Image source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html
I have to admit, I was nervous and had the NASA TV internet streaming video going.
Many years ago, two decades ago, I was driving to school listening to top-40 pop music when the DJ broke into the music with the first reports that something had gone terribly wrong with Challenger shortly after launch.
A few years back, it was an early Saturday morning when I listened with sadness on the radio that contact had been lost with Columbia on re-entry. As a high schooler, I had gotten up early in the morning to watch Columbia lift off in STS-1, the maiden voyage of the space shuttle program.
This morning, I was aware of the landing and the concerns about the dented tiles. The heat of re-entry is one of the dangerous parts of the mission. It was great to hear the NASA announcer report they were in touch with the shuttle as it punched through the fiery re-entry phase and began its moves to reduce speed for a Florida landing. There is nothing quite like seeing those images when the first long-range TV cameras picked it up and seeing it coast onto the runway.
Well done to the crew of Endeavour and all the NASA people at the various centers!
Welcome home!!
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