The Last Mission

After much difficulty we had managed to get tickets on a tour bus to view the final launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis. Join me to Sunny Florida to witness the launch bringing the Space Shuttle Program to an end.
Thursday July 7, 2011: Location: my home. Time: 6 am
Suitcases… in! Folding chairs...in! Snacks for the way…in! Lemon rice...in! Thayir saadham…in! Kanchipuram idlis…in! Water cooler…in! Lights off…check! Stove off…check! Appliances unplugged…check! Doors locked… check! And off we went...
Thursday July 7, 2011: Location: Orlando, Florida. Time: 8:40pm (yes pm)
After multiple stops fueling body and vehicle and changing drivers we finally reached our hotel.
The weather was hot and sunny until about an hour to our destination. Then the heavens burst open and it rained… and rained… and rained. With thunder and lightning we were pretty sure the launch was going to be scrapped. News had just come in that two lightning had struck close to the launch pad but fortunately no damage to the Shuttle.
Friday July 8, 2011: Location: Orlando, Florida. Time: 4 am
We woke to check the news. NASA had decided to launch and the fueling had begun at 2 am. So we got ready and left the hotel at 6 am. After about an hour’s drive we reached the shopping center where our bus was waiting.
Friday July 8, 2011: Location: Merritt Beach, Florida. Time: 7:30 am
The bus left and we should be arriving at NASA Kennedy Space Center in about 30 minutes.
Friday July 8, 2011: Location: Merritt Beach, Florida. Time: 9:30 am
Yes that’s when we reached the causeway. The roads were heavy with traffic crawling at snail’s pace. I was stunned at the number of folks already there; what time did they get up or were they there all night? I have never seen so many buses at any one given time!! Rows and rows of cars and rows and rows of buses… and the buses were still coming!!!


We were later told that about a million people had come to watch.
Friday July 8, 2011: Location: NASA Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Time: 10 am
Setting up chairs and spreading a blanket at a vantage view point we had our breakfast. The launch was at 11:26 am. At first the sky was overcast but slowly here and there we could see bits of blue sky.
Now it was time to sit back and wait…and to reflect on all the glorious missions of the Space Shuttle fleet.



For thirty years the fleet of five which later became three went on 134 missions! Amongst them was the deploying of the Hubble telescope, numerous satellites, the repairs, carrying and conducting numerous experiments for many countries, and transporting items to build the International Space Station (ISS). The scary tether-less space walks and the repairing of the Hubble were some of the sights that remain etched in my mind! I cannot but admire and salute the courage, grit, and determination of those astronauts!
The Space Shuttle is the most complex machine that man has ever built to date! It is a true testimony of the brilliance of the scientists; a true testimony of the greatest teamwork that could be orchestrated on a single mission! ws needed to build and maintain the International Space Station.
Here are a few interesting facts of the Space Shuttle(s):
· The most complex machine ever built, the space shuttle has more than 2.5 million parts.
· In 8 ½ minutes after launch, the shuttle accelerates from zero to 28,002.6 kilometers per hour (17,400 miles per hour), to attain Earth orbit.
· If the shuttle’s main engines pumped water instead of fuel, they would drain an average-sized swimming pool every 25 seconds.
· Because liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen fuel the main engines, the majority of exhaust produced is water vapor.
· The three shuttle main engines produce power equivalent to 13 times that produced by the Hoover Dam.
· The temperatures inside the shuttle’s main engines and solid rockets reach more than 3,315.6º Celsius (6,000º Fahrenheit), yet the main engine’s fuel, liquid hydrogen, is the second coldest liquid on Earth at minus 252.8º Celsius (423º Fahrenheit).
· Temperatures experienced by the shuttle range from as low as minus 156.7º Celsius (minus 250º Fahrenheit) in space to as high as 1,648º Celsius (3,000º Fahrenheit) as it re-enters the atmosphere.
· Ironically the first trip of the shuttle is the slowest. It travels from the Vehicle Assembly Building (shown below) on a crawler to the launch pad at one mile per hour.



Contd...

 

Friday July 8, 2011: Location: NASA Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Time: 11:20 am
The clouds were dissipating slowly and we could see more and more blue sky. But not much above where the shuttle stood. We’ll see…
Friday July 8, 2011: Location: NASA Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Time: 11:25 am
The countdown started and with 31 seconds to go there was brief hold up. A collective “Awwww” came from the crowd. We didn’t know if the launch was going to be scrapped.
Then the countdown resumed…10, 9, 8 ... and finally lift-off! From a huge billowing cloud emerged the shuttle with its booster rockets and the most glorious fireball … like a little piece of our sun attached to the tail! The knowledge that four humans were sitting on top of this piece of dynamite made my heart pound faster!



It took a few seconds for the sound to reach our ears... Then it came… the loud earth shaking rumble as Atlantis took off majestically up towards space!


She was beautiful, she was magnificent, she was proud, she was strong and she was powerful!

This was my second time watching a Shuttle launch live from Kennedy Space Center. But the experience was just as thrilling!!
A lump formed in my throat, my mind a cauldron of emotions! I was scared, happy, stunned by the sheer beauty of the spectacle, and deeply sad that this was the end!
She was out of our sight in a few minutes!
We heard the announcer informing that the booster rockets had fallen and we heard the quick sonic boom when the Atlantis crossed the speed of sound!
As we slowly headed towards our buses reluctant to let go off the moment we heard the announcer, “The third main engine on Atlantis has now shut off….forever!”