At 5:57 EST this morning, Atlantis touched down at NASA's Kennedy Space Center for the last time. It was a sad, yet glorious moment in the nation's history, as the Space Shuttle program is officially over. After 30 years in service, and coincidentally on the 42nd anniversary of the moon landing, the ship came home after a journey of 5,284,862 miles.
As she landed, Shuttle commander Capt. Christopher J. Ferguson said, "Mission complete, Houston. After serving the world for over 30 years, the space shuttle has earned it's place in history, and it’s come to a final stop." He then thanked Columbia, Challenger and the other Shuttles in the fleet for their contributions to space exploration. I would be lying if I said I didn't get a bit choked up.
The video, though a bit long, is amazing to watch. For the first time that I've seen, it includes the landing from the perspective of inside Atlantis. This isn't like landing a 747. When it entered our atmosphere, Atlantis was traveling at nearly 4,000 miles per hour. She has no engines and is pointing down at an angle seven times steeper than that of a commercial airliner. The Shuttle has been described as a "flying brick". There are no second chances at landing it. It's not as if they're able to loop it back around Kennedy for another attempt. For as "simple" as it is, it's an engineering and technological marvel.
The Shuttle captured our imaginations and made the search for the unknown a priority in our country again. If not for the Shuttle, the Hubble telescope would not have been possible. Neither would countless imaging and communications satellites. The Shuttle program is directly responsible for our new found understanding of the galaxy and universe around us.
I remember the moment Challenger broke apart, while I was watching it with my fifth grade classmates. I remember the Saturday morning of February 1, 2003, when I was awoken by a phone call, telling me that Columbia had disintegrated in the skies over Texas. It has been a tumultuous 30 years, to say the least. As someone that wanted to be an astronaut as a little boy, I couldn't help but get a little emotional hearing the twin sonic booms for the last time during Atlantis' reentry. It makes me so unimaginably proud to be an American.
As she landed, Shuttle commander Capt. Christopher J. Ferguson said, "Mission complete, Houston. After serving the world for over 30 years, the space shuttle has earned it's place in history, and it’s come to a final stop." He then thanked Columbia, Challenger and the other Shuttles in the fleet for their contributions to space exploration. I would be lying if I said I didn't get a bit choked up.
The video, though a bit long, is amazing to watch. For the first time that I've seen, it includes the landing from the perspective of inside Atlantis. This isn't like landing a 747. When it entered our atmosphere, Atlantis was traveling at nearly 4,000 miles per hour. She has no engines and is pointing down at an angle seven times steeper than that of a commercial airliner. The Shuttle has been described as a "flying brick". There are no second chances at landing it. It's not as if they're able to loop it back around Kennedy for another attempt. For as "simple" as it is, it's an engineering and technological marvel.
The Shuttle captured our imaginations and made the search for the unknown a priority in our country again. If not for the Shuttle, the Hubble telescope would not have been possible. Neither would countless imaging and communications satellites. The Shuttle program is directly responsible for our new found understanding of the galaxy and universe around us.
I remember the moment Challenger broke apart, while I was watching it with my fifth grade classmates. I remember the Saturday morning of February 1, 2003, when I was awoken by a phone call, telling me that Columbia had disintegrated in the skies over Texas. It has been a tumultuous 30 years, to say the least. As someone that wanted to be an astronaut as a little boy, I couldn't help but get a little emotional hearing the twin sonic booms for the last time during Atlantis' reentry. It makes me so unimaginably proud to be an American.
