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BS: Endeavour Shuttle fly by
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BS: Endeavour Shuttle fly by |
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Subject: BS: Endeavour Shuttle fly by From: Dave Swan Date: 21 Sep 12 - 06:03 PM I scurried out onto the roof this morning and was rewarded with a slow fly by of Shuttle Endeavour less than fifty yards to the west and about a thousand feet overhead. The whole set up was beautiful (and loud) and our view priceless. I could read NASA on the tail of the 747 and see the details of each aircraft. I felt a bit sorry for the pilot flying the fighter escort, as it probably isn't his normal mission fly low and slow, but he stayed right on the shuttle for the three passes I saw. There was a lump in my throat watching that piece of history pass. I thought of watching Alan Shepard blast off and of all the hours I spent glued to the television whenever there was coverage of astronauts in space. It's sad to think of the shuttles being taken out of service and put on sticks. I hope to see the US get into space again before long. We can use the innovation and the dreams. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Endeavour Shuttle fly by From: gnu Date: 21 Sep 12 - 06:20 PM Cool. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Endeavour Shuttle fly by From: ClaireBear Date: 21 Sep 12 - 06:20 PM Wish I could have seen that. Dave, thank you for describing it so well, and expressing just what I feel, too, about the wind-down of the US space program. Claire |
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Subject: RE: BS: Endeavour Shuttle fly by From: catspaw49 Date: 21 Sep 12 - 07:36 PM I wish I had been there too. I would love to have seen a fly-over. Thanks from me too El Swanno. Did you see that they changed the flight plan on this Endeavor farewell tour to do a low fly-over in Tuscon for her last Commander, Mark Kelley? He and wife Gabby Giffords were out on a roof and it was just a neat thing for NASA to do. My earliest TV memories are of Captain Video and Captain Midnight with his Douglas Skyrocket. I was 8 when Sputnik flew and I remember the adult conversations about the "Russians." By the time the "Space Race" was getting solid I was 12 and hated those Russians and rooted for the USA. I remember exactly where I was when Shepherd went up and Grissom followed. But above all I was really excited for the first orbital because it was piloted by John Glenn from Ohio and he was born in the next county over! Throughout the program there was so much excitement. I don't know if we can ever get the back but I'd be all in behind the guy who's willing to try. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: BS: Endeavour Shuttle fly by From: Dave Swan Date: 21 Sep 12 - 07:53 PM Peter T. had a great Gus Grissom story. When Peter was a kid his father , a wing commander in the Canadian Forces , was assigned on an exchange program to a large US airbase. Peter had just been seated for a haircut in the base barber shop when Grissom blew in looking for a quick touch up of his flattop. Peter recognized the astronaut and quickly stood to offer his seat. Grissom was most gracious and tore a sheet out of a flight plan to autograph for Peter. I'd have burst right there..... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Endeavour Shuttle fly by From: Greg F. Date: 21 Sep 12 - 08:19 PM Amnd now they're cutting down half the trees in L.A. to get this piece of space junk to the museum. What I'd really love to see is a U.S. space program. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Endeavour Shuttle fly by From: Desert Dancer Date: 21 Sep 12 - 09:02 PM I am really bummed out that somehow I missed the news of a local flyover in Tucson yesterday. I don't usually watch the local news, and I guess my mostly east-coast-based online news sources weren't saying much before the fact. Disappointed that the local public radio affiliate (at the university that was the focus of the flyover!) didn't say anything about it! I realized later that I had heard it, but didn't bother going out to look (because we have an air force base in town). Didn't know about it until friends started posting pics on Facebook. :-( Today was the flyover in Long Beach, but I wasn't there. Haven't heard from my husband (the astronomy prof) yet whether he caught it there. He was hoping to. ~ Becky in Tucson |
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Subject: RE: BS: Endeavour Shuttle fly by From: catspaw49 Date: 21 Sep 12 - 09:03 PM Never got an autograph but after Glenn he did all the WhiteHouse/New York stuff and finally made it back to his little hometown of New Concord they gave him a parade that was no match for NYC but was pretty huge for east Ohio. We went and he and Annie were in sitting up on the back of a Buick convertible. The parade moved slowly and Glenn was leaned over shaking hands with one and all......and one of them was mine. I was 13, flew model planes loved everything about space and I had just shaken hands with a guy who grew up right here, just a few miles away and he was a record setting Marine pilot and the first American to fly in orbit...............I was beyond thrilled! Spaw |
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Subject: RE: BS: Endeavour Shuttle fly by From: gnu Date: 21 Sep 12 - 09:23 PM Thanks for sharing, guys. Sheds a different perspective on the whole program(s). Not something one gets to experience vicariously every day. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Endeavour Shuttle fly by From: Bev and Jerry Date: 22 Sep 12 - 01:33 AM Heard Endeavor fly over today but didn't see it. Not sure why. Many years ago we toured Kennedy Space Center and saw one of the shuttles (can't remember which one) on the launch pad. A couple of weeks later we played a gig on Edwards Air Force Base in California and saw the same shuttle land at the end of its mission. What are the odds? Bev and Jerry |
