I failed to watch any of them pass overhead during landing or to hear their sonic booms. My parents and I tried to see Endeavour docked to the ISS pass overhead during STS-127, but we failed, which means I’ve never managed to see a shuttle docked to the ISS, which combined is apparently impressively bright, since, combined, they make the largest thing humans have ever put into space.
I think my first awareness of the shuttle was hearing about STS-49, Endeavour‘s first first flight on NPR. I know that my family went to my dad’s coworker’s apartment to watch the STS-71 docking of Atlantis with Mir on NASA Cable, and I think we watched one of the other dockings there as well. I also saw Atlantis and Mir passing overheard while Atlantis was still catching up with Mir on one of the docking missions, but I don’t remember which one. I also remember hearing fairly constant news coverage of the 1997 Mir-Progress collision while my family was in Detroit for the Fourth of July that year. I heard about the STS-107 disaster from my dad screaming at the television while I was in the kitchen getting a glass of water, having just woken up. In June 2005, I saw Enterprise at the Udvar-Hazy Center, the Smithsonian’s nearly-inaccessible annex at Dulles Airport. Perhaps, when the Metro Silver Line there opens in 2016 or later, I’ll be able to go again to see Discovery, which is slated to replace Enterprise. While STS-117 (Atlantis), STS-126 (Endeavour), and STS-125 (Atlantis) landed at Edwards during daylight in Los Angeles, I failed to watch any of them pass overhead during landing or to hear their sonic booms. My parents and I tried to see Endeavour docked to the ISS pass overhead during STS-127, but we failed, which means I’ve never managed to see a shuttle docked to the ISS, which combined is apparently impressively bright, since, combined, they make the largest thing humans have ever put into space.