STS-135: The Final Space Shuttle Landing

     This morning ( 7 - 21 - 11 ), my Dad and I watched the shuttle come in for a landing.  I was very excited and really wanted to see it, especially since it was the last one.  I planned on getting up at 5:15 with my dad to get the computer set up to track it with a webcam in my dob, but I got up at 5:30, so that didn't happen.
     Anyway, we got our 80 mm refractors and used them.  A few minutes later than 5:42, the time it said the shuttle would appear, I saw a bright, moving light.  We tracked it all the way down to the horizon.  It appeared in the South, and neither of our scopes had finders, so it was hard to center in our field of view at first.  My dad said it did a roll and turn, but every time he said it was happening, I would lose my view.  We still saw the outline of the shuttle and the orange heat on the back.  It was a pleasing sight.  We tracked it all the way until we lost it in the North-North East.


Image above: Space shuttle Atlantis lands for the final time at NASA’s 
 Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

   When we went inside, we watched the shuttle coming in to KSC on NASA TV.  The view was in IR because it was dark.  We saw a dot before the runway.  "That's George!", my dad exclaimed (jokingly, of course). My friend, George Fleenor, was going there to watch the landing.  It landed at about 5:58 a.m.  Shortly after wheels stopped, we heard the sonic booms.  They were a bit loud, too.  I was a little surprised because the shuttle flew 80 miles south of us to get to the space center.  I have never heard the booms, maybe because I was never paying attention.  But I was very happy to hear them.
     For the next several hours, I watched NASA TV to see what they would do.  The astronauts left the shuttle. Then the vehicle was towed away.  This was followed by conferences and celebrations.  It was very nice.

What is next for NASA and space exploration? I am looking forward to the launch of Juno in early August.....(which will probably be the next blog).

Until next time,

AstroMinion