STS-135 is scheduled to launch tomorrow at 10:26 a.m. Central time. It will be the last launch of the space shuttle.
STS-134 launch, May 2011
There are thousands of articles and editorials appearing every day. There are so many “lasts” and “finals” and “ends.” It has been surprisingly difficult for me to read them. Although I knew this was coming — have known it was coming for 7 years — it is overwhelming. I get tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat. I didn’t expect to feel it so strongly, and yet there it is.
Please watch the final shuttle launch. You will not regret it.
You know I’ll be watching! I only wish I could be in FL to see it in person. I don’t think it would be so difficult if we had a new manned space program ready to go, but it seems like there’s nothing definite happening on that front. I was thinking about how I used to go outside and try to see the shuttle orbiter pass overhead when I was a kid. Then, I thought how weird it is that my kids may not have the same experience (Riley has seen it, but not Joseph). Sure, they may see the ISS, but it doesn’t feel the same knowing that those aren’t US Astronauts (if that makes sense).
Hey Christy — there are U.S. astronauts on the ISS! Always have been and will continue to be through at least 2020. Right now there are 2 Americans, 1 Japanese, and 3 Russians up there. So NASA does indeed still have a manned space program. I think it’s important that people don’t overlook that. US human spaceflight is not stopping.
But what we’re losing with the end of the shuttle is our own way of transporting anything or anyone to or from the ISS. I very much hope this loss is only temporary, and short.
In the meantime, our astronauts will ride on the Russian Soyuz, and our cargo will go up on the Russian Progress, European ATV, and JAXA HTV. Hopefully we will have commercially-made US cargo vehicles within the next 2-3 years, and manned vehicles after that.
Sad. I just wish I could watch it in person.
There will be many tears from many people and not just those that work at or are connected to NASA. It is truly the end of an era and I think that txrunnermom is right in that this is harder because we don’t know what the future holds.
Sarah, I thought about that after I posted. I am happy that this doesn’t mean the end of a US human spaceflight altogether and I hope you’re right that we will soon have manned vehicles again. It just seems that things very happen as quickly as we’d like. I wrote a research paper in 8th grade about the space program and the information I received from NASA predicted that we would have manned missions to Mars by 2004, lol! I guess, for me, it’s more about the excitement of seeing the our shuttle launch and us sending astronauts there and bringing them back. Oh and looking up and saying “there goes the ISS….there goes our shuttle….”
That was supposed to be “thinks don’t happen as quickly as we’d like”. Doh!
i’ve been tearing up all week. this morning i had cnn on while getting ready and then had to change the channel so i could stop crying and put on makeup. needless to say, i am not wearing mascara today. of course, if it is scrubbed… i will have to go through it all again. and then there’s the landing…