Yesterday marked the end of an era in the United State’s space exploration – the final countdown and liftoff of the space shuttle program.
Believe it or not, many civilians, including me, are part of the final shuttle mission thanks to a NASA program called Face In Space. The initiative allowed people to upload their picture onto the NASA web site. The photos were then included in digitized form on the shuttle’s payload and are now making their way through space.
The final mission launch was a sad day for those involved in the 30-year-old program and leaves many questioning the future of NASA in general as our nation struggles to balance its budget. A wide range of emotions were felt during the days leading up to the launch of Atlantis on Friday. We remembered the highs and lows of the program, recalling the very first shuttle launch in 1981, the Challenger disaster and how a cell phone photo went viral and made a young woman an internet sensation.
Below are two videos. The first is a poignant message from the Atlantis shuttle’s closeout crew. The second is a history of the shuttle program narrated by an actor who explored the final frontier, William Shatner.