California Landing

[krpalmer]

While peeling and slicing a potato, I happened to remember that the space shuttle Endeavour was scheduled to land at Edwards Air Force Base in another few minutes, and switched my TV on to CNN to see it come back from a commercial break to a first shot of the descending orbiter from an odd angle. The banter of the newscasters was a somehow peculiar counterpoint I didn't get for the launch, watching the online streaming feed, but it was good all the same to see the touchdown after a mission where the commentary seemed to dwell on a tool bag drifting off into space and tinkering the urine processor into working order. For some reason, though, I remembered seeing pictures of the very first space shuttle landings, where the touchdowns seemed to be in the middle of the desert, and contrasting them to the hangars and control towers now visible in the background along with scrub in the foreground.

Comments

[jeanerj.livejournal.com]

Another perfect landing to watch. Thank-you, chase plane pilots. And the double sonic boom (what's up with that, anyway?) always make me gloopy. If CNN gets on your nerves, as it is prone to do, try the NASA Channel. Superb. They keep their mouths shut, unless there is something meaningful to be said.