The Fleet Retires Soon

It seems like only a few days ago (or maybe months) that we watched the first space shuttles roar off the launch pad and into the annals of space flight.  Despite two tragic accidents, these launch vehicles have been pretty remarkable.

I used to dream of soaring into space on one. Now it seems that dream isn’t going to come true, and I’m following the debates on our next crewed “ascent to space” vehicles with interest.

NASA is actively “shopping out” the vehicles to whoever will take them (and at least pay transport costs). So, sometime in the next decade, a few museums will have space shuttles for visitors to appreciate and reminisce about. It might be a very cool thing to put one at Space Camp so that attendees can “train” on the real thing and learn just what it was like to ride one of these complex machines into space.

The idea of putting them into museums isn’t such a bad one, although I can imagine the bittersweet memories they’ll carry for those many thousands of people who worked on shuttle missions in thousands of capacities.  For them, I imagine it’s tough to believe that the shuttle era will soon be coming to an end and that the spacecraft entrusted to their care are about to be put out to pasture.

Some day you might be standing there, admiring Endeavour next to a man or woman quietly looking over the orbiter.  They’ll be lost in thought, maybe even staring at the machine with a tear in their eyes.

If you’re lucky, maybe you’ll strike up a conversation with them and if you’re really lucky, you’ll hear the kinds of stories that only veterans of space flight and its related systems can tell.

If so — listen well. You’ll hear about a time in our country’s space exploration that will never quite be equalled.  Enjoy it while you can and appreciate the humans who worked those orbiters and launch systems and payloads and schedules and political footballs every day of their working lives. They’re the real story behind these orbiters and their spirits will go with those spacecraft no matter where they go.