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| "I Need My Space" - Awaiting the scrubbed space shuttle launch on July 1, 2006 |
The most
space-intensive summers I ever had were my two NASA Academy summers,
as an intern in 2005 and a co-leader in 2006. Those two summers
produced awesome and awe-inspiring space memories and two memorable
Independence Days. Traditional fireworks aren’t the only things
that flash, burn, and bang!
In 2005, my NASA
cohort of interns based at Marshall Space Flight Center in
Huntsville, Alabama traveled to the Washington, DC area for tours of
NASA Headquarters, Goddard Space Flight Center, and the University of
Maryland. We also hit up various monuments, the zoo, and museums such
as both Smithsonian Air & Space locations while we were there.
Late evening July 3,
2005, our group gathered at a University of Maryland auditorium with
other students and invited guests. We heard a talk by University of
Maryland professor and NASA Deep Impact mission PI Michael A'Hearn
and a few other scientists on the team. We crashed the VIP section of
the auditorium to fill up on snacks and grab free mission swag (pins,
posters, etc.).
At 1:45 AM on July
4, three large screens showed a live view of the Deep Impact probe
approaching comet Tempel 1. We could see the comet clearly. As the
minutes went by, we could see craters getting larger as the impactor
got closer. Finally the images stopped coming. Cheers erupted from
the team at JPL in California. Finally, we could see why. The bottom
of the comet had been smashed! A bright flash could be seen from
where the impactor had hit, and the images that followed showed the
flash growing larger and brighter. It was a spectacular Independence
Day explosion, even better than the fireworks we watched at the
National Mall later that day.
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| Americans smacking into a comet on July 4, 2005. |
I was a student at
Florida Institute of Technology on the Space Coast when the Space
Shuttle Columbia was destroyed upon returning to land at Kennedy
Space Center in 2003. We were all devastated. The space shuttles were
grounded for two and a half years. Finally, in July 2005, Space
Shuttle Discovery launched its return-to-flight mission. Our NASA
Academy group was able to witness that spectacular piece of history
from the VIP bleachers at Kennedy Space Center.
However, all was not
well with the shuttle program, and the space vehicles were grounded
for another year. My NASA Academy team in 2006 was able to travel to
Kennedy Space Center in July 2006 to see the second Space Shuttle
Discovery return-to-flight launch on July 4.
We spent much of
that day having fun at the KSC Visitor Complex, which I highly
recommend. As launch time approached, used our free-access passes to
drive to the Vehicle Assembly Building. Some of our team watched from
the ground around the VAB. I followed a few others to climb an unused
mobile launch platform to get a view above the trees. Of all the
spots I’ve seen a launch, it was one of the best views!
At T-4 minutes, a
security guard climbed the mobile launch platform, and there was a
collective gasp. “You all have to go,” he said. I stared in
shocked disbelief until he said, “Just kidding!” and joined us.
From then on, I was in a world of happiness and awe. Apparently some
people were chanting the countdown, but I couldn’t hear them. I was
in my own world where only me and Discovery existed.
A rocket ignition is
the best type of firework there is!
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| My view of the Space Shuttle Discovery launch from atop the treeline on July 4, 2006. |
Although we’ve
been waiting patiently the past two days for the SpaceX Falcon 9
launch of Intelsat 35e, we will not get a rocket launch firework
display tonight. But here’s to hoping for a future SpaceX launch
success and future spacey Independence Days to come!
