Final Mission
Jul. 8th, 2011 12:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
krpalmerAs the countdown started towards the launch of space shuttle Atlantis, I was concerned about the comments there was only a thirty percent chance of good weather on Friday. Friday was a day off from work for me, but after that I would be going in for three day shifts over the weekend, and I suppose I was feeling sentimental enough to want to try and see the launch on television. I have a strong impression of having watched the very first launch of Columbia back in 1981, even if having worked out that April 12, 1981 was a Sunday leaves me wondering if I had been taken to church that morning and somehow watched rerun coverage during the week.
When I tuned in to CNN, though, the reporters kept talking in hopeful terms of the thickest clouds starting to blow by. A thought or two of "unrealistic hopes" being built up did come to mind, but things seemed to stay hopeful. Then, checking the official NASA site with its front-page video player, I heard the flight controllers calling "go" at the end of the final hold and an inspirational speech from the commander of the reduced crew, which does remind me of the first satellite-launching missions.
Despite checking that other news channels were starting their own coverage, a promise that the CNN hosts would just let the official feed speak for itself in the final minutes made me decide to stay downstairs at the TV instead of upstairs at my computer. I started thinking it was really going to happen... and then the clock stopped at thirty-one seconds. Before the hosts could start explaining things again, whatever minor problem there was seemed to resolve, and the last half-minute picked up again.
While certainly glad for all the people who headed to Florida to see this final launch (there was some discussion beforehand that the inevitable traffic jam would mean any delay would be longer than one day, because the workers would all be getting home late), I suppose I can think the weather was better to see everything when I went last year. However, the launch itself seemed to go well. There's still the whole mission, of course, but maybe if everything continues to go well the end of one period in space travel will actually settle in for me.
When I tuned in to CNN, though, the reporters kept talking in hopeful terms of the thickest clouds starting to blow by. A thought or two of "unrealistic hopes" being built up did come to mind, but things seemed to stay hopeful. Then, checking the official NASA site with its front-page video player, I heard the flight controllers calling "go" at the end of the final hold and an inspirational speech from the commander of the reduced crew, which does remind me of the first satellite-launching missions.
Despite checking that other news channels were starting their own coverage, a promise that the CNN hosts would just let the official feed speak for itself in the final minutes made me decide to stay downstairs at the TV instead of upstairs at my computer. I started thinking it was really going to happen... and then the clock stopped at thirty-one seconds. Before the hosts could start explaining things again, whatever minor problem there was seemed to resolve, and the last half-minute picked up again.
While certainly glad for all the people who headed to Florida to see this final launch (there was some discussion beforehand that the inevitable traffic jam would mean any delay would be longer than one day, because the workers would all be getting home late), I suppose I can think the weather was better to see everything when I went last year. However, the launch itself seemed to go well. There's still the whole mission, of course, but maybe if everything continues to go well the end of one period in space travel will actually settle in for me.