Landing Reflections

STS-135 "By The Numbers a review of the mission statistics
STS-135 Atlantis landed at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in the pre-dawn hours of Thursday morning, July 21.


I spent two sleepless nights keeping vigil watching NASA TV as Atlantis undocked from the ISS on Wednesday and then deorbited and landed on Thursday. Sleepless not out of any concern but not wanting to miss a single moment or milestone of this mission. It is always a moving scene when the shuttle undocks and backs away from the Harmony Node of the ISS. Ron Garan rang the bell and wished Atlantis "soft landings." He added, "Gonna miss you guys, see you in a couple months." I always feel a tug at my heart when the shuttle undocks and I hear the bell and the farewell message, but this time, the feelings were predictably stronger. This was the last time a shuttle would be docked at the ISS, and we do not know when the next NASA vehicle will dock at the ISS.

Following the undocking, the ISS rotated to present Atlantis with her "long-axis" with the solar arrays and truss assemblies in line with the shuttle's flyaround pilot Doug Hurley guided Atlantis through an amazing flight around the ISS, providing views of the station we have never seen. It was magnificent, and more than worth staying up to see. A few hours, and a short nap later, the STS-135 crew held their final press event and said their last goodbyes and thank yous before the k-band antenna, which allows for video transmissions, was stowed.

Then Thursday night was spent watching the activities in Houston Mission Control Center, listening to the communications between Atlantis and MCC as final preparations for deorbited were made. I watched as people I've watched and listened to for years finished their last shift working in Shuttle Flight Control. Then the landing team took their final shift. At 4:30 a.m., Atlantis began her 200th and final orbit of the Earth. Pulling every computer together, I tracked Atlantis' final orbit and landing on GoogleEarth Ground Track on one, watched NASA TV on another, ran Mission Clock on the iPad, and chatted with fellow "SpaceTweeps" on Twitter.

NASA - Station Crew Views Shuttle Landing http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2014.html

Astronaut Mike Fossum captured an incredible image as Atlantis re-entered the Earth's atmosphere over Central America in a glowing ball of plasma. Mission Specialist Rex Waldheim described it as "returning in a meteor." A few minutes before 6:00 a.m., the twin sonic booms were heard over Central Florida and Cmdr. Chris Ferguson and Plt. Doug Hurley lined up Atlantis on final approach. Hurley gently guided Atlantis to wheels down on the 5 mile long runway, known as the SLF. Lit by high intensity xenon lights, Atlantis landed with contrails streaming from her wing tips, released the drag chute, and came to wheel stop.

As the sun rose, the STS-135 crew of 4 made their way off Atlantis. Rex Waldheim was the first off, his duties completed. Next came Sandy Hurley, followed by Doug Hurley. After a few emotional words Chris Ferguson turned over Atlantis to the ground crew and left the flight deck one final time.
After a brief medical exam and clearance, the crew were greeted by NASA director Charlie Bolden, Launch Director Mike Leinbach, among hundreds of other KSC employees assembled for this final shuttle landing. Brief statements, congratulations, and welcomes home and the Astronauts were on their way to crew quarters. Meanwhile the ground crew continued "safeing" the orbiter before attaching a tug to her nose gear and towing Atlantis on her victory lap to the Orbiter Processing Facility. The celebratory parade ended at the OPF where those who worked on maintaining the orbiters were assembled with their families to mark the end of a thirty year long mission.

NASA Photo Gallery of Landing
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/multimedia/index.html

It has been an amazing ride. So much has been learned through the shuttle program. Literally tens of thousands of people worked daily to make the shuttles fly. Astronauts, engineers, ground control, trainers, the people who crafted by hand every uniform, space suit, cargo bag, assembled each of five orbiters, their engines, the solid rocket boosters, the external file tanks. The crews that assembled each shuttle stack in the VAB. The operators of the crawlers as they ferried the shuttle from the VAB to the launch pad. Those who loaded the cargo, choreographed the missions, and countless other jobs. I think of all these people daily, as many are now out of work. It will be a difficult transition and I wish them all, Safe Landings. Thank you for your dedication and service.