FabSwingers.com forum: The end of an era

By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

As Atlantis pulled to 'wheel-stop' today at Kennedy Space Centre a few minutes ago (10.56 GMT), the shuttle fleet will be retired.

Since Columbia was first launched on April 12 1981, the shuttle fleet have amassed a total of 537,114,016 miles (864,401,219km), making 20,952 Earth orbits spending 1,320 days, 1 hour, 32 minutes, 44 seconds in space.

The five shuttles have flown a combined total of 134 missions.

They have orbited the Earth a total of 20,952 times.

I always hoped I'd get over to Florida to see one of them launched but now that's never going to happen.

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By *ethany10Couple
over a year ago

falkirk

Last time I was in Orlando on business saw the shuttle take off from the roof of the hotel( I was on roof not the space shuttle lol) got some amazing pics and vid even tho we were 30 odd miles away.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I felt the same when Concorde was decommissioned.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

We got see 2 one when I was 21 and got close to Kennedy to film it and other time 3 yrs ago m and gf were racing to Kennedy to see when it Kai he'd so pulled over and stopes in road got great view

Kennedy will still be great to go

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

" I always hoped I'd get over to Florida to see one of them launched but now that's never going to happen.

I wouldn't worry.

It shouldn't be too long before there's one in the Virgin livery

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

It'll always be remembered for the Challenger. But the positive which came out of that is it was a sobering lesson on the reliability, or not, of technology. If NASA technology can't be 100% guaranteed then forget all the rest.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

saw a launch in 2002 when at kennedy was an amazing sight and glad to experience it, wont be long before able to go myself on virgin i hope!!

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"It'll always be remembered for the Challenger. But the positive which came out of that is it was a sobering lesson on the reliability, or not, of technology. If NASA technology can't be 100% guaranteed then forget all the rest."

The real tragedy of Challenger was the cutbacks made by some of the shuttle components supplied by outside manufacturers. They knew the 'O' rings could malfunction due to the very cold temperatures on the launch pad in a Floridian January, and were debating whether to abandon that flight as little as 24 hours before it launched.

They gambled and lost, and 7 men & women died because of it.

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"saw a launch in 2002 when at kennedy was an amazing sight and glad to experience it, wont be long before able to go myself on virgin i hope!!"

It is a dream of mine that before I die I want to go beyond Earth's atmosphere and look back to see a shiny blue ball of life in it's entirety.

History will record that man had two phases of evolution - pre-stellar and post-stellar, one will have either lived in a village universe where space travel is as common as getting on a bus or one will have lived before the dawn of universal expansion on a planet that bound us to it. It is my dream to have lived in the former.

My name is Wishy, and I am a Trekky.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Live long and prosper Wishy from a fellow Trekky

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