Barbara Ward-Finneran
Although weather watchers were pessimistic, with a 70% chance of a scrub due to rain and clouds, a window of opportunity opened at just the right time. There was a brief pause at 31 seconds in the countdown and about a two minute hold before liftoff. Hundreds of thousand lined the space coast to watch the 135th mission begin. With my children, I was among these crowds. I stood on a dock over the beautiful Intracoastal with my boys and friends to watch this historic moment. Although the view was short lived due to the cloud cover - it is one I will never forget. I hope my boys will always remember it too!
This is the end of an era. Atlantis is making it 33 flight. The mission named STS-135, is the end of 30 years of flight missions. The 135 missions have seen 355 astronauts representing 16 different countries enter space and take flight from the USA.
Atlantis is expected to return home on the morning of July 20th, the 42nd anniversary of Neil Armstrong's historic walk on the moon.
It it emotional and bittersweet for our country but even more so for those of us who life on the space coast. 1,700 pink slips are expected to follow soon after Atlantis' landing later this month. Many have already come before this... sadly, I fear there will be numerous more cuts to follow. My family knows many who have already been effected by the lay-offs from Kennedy Space Center.
What comes next for Brevard County Florida's Space Coast...? Will the area be able to handle the loss of more jobs at NASA and trickle down effects? What comes next for NASA's space programs? It is very sad to see one era end without the birth of the next in sight...
God bless the crew!
God's Speed Atlantis!
God Bless and America!
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