By Tim Hyden
The NASA mission summary for STS-135 reads, “Space shuttle Atlantis will carry the Raffaello multipurpose logistics module to deliver supplies, logistics and spare parts to the International Space Station. Atlantis also will fly a system to investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing spacecraft and return a failed ammonia pump module.”
From this fairly straightforward, matter-of-fact description, you might think of this as just another flight for America’s space shuttle–taking man and equipment to lower Earth orbit and a rendezvous with the International Space Station. But of course, that is not the case. Launch controllers will soon take Atlantis through the final countdown and liftoff from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. Twelve days later, upon completion of this last mission, the spacecraft and crew of four will return to Florida, effectively ending the United States’ manned space flight program. At least it will be an end to how so many of us have known it for most, if not all, of our lives. As the historical and poignant date of this last shuttle mission approaches, I can’t help but reflect back on what has to have been the most exhilarating and prolific 50 years in the history of human exploration.
In early 1959, the year I was born, seven relatively unknown individuals were selected as the first American astronauts by a new government agency called the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). These men–Shepard, Grissom, Glenn, Carpenter, Schirra, Cooper, and Slayton, seven names who will forever be associated with the beginning of man’s conquest of space–became part of America’s first manned spaceflight program and, in doing so, were thereafter known as the “Mercury Seven.” From NASA’s humble beginnings all those years ago to the magnificence of what it became over the next five decades, those of us who have had the privilege of being there as so many great accomplishments were achieved should never forget or take for granted how fortunate we have been to witness these seemingly miraculous events.
During my younger years in rural Michigan, far away from the east coast of Florida, I can clearly remember my fascination with flying, rockets, and space travel. I suppose I was a typical kid of the era, dreaming of breaking the bonds of Earth and being free–a feeling that I am certain has been shared by many others over the centuries. I am still amazed when I think of the now-primitive technology that existed during the early space program; but oh how much more the accomplishments being made back then were appreciated, having Walter Cronkite explain them to us on the CBS Evening News like no one else could.
There were the many times I remember drawing pictures of rockets and launch pads in school or for a scouting project, always using a ruler to make sure the lines were straight. Then, as national interest and excitement was peaking during the late 1960s, there was the local model rocket club where me and my fellow rocketeers built and launched our own rockets–surely the closest I would ever come to being “up there.” After high school, I continued my pursuit of the sky by joining the U.S. Air Force for a stint as an aircraft maintenance specialist, eventually obtaining my private pilot’s license (a likely remnant desire from those early imaginative years). I have enjoyed the solitude of solo flight many times since.
I am hopeful that future generations will know the great pride and honor, as I have so often, when the flash of orange flame, the tremendous cloud of smoke and steam, and the deafening roar carries another of America’s great achievements skyward, with Americans on board. But it is an age and feeling that I fear will never be truly experienced again–the passage of time forever dimming the enthusiasm, patriotism, and collective effort that the space program brought to our United States.
Don’t miss this last opportunity to appreciate that feeling once more. Make sure you’re watching and remembering all who have done so much over the past 50-plus years for America’s space program as Atlantis leaves Earth on her final mission. I know I will be.
TIM HYDEN is the training/safety officer for East Manatee (FL) Fire Rescue.