On July 16, 1969 at 9:32 am, Armstrong, Collins, and Aldrin launch aboard Apollo 11 from Launch Pad 39A headed for the first moon landing. 39A is the same launch pad used for last week's launch of STS-135 Atlantis. The Saturn V launch vehicle is the most powerful and most complex machine built by humans.
For more on Apollo 11, check these websites:
Smithsonian Air & Space: http://www.nasm.si.edu/events/apollo11/
NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo11.html
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
One Week Ago
It seems hard to believe, but another week has sped by. Just one week ago today, I and a few million other NASA geeks and spacetweeps went through an entire range of emotions. Anticipation, yet preparing for disappointment. Skeptical of the weather, but hoping it would clear. Excited that the clouds were clearing and the sun was coming out, then worried it would kick up the convection and set up storms. As the countdown proceeded through each scheduled hold, and the possibility of a launch looked more likely, the energy rose, then the clock stopped at T-31! The utter disbelief,the fear of something gone wrong. Then, the clock resumes, and as MS2 Rex Waldheim said today in an interview, "The clock restarted and we had no time to think. It was like, ready, set, go!"
Joy, jubilant cheers, thunderous applause, tears, and utter shock. The awesome beauty and power was beyond belief.
Here are a few of my photographs from the launch. Click the photo below to open the album and launch the slide show.
Joy, jubilant cheers, thunderous applause, tears, and utter shock. The awesome beauty and power was beyond belief.
Here are a few of my photographs from the launch. Click the photo below to open the album and launch the slide show.
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| STS135Launch |
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
EVA and Teamwork
Today was a re-entry day for me. My first full day back in New York after spending the weekend in "ShuttleLand." I spent most of the day glued to NASA TV watching the last Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) a.k.a. "spacewalk" to be supported by the space shuttle and her crew. As if the feats of working in microgravity to move, manipulate, install and remove various components on the ISS weren't enough, there was such an amazing display of teamwork. Today's activities made it so clear that these missions are not just about the astronauts in the crew, but thousands of people who make what they do possible.
The morning began with Ferguson and Satoshi getting Fossum and Garan suited up. On the ground in Houston, Mission Control Center was helping ensure that all procedures were followed to ensure the safety of the astronauts and the success of the EVA. CAPCOM was Bennett from STS133 Discovery. Good to have a seasoned spacewalker on hand as coach and interpreter. After their pre-breath activities in which they purge the nitrogen from their blood, the airlock was depressurized. Fossum experimented with whistling in the low pressure atmosphere, and it turns out, one cannot. There isn't enough air to create a sound. Once they cleared the airlock and stepped out into space, Waldheim took the role of EVA director, running checklists, and coordinating communication between Mission Control and Fossum and Garan. As if that went enough Magnus and Hurley operated the robotic arm to move astronauts and hardware into position between the shuttle's payload bay and locations on the ISS. Think of the communication required to successfully move someone on the end of a 50 foot arm into position and make tiny adjustments so the person on the end of the arm could
Somewhere in hour five of the six hour EVA, Garan remarked, "When you're hanging out here in no man's land, it's good to know there is a whole team behind you."
This level of teamwork and professionalism was nothing less than inspirational. It is truly a goal for all of us to achieve, doing our part to the best of our abilities and calling upon the support of our friends, colleagues, or team mates to successfully achieve whatever task or goal we have set out to complete. None of us can function alone. We are all part of a community. Garan asks, "What kind of world do you want?" I want a world where we can work together to achieve greatness.
Thank you to STS-135, ISS Expedition 28, Mission Control Center, and all the engineers, trainers and support personnel for demonstrating the true spirit of collaboration.
The morning began with Ferguson and Satoshi getting Fossum and Garan suited up. On the ground in Houston, Mission Control Center was helping ensure that all procedures were followed to ensure the safety of the astronauts and the success of the EVA. CAPCOM was Bennett from STS133 Discovery. Good to have a seasoned spacewalker on hand as coach and interpreter. After their pre-breath activities in which they purge the nitrogen from their blood, the airlock was depressurized. Fossum experimented with whistling in the low pressure atmosphere, and it turns out, one cannot. There isn't enough air to create a sound. Once they cleared the airlock and stepped out into space, Waldheim took the role of EVA director, running checklists, and coordinating communication between Mission Control and Fossum and Garan. As if that went enough Magnus and Hurley operated the robotic arm to move astronauts and hardware into position between the shuttle's payload bay and locations on the ISS. Think of the communication required to successfully move someone on the end of a 50 foot arm into position and make tiny adjustments so the person on the end of the arm could
Somewhere in hour five of the six hour EVA, Garan remarked, "When you're hanging out here in no man's land, it's good to know there is a whole team behind you."
This level of teamwork and professionalism was nothing less than inspirational. It is truly a goal for all of us to achieve, doing our part to the best of our abilities and calling upon the support of our friends, colleagues, or team mates to successfully achieve whatever task or goal we have set out to complete. None of us can function alone. We are all part of a community. Garan asks, "What kind of world do you want?" I want a world where we can work together to achieve greatness.
Thank you to STS-135, ISS Expedition 28, Mission Control Center, and all the engineers, trainers and support personnel for demonstrating the true spirit of collaboration.
Monday, July 11, 2011
STS-135: The Last Shuttle Mission
NASA has a special start page for STS-135 Mission Coverage. http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/135_splash/index.html
Sunday, July 10, 2011
A Spectacular Launch Day
I'm trying to gather my thoughts and emotions on this incredible and historic day. About two hours ago, STS-135 rocketed from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. It has taken me about that long to almost feel I could begin to articulate my feelings and thoughts. Seeing the shuttle launch was a 30 year dream for me. Ever since those first test flights of Enterprise and then STS-1 in 1981, I have always hoped I could find a way to see a launch. Despite traveling to Florida a handful of times, I was never able to time the trip when a launch was scheduled. About ten years ago, I discovered NASATV over the Internet, and despite a lack of coverage on television, I was able to follow several of the missions and watched many launches and landings over the years. About a year and a half ago, I even got up at three in the morning to watch the shuttle fly over New York's eastern sky on launch. Then of course sharing the final missions of Discovery and Endeavour from launch to landing with my students. Not bad, I'd say. Hadn't I fully experienced it?
Well, old dreams die hard. With one last chance to see a shuttle launch in person, I began to feel that itch again to travel to Florida to see it. It wasn't so much that this was the final shuttle launch, but my last chance to see it in person. If you've been following me on this blog or on twitter, you know that I put my name into the lottery for the NASATweetup and the chance to be a special guest of NASA for the launch. When I (along with more than 5000 other "Tweeps") weren't among the lucky 150, I couldn't imagine how I could get there. With a lot of encouragement and family support, I found tickets and arranged transportation not only for me, but the whole family!
I was about to embark on something I had thought would never happen!
I can't believe I finally witnessed it in person!
I can't believe I got to share it with my family!
Had I fully experienced a shuttle launch? Definitively, No. I still find it difficult to find the words, but there is something in witnessing a launch in person that simply does not get felt watching on video. I have been deeply moved and felt such excitement watching launch videos, but this was a completely different level.
The hours preceding the launch were full of excitement and nervousness. It is a strange mix of emotion. On the one hand, you want desperately for the launch to go. I had invested a lot of time, energy and money to be here. At the same time, one never wants another shuttle crew to be unnecessarily put at risk due to weather constraints at launch. So we held our breath with the 30% chance of launch as we watched the weather conditions change every 15 - 30 minutes from red "no go" to green "go" and back to red "no go." I followed the updates of the changing conditions through Twitter, trying to remain optimistic, but also seeing the dense cloud cover surrounding the skies over Cape Canaveral. We even witnessed a couple of flyovers by Astronaut. Rick Sturchow as he flew the "shuttle training aircraft" through the clouds to get first hand observations of the conditions the shuttle would have to fly through.
We came up to the 9 minute hold and then the clock resumed. Were we really gong to launch? Conditions continued to go back and forth and the 70% "no-go" for weather held. Then the 2 minute hold... and the clock resumed. We are going to launch! And then at T-31 seconds, the clock stopped! The entire crowd stopped, held their breath in total confusion. Did the clock really just stop? What was wrong? A collective "oh no!" We strained to hear the calls between launch directors and technicians at the Launch Control Center. Then we heard launch director Mike Leinbach's voice say, "resume the count on your mark." and the emotional, choked voice of the woman with countdown, "T-31 on my mark, 3, 2, 1. T-30, and counting..." and the crowd erupted in cheers and applause.
We watched the main engines ignite on the jumbotron television, then at zero the solid rocket boosters light. That's the point of no return. Atlantis was going! In a few seconds a bright yellow-white fireball erupted from the tree line as Atlantis climbed skyward. We followed Atlantis and the flames of the SRBs as she left a trail of grey and white hanging behind her. Then she disappeared in the clouds and the reappeared just before going supersonic and then she was gone in the clouds. But wait, the sound! We were 6 miles away, so it takes a while for the sound to reach you. It begins as an inaudible pressure wave that you feel in your entire body. Then the chest begins to rumble, and finally the thunderous roar begins to reach your ears as it rolls to you. And it keeps coming, and coming, and then, slowly, begins to fade. We watched on the screen as the SRBs finished their burn and then separated. We watched as the external tank continued fuel the main engines, then MECO (main engine cutoff) with the liquid fuel in the orange tank was finally consumed. Cheers, tears, hugs, smiles. There is nothing like being there. Experiencing it with ALL your senses! As the crowd started to quiet again and people began to disperse, we watched to giant column of exhaust widen and drift, and then get pulled into a zig-zag pattern with the wind shear aloft. The plume hung in the air for more than a half an hour after launch, reminding us all that yes, we really did just see Atlantis escape Earth's gravity and rocket into space! I learned on twitter that those at the NASATweetup cold smell the rocket fuel in the air about a half an hour after the launch! ALL your senses!
Well, old dreams die hard. With one last chance to see a shuttle launch in person, I began to feel that itch again to travel to Florida to see it. It wasn't so much that this was the final shuttle launch, but my last chance to see it in person. If you've been following me on this blog or on twitter, you know that I put my name into the lottery for the NASATweetup and the chance to be a special guest of NASA for the launch. When I (along with more than 5000 other "Tweeps") weren't among the lucky 150, I couldn't imagine how I could get there. With a lot of encouragement and family support, I found tickets and arranged transportation not only for me, but the whole family!
I was about to embark on something I had thought would never happen!
I can't believe I finally witnessed it in person!
I can't believe I got to share it with my family!
Had I fully experienced a shuttle launch? Definitively, No. I still find it difficult to find the words, but there is something in witnessing a launch in person that simply does not get felt watching on video. I have been deeply moved and felt such excitement watching launch videos, but this was a completely different level.
The hours preceding the launch were full of excitement and nervousness. It is a strange mix of emotion. On the one hand, you want desperately for the launch to go. I had invested a lot of time, energy and money to be here. At the same time, one never wants another shuttle crew to be unnecessarily put at risk due to weather constraints at launch. So we held our breath with the 30% chance of launch as we watched the weather conditions change every 15 - 30 minutes from red "no go" to green "go" and back to red "no go." I followed the updates of the changing conditions through Twitter, trying to remain optimistic, but also seeing the dense cloud cover surrounding the skies over Cape Canaveral. We even witnessed a couple of flyovers by Astronaut. Rick Sturchow as he flew the "shuttle training aircraft" through the clouds to get first hand observations of the conditions the shuttle would have to fly through.
We came up to the 9 minute hold and then the clock resumed. Were we really gong to launch? Conditions continued to go back and forth and the 70% "no-go" for weather held. Then the 2 minute hold... and the clock resumed. We are going to launch! And then at T-31 seconds, the clock stopped! The entire crowd stopped, held their breath in total confusion. Did the clock really just stop? What was wrong? A collective "oh no!" We strained to hear the calls between launch directors and technicians at the Launch Control Center. Then we heard launch director Mike Leinbach's voice say, "resume the count on your mark." and the emotional, choked voice of the woman with countdown, "T-31 on my mark, 3, 2, 1. T-30, and counting..." and the crowd erupted in cheers and applause.
We watched the main engines ignite on the jumbotron television, then at zero the solid rocket boosters light. That's the point of no return. Atlantis was going! In a few seconds a bright yellow-white fireball erupted from the tree line as Atlantis climbed skyward. We followed Atlantis and the flames of the SRBs as she left a trail of grey and white hanging behind her. Then she disappeared in the clouds and the reappeared just before going supersonic and then she was gone in the clouds. But wait, the sound! We were 6 miles away, so it takes a while for the sound to reach you. It begins as an inaudible pressure wave that you feel in your entire body. Then the chest begins to rumble, and finally the thunderous roar begins to reach your ears as it rolls to you. And it keeps coming, and coming, and then, slowly, begins to fade. We watched on the screen as the SRBs finished their burn and then separated. We watched as the external tank continued fuel the main engines, then MECO (main engine cutoff) with the liquid fuel in the orange tank was finally consumed. Cheers, tears, hugs, smiles. There is nothing like being there. Experiencing it with ALL your senses! As the crowd started to quiet again and people began to disperse, we watched to giant column of exhaust widen and drift, and then get pulled into a zig-zag pattern with the wind shear aloft. The plume hung in the air for more than a half an hour after launch, reminding us all that yes, we really did just see Atlantis escape Earth's gravity and rocket into space! I learned on twitter that those at the NASATweetup cold smell the rocket fuel in the air about a half an hour after the launch! ALL your senses!
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Lift Off of STS-135!
I am still trying to gather my thoughts for my post about the launch experience. Yes, it was that powerful and an extremely emotional experience. For now, I will share one of my launch photos. I was able to capture Atlantis as it climbed toward space at the moment it went supersonic. The pressure wave, known as a sonic boom, causes a condensation plume. Notice the twin plumes from the nose cones of the solid rocket boosters.
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| STS135 Goes Supersonic ©2011 MWilkinson, Snake3Productions |
Friday, July 8, 2011
Launch Day
After rising at 2am, we made our way to catch the bus from Orlando to Kennedy Space Center to see the launch of STS-135 Atlantis on its mission to the International Space Station. The bus ride took a little over an hour and then by about 5:30 we had staked out our seats near the Rocket Garden.
It is all "so amazing" as Alexandra said. A day full of emotion. Anticipation of the launch, the excitement and awesome power as the shuttle lifts off. Uncertainty with the weather, which while comfortable for us human types, with a slight breeze and reasonable temps. But there are some dense clouds in the area that could prevent the launch. We are waiting to hear the report from the weather briefing at about 7:30am.
There is a constant buzz of energy in the crowd as people pass the time visiting, eating, sleeping, watching NASA tv, playing games, tweeting, taking photos. There is a beautiful shot of Atlantis on the jumbo tv screen. Clouds rolling in from all different directions and heights. Patches of blue directly overhead. It's all up to Kathy Winters (NASA meteorologist) and her team now.
The crew is suiting up now. We shall see what happens next.
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| Pre-dawn at the Rocket Garden MWilkinson |
It is all "so amazing" as Alexandra said. A day full of emotion. Anticipation of the launch, the excitement and awesome power as the shuttle lifts off. Uncertainty with the weather, which while comfortable for us human types, with a slight breeze and reasonable temps. But there are some dense clouds in the area that could prevent the launch. We are waiting to hear the report from the weather briefing at about 7:30am.
There is a constant buzz of energy in the crowd as people pass the time visiting, eating, sleeping, watching NASA tv, playing games, tweeting, taking photos. There is a beautiful shot of Atlantis on the jumbo tv screen. Clouds rolling in from all different directions and heights. Patches of blue directly overhead. It's all up to Kathy Winters (NASA meteorologist) and her team now.
The crew is suiting up now. We shall see what happens next.
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