T-64 Days: STS-132: Last Flight of Atlantis

I was a little sad watching the Space Shuttle Atlantis lift off from Pad 39A at 2:20pm from Cape Kennedy on NASA TV this afternoon.

This 12 day mission will be the 32nd mission of Atlantis over the past 25 years featuring a crew of 6 headed up to the International Space Station.  Only 2 shuttle missions left for NASA... we'll be leaving the ability to get up and down from space to the Russians for a number of years until we, the US, can build and field our next manned vehicle.

I remember all the invitations we received over the years to see my classmates/shipmates/squadron-mates go into space and the privilege and excitement my entire family felt when we actually got down to one - a mission that included the very first female mission commander, Eileen Collins. My friend and test pilot alum, Jeff 'Bones' Ashby, was the pilot on the flight, his first, to deploy the Chandra X-ray telescope.

I'm feeling quite nostalgic and have been revisiting many terrific memories of those days gone by. Not everything about this day was sad though.... flawless weather, launch and - the best part - Rosie and Meg were able to see the launch from all the way over on the West coast of Florida in the middle of a late lunch!!!  I called the girls to give them a heads-up with about 2mins before launch to go catch a glimpse - wasn't sure how much they'd see but, Rosie said the view was remarkably clear and good.  She snagged a waitress, climbed up to the roof of the restaurant and watched the thin smoke trail of Atlantis ascending. She, of course, took some photos. :-)

Pretty cool!

I'm having a delicious single-malt scotch, toasting the Atlantis/crew this evening and all the other crews that have riden to orbit in shuttles, strapped to a couple of huge solid rocket boosters and a gazillion gallons of highly volatile liquid fuel!  Circling 240miles above our planet to further science and exploration and in 2 cases, given their lives while doing what they loved.

God Bless them all!  BZ!!

Later, out.