Weekend Roundup – July 9th, 2011

Posted on July 9, 2011 | 8 comments

STS-135: Farewell and Godspeed Atlantis!

This week marked the end of an era in the American space program. The final mission of the Space Shuttle fleet began on Friday June 8th with the launch of Atlantis. I have followed the Space Shuttle program since I was in fourth grade when the Columbia rocketed into the sky for the first time. For 30 years I’ve collected news articles and memorabilia documenting the history of this amazing fleet of vehicles and the men and women who made it happen.

Like so many others, I mourned the loss of the crews of Columbia and Challenger feeling as if I had lost close family members. I rejoiced with the eventual returns to flight after both disasters and looked forward to the wonders that each new mission would bring.

I never had the opportunity to see a launch in person and when NASA announced the schedule for the final 3 missions, I immediately began making plans to attend the last one. While I wasn’t able to make my way onto Cape Canaveral itself, I did manage to make it to Titusville, FL. The coastline of Titusville is the next best thing to being on the Cape and offers several unobstructed views for the general public.

With the decision to retire the remaining fleet, the last few years have been extremely tough for NASA, the Shuttle program and the hundreds of thousands of people associated with it. This decision has been wrought with controversy in the human space flight community. Like many other people, I feel that there is still life in the program and a serious need to continue until a suitable replacement vehicle is ready to take it’s place. I liken this decision to shutting down oil production until a replacement fuel is developed; it just doesn’t make sense to me.

However, all good things must end and for better or worse the program will officially come to a close in a little over a week when Atlantis touches down for the last time. Now that I’m back home, I am happy to have finally seen this amazing piece of human endeavor lift itself into the heavens but can’t help but feel a profound sense of loss that there will never be another.

The private sector is working hard to build a viable replacement and I am excited to see what they come up. But Americans collectively owned the Space Shuttle, it was a community project on the largest of scales and no matter how great or wonderful the next vehicle it simply can not and will not be the same.