Space Shuttle

End of An Era for Space Flight

July 21, 2011 at 7:02 am, by Julie Bain

I’m in mourning today—for the loss of America’s manned space program. That’s the shuttle Atlantis, left, in orbit over the Bahamas on July 10 before completing its mission and landing earlier this morning to bring the shuttle program to a close.

I remember playing astronaut with my brother, John, when I was a kid. He piloted our “spacecraft” (the fireplace hearth was our console), and as the ship’s chief scientist, I kept all my important documents and secret formulas in a metal Band-Aid box.

Of course I watched avidly that July day in 1969, as Apollo 11 touched down and Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the moon. (See the iconic image of our small blue planet seen from the moon on that mission, below.)

When John got his Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from UCLA and went to work for NASA at Houston’s Johnson Space Center in 1986, I was so proud. But just days later the space shuttle Challenger exploded after liftoff, killing all seven crew members on board. My brother and all of his colleagues were devastated. But, as he says, “when you do something as incredibly complicated and dangerous as space flight, you can’t just quit because you’re scared of another accident.”

It was such a blast visiting John in Houston and meeting his engineer and astronaut friends. Some were decorated military pilots who had flown combat missions. Many have aerospace, physics or medical degrees from top universities, as well as being athletes, parents, humanitarians. These men and women truly have the right stuff. I was also honored to meet heroes like Buzz Aldrin and Gene Kranz, who was NASA’s flight director during the Apollo missions, famous for his colorful vests and his proclamation that “failure is not an option” during the Apollo 13 rescue mission.

I’ve been lucky to meet many shuttle astronauts, and with their help I’ve written dozens of stories for magazines on NASA and what it’s like to go into space. One of my favorite memories was witnessing the magnificent, rumbling night launch of the shuttle Discovery in 2006, and feeling the incredible power of it.

But at least for now, U.S. manned space flight is over.

John is still in Houston and works for Honeywell, doing flight control for Boeing’s 787 aircraft but still has close ties to NASA. He’s sad. Morale is incredibly low at the agency, he says, and many of its best and brightest are looking for other work. He says, “Exploration keeps us curious. You kill off curiosity and we get bored and complacent. Then how can we inspire our kids? And the great people I’ve known there, like Neil Armstrong, flight director Gene Kranz, my astronaut friend Nick Patrick, these are the kind of role models you want kids looking up to. Manned space flight is one of the things we do better than anyone else. To lose that is a shame.”

When I met with astronauts, they often talked about all the good that has come out of manned space flight, and how life-changing the experience could be. Sunita Williams, who spent six months on the International Space Station in 2006 and 2007, told me: ”When you have that perspective of being far away and looking back at the planet, you don’t see the hustle and bustle or the borders. You see a very peaceful place. Gandhi tried to instill the feeling of oneness in all of us. Seeing our planet from space, you understand that.”

Peggy Whitson, who did two six-month tours on the space station, in 2002 and 2007-2008, summed it up: ”Exploration is a very important part of who we are, and if we want to literally expand our horizons, we have to keep doing it.”

Here’s hoping we find a way.

NASA photos

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Oh, The Places Astronauts Go!

February 16, 2010 at 1:59 pm, by Julie Bain

I told you last week about my friend Nick Patrick, who launched aboard space shuttle Endeavour on February 8. I’m a total space buff, so I thought I’d share a few more highlights of his mission. Here’s an amazing photo (above) taken by one of the astronauts aboard the International Space Station as Nick and his crew approached to dock with the station on February 9. Read more

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Space Exploration Still Matters

February 8, 2010 at 11:46 am, by Julie Bain

The space shuttle Endeavour blasted off early this morning (above, NASA photo by Jim Grossman), with my friend Nicholas Patrick on board. This is his second launch and I’m sure it feels bittersweet, as it’s one of the final space shuttle missions of the program. My brother and his wife were there for the launch, with their two babies, to show their support. I got to attend Nick’s first launch, also at night, and I’ll never forgot the awe-inspiring feeling of power, noise, light, vibration—and the eagles that flew out of a nearby tree as the rocket lit up the sky like day.

The crew is carrying up the last major pieces of the International Space Station, including an observation deck with a big window. The shuttle will dock with the station on Wednesday, and Nick will suit up and go outside to help finish the construction. Can you imagine being tethered by a thin cord as you look down on Earth while orbiting at around 17,500 mph? Cool!

While the future of the manned space program is very much in doubt right now, it’s important to remember all we’ve learned about science, health and our own planet (not to mention international cooperation!) from these missions. We must continue to explore space, not just because it’s there, not because it’s “hard” (as JFK defined it), but because it could mean our survival and salvation in the future.

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