STS-135, Space Shuttle Atlantis on the Launch Pad at Kennedy Space Center, June 2011
Today NASA is scheduled to launch STS-135 Space Shuttle mission, the final mission in the 30 year Space Shuttle program. This is the orbiter Atlantis on the launch pad on Father’s day when I took my family to Kennedy Space Center to experience as much Space Shuttle as we could without attending a launch.
We had lunch with Jon McBride, a member of the first class of Space Shuttle astronauts who piloted the Challenger orbiter in 1984. We took a VIP tour of the Kennedy Space Center which included an up-close view of the external tanks and the the rotating service structure encased orbiter on launch pad 39A.
I’m sad to see the program end after growing up with it and I am equally sad to miss seeing a launch live. As I sit and watch the final launch live on NASA TV, I’m happy I got to introduce Mirielle to the program that shaped my dreams of real space exploration before it is retired. I also saw that space exploration doesn’t matter much to her yet because there aren’t any big programs, goals or destinations that both capture the imagination and are funded.
Without the compelling story which we’ve had for the past 50 years, a visit to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is one of the best ways to introduce our children to both the history and posibilites of space exploration.
Loved this post as it reminded of our visit to Kennedy Space Center when they were getting ready to launch after the most recent disaster. It’s quite the sight and somehow, seeing the shuttle in a museum doesn’t equal seeing it on the launch pad, ready to go.
It is sad to think kids now don’t have the same opportunity to share the excitement about the whole idea of space exploration and travel that we all grew up with…
I so very, very much wanted to see a live launch before the program was retired. Such great childhood memories (and some sad ones, too).
How cool that you did get to visit Kennedy with your family – I’m sure that memory will last.
Would’ve loved to see a launch some day. Guess it’s not to be.
I loved this post, as it reminded me of all the times we watched launches on tv – I was fortunate enough to be in FL for a launch years ago and saw it from afar. It was a thrill nonetheless!
~Becca
I would have loved to have seen the last one launched – I have watched a few over the years – you go right by there on the way to Pompano Beach and Fort Lauderdale, and what a great stop to make on the way to a Coconut Creek Resort. Watching the shuttle lift-offs was amazing!