Yahoo! News asked its readers and contributors to share their memories of the space shuttle program as it nears its end in July. Below is a story from a contributor.
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As the final mission of Space Shuttle Atlantis approaches, marking the retirement of NASA's shuttle fleet, many of us are filled with nostalgia. Whether it is the youngest generation, which is just learning about the shuttle this year, or older ones like mine that can still remember debates over the costs of the plan to build a fleet of these ships, everyone has their own unique memories.
My personal favorite memory -- what I believe was the shuttle's finest hour -- was its first successful repair of the Hubble Space Telescope. After Hubble was launched into orbit by Space Shuttle Discovery in April 1990, it soon became clear that it was suffering from a flawed mirror that distorted its much anticipated photos of space. Despite attempts to correct them, it seemed the entire project was a failure. NASA's expertise in space was in question. Nothing seemed to be going right.
I could relate. In the early 1990s, the country was suffering another recession, just as I was finishing school and entering the job market. My relationships with family and friends were changing, and everyone seemed to be getting more cynical about everything. Life was quickly losing its wonder.
Then in December 1993, the newest shuttle of the fleet, Endeavour, embarked on a mission to the Hubble Space Telescope to repair its problems, and enhance its capabilities. I watched every newscast during its mission, and was truly impressed by the complex repairs the shuttle astronauts were doing; replacing gyroscopes, large solar panels, delicate lenses, and computer components. Not an easy job on Earth, much less in space. The mission turned out to be a great success, and Hubble was repaired.
If the space shuttles (and their crews) could successfully repair large objects in space, they could also build new ones.
Now, a little more than 18 years after that mission, the Hubble Space Telescope is still functioning and the International Space Station is now complete. Humanity has its first permanent fixture in space, and just as so many of us knew when Hubble was first repaired, the meaning of the Space Station is far more than scientific study.
If a space station can be built in orbit, a space port can be added to it. So can shipyards, where larger spaceships can ultimately be built. The ISS is our springboard into space, from where (over time) humanity will spread further out in exploration and commerce.
All this was made possible largely thanks to the Space Shuttle. It was already a marvel of invention in itself when it was put into service in the 1980s. It has been a critical tool in the quest to realize that great things can be completed, that dreams are worth having and pursuing, and that life can still be filled with wonder.
To the Space Shuttle Fleet (both past and present), we should wish the following;
Thanks for the memories of the past, and the dreams of the future.
