Farewell but hopefully not goodbye.

[PR_Princess]

The last flight the shuttle Atlantis ended safely yesterday, and with that the 30 year shuttle program has now officially drawn to a close. In those three decades the shuttle program has had both its triumphs, and its tragedies. (Racine lost one of its own on the ill fated Columbia.)

I have listed a youtube link below. It is a tribute to the space shuttle that is currently making the rounds. The video was prepared by Nature, and touches on all those highs, and lows. It features footage from every shuttle flight, including STS 135 (the last) and it shows a good number of the 355 individuals who flew on those shuttles.
If you have not seen it, it may be worth a watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II7QBLt36xo&feature=player_embedded

In stills
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/07/the-history-of-the-space-shuttle/100097/


I know that there are several members here who have either had the privilege of working on the program directly, and a few that have close connections to someone that does. So from myself and many others that have stood by and watched in awe and amazement over the years, a humble Thank You.

It has been quite the ride.

 

[BRobbins629]

Stop scaring me!!!

 

[Paul in OKC]

Thought you were leaving or something, before clicking on the post!

 

[renowb]

WOW! Thanks for posting that Dawn! That is some awesome stuff!

 

[bitshird]

Dawn I'm also sad to see the end of an era, my wife and I were about 25 miles from the cape when the tragic launch of Columbia went, I had always wanted to see a launch and we got to see most of it.
I was amazed and in awe watching from a distance, we were at a show back here when it happened and I nearly threw up. To think that one of the most amazing things I'd ever seen ended so horribly.
I hope the government has enough sense to continue space exploration, it has contributed so much technology, and we all know there is more out there..

Live Long And Prosper!!​

 

[TomW]

We should all know that our "benevolent dictator" (jeff) is a big "NASA muckety muck" in Cleveland.

 

[jhawth25]

I had the pleasure of working during the final Shuttle flight from the International Space Station Contol room. My team and I were responsible for the video of the Shuttle undocking from the Space Station. I will post some pictures in a few.

 

[jhawth25]

These are some pictures from Mission Control

 

[jhawth25]

Pictures

 

[JohnU]

Dawn, that title scared the sh*t out of me !! I was afraid to open it. Glad I did. That's a great video and I salute everyone who had a part in any of it. Truly awesome!

 

[ed4copies]

We should all know that our "benevolent dictator" (jeff) is a big "NASA muckety muck" in Cleveland.

I knew he was a NASA employee, I had no idea he had such an eloquent title!!!

Congrats, Jeff!!!!

 

[EricJS]

I had the pleasure of working during the final Shuttle flight from the International Space Station Contol room. My team and I were responsible for the video of the Shuttle undocking from the Space Station. I will post some pictures in a few.

What an incredible opportunity! You'll have some great stories to pass down.

 

[workinforwood]

It's pretty sad indeed. I can't think of much that is more inspirational that NASA. Although it is expensive to fund, the economic impact of NASA and the shuttle exceeds every program ever to exist, private included. The list of products we use everyday that were born from need of NASA is larger than a bible, and most of those products were privately invented for the cause, stimulating the economy beyond anything we could ever fathom, probably thousands of times more than the cost of the space program, and now it's mostly gone. Yes, there's a new kinda shuttle being built, but it is nothing like the old one and can't even go as far out into space and can carry very little cargo, a waste of time in my opinion. Hopefully it is true that we will be concentrating resources on sending a man to mars starting next year. If not, on the plus side we still have a 2.5 million dollar fund to teach Chinese prostitutes to drink responsibly. :bulgy-eyes:

 

[jhawth25]

That is one misconception about how expensive it is to fund NASA. For every dollar the US government receives, NASA gets less than one penny.

 

[PR_Princess]

Stop scaring me!!!

Party pooper!!!:tongue::biggrin:

 

[PR_Princess]

I had the pleasure of working during the final Shuttle flight from the International Space Station Contol room. My team and I were responsible for the video of the Shuttle undocking from the Space Station. I will post some pictures in a few.

What an incredible opportunity! You'll have some great stories to pass down.

Incredible stories and a place in history. How many people can say that? Thank you for posting these John and giving us all a glimpse inside. Truly amazing!

 

[Daniel]

Yeah the Muckety Mucks are a little known Elite group of geeks.
Thanks Jeff and all your co workers for a great show. Looking forward to whatever comes out in the sequel.

 

[PR_Princess]

That is one misconception about how expensive it is to fund NASA. For every dollar the US government receives, NASA gets less than one penny.

Yes, last I saw NASA was getting something like 1/2 of 1% of the Federal Budget. Even at it's peak (mid 1960's) it was only at around 5%. Considering the direct return from the program and all the things that we have all benefited from, well, I guess there are somethings that I will never understand.:frown:

Jeff did you know that cordless tools came out of the Apollo program?

 

[jeff]

Here's a very interesting article.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-nasa/2011/06/09/AGliJgtH_story.html

 

[lorbay]

I was just think when I saw the last landing, I wonder how those people felt on the space station when the shuttle left it's docking station. I wonder when someone will be back.? .

Lin