Skip to main content

Re-Discovery

In this episode - Re-Discovery . . .



Dateline March 1989 - Surrounded by a city of motor homes that sprung up overnight in the middle of a normally wind-swept California desert, the question on everyone’s mind was, “How will we know when the space shuttle arrives?”


While searching for something to share this week, I was reminded of a significant event 54 years ago. On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 successfully landed on the Moon. This event reminded me of how much the space program had captivated me. As someone who enjoys reading science fiction, witnessing mankind's greatest achievement was not a fictional experience.


Edwards Air Force Base 1989
Twenty years later, Lori, my friend Bill Videto, and I embarked on a two-hour drive from Santa Monica, CA., to Edwards Air Force Base, hoping to witness the Space Shuttle Discovery touched down in California - weather permitting. Otherwise, the landing would be diverted to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.


Fortunately, luck was on our side - the high desert winds were calm, the skies were clear, and the early morning air was cool and crisp. Everyone waited with anticipation as the shuttle entered the Earth's atmosphere, and the sonic blast of "boom - boom" resonated through the air, signaling its arrival. "That's how you will know," we exclaimed with excitement!


At 6:35 a.m., March 18, 1989, the space shuttle Discovery returned from Mission STS-29, landing swiftly and quietly on Runway 22 at Edwards. We were captivated by the sight, with many rushing to take photos and others adjusting their telescopes for the best view. As we looked up with amazement, the shuttle glided impeccably towards the runway, flawlessly deploying its landing gear and parachute before touching down with a screech of its tires. The large crowd erupted in applause.


Science Center 2013

California Science Center 2013

 

Recently (10 years ago now), we saw another shuttle, the Endeavour. This time close up at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. It had been 8,856 days since we last saw a shuttle, and NASA's Space Shuttle Program had since been retired after over 30 years of space flight and more than 130 missions.


Four shuttles remain to educate and inspire future generations of explorers; Enterprise at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York, Discovery at The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport, Atlantis at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, and Endeavour at the California Science Center, Los Angeles. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said, "These facilities we've chosen have a noteworthy legacy of preserving space artifacts and providing outstanding access to U.S. and international visitors.”


If you plan to visit the California Science Center, I recommend you arrive early. Tickets are now FREE, and you can see the orbital vehicle up close. During our visit, we had an opportunity to speak with a retired engineer who worked at Rockwell International during the construction of Endeavour (1987-1991).


One of my questions was this, “What are the windows made of?”


“Quartz,” he said.


Endeavor completed 25 missions into space, including the first service mission to the Hubble Space Telescope and the first mission to add a U.S.-built component to the International Space Station. These highlights, and much more, are available in the exhibit on a large-screen video with beautiful footage.


Twenty-four years later, a two-hour drive from Vista, with a broad smile, once again, Lori and I experienced the delight of re-discovery!


Updated 7/22/2023
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular of All Time

Boy on a Beam

In this special bonus episode, Boy on a Beam. In a world long ago, when the days moved quite slow, Before buzzes and beeps and the fast things we know, A boy sat quite still on a very fine day, Just staring at nothing . . . and thinking away. No tablets! No gadgets! No screens shining bright! No earbuds stuck in from morning till night. No lists, no charts, and no chores to be done. He just sat there thinking—that's quiet-time fun! His name was Young Albert. He sat in his chair, Thinking of things that weren’t really there. “Suppose,” said Young Albert, with eyes open wide, “I ran super fast with my arms by my side! Suppose I ran faster than anyone knew, And caught up to sunshine that zoomed past me—too! If I hopped on its back for a light-speedy ride, What secrets would I find tucked away deep inside?” “Would stars look like sprinkles, all shiny and small? Would UP feel like sideways? Would BIG feel like Tall?” He giggled and wondered and thought, and he dreamed, Till his head fel...
Post a Comment
Read more

When Fear Becomes the Default

In this special episode, When Fear Becomes the Default. Early Sunday morning, I was cycling past a small veterans’ pocket park in San Marcos. The air was still, the streets nearly empty. On one corner stood a young woman, alone, holding a hand-painted sign that read: “Be ANGRY. ICE agents are murdering people.” I pedaled past, but the words stayed with me. I knew the context—the footage and headlines from Minneapolis the day before, already ricocheting through the country and hardening opinions. Even in the quiet of the ride, the noise followed. Two miles later, I stopped at a red light. A black car with dark windows pulled up inches from my bike. My heart jumped. My first instinct wasn’t neighbor —it was threat . I found myself bracing, scanning, and wondering if the person inside was angry, armed, or looking for trouble. Then the door opened. A well-dressed young woman stepped out, walked to the trunk, and pulled out a sign that read “Open House.” She turned, smiled brightly, and sa...
2 comments
Read more

The Thought Experiment–Revisited

In this episode. The Thought Experiment–Revisited The Boy on a Light Beam In 1895, a sixteen-year-old boy did something we rarely allow ourselves to do anymore. He stared into space and let his mind wander. No phone. No notes. No “Optimization Hacks” for his morning routine. Just a question: What would happen if I chased a beam of light—and actually caught it? That boy was Albert Einstein . And that single act of curiosity—a Gedankenexperiment , a thought experiment—eventually cracked open Newton’s tidy universe and rearranged our understanding of time itself. Not bad for an afternoon of daydreaming. Imagine if Einstein had been “productive” instead. He would have logged the light-beam idea into a Notion database, tagged it #CareerGrowth, and then promptly ignored it to attend a forty-five-minute “Sync” about the color of the departmental logo. He’d have a high Efficiency Score—and we’d still be stuck in a Newtonian universe , wondering why the Wi-Fi is slow. In a post I wrote back in...
2 comments
Read more

Sweden Called . . . They Said No.

Have you ever wondered about  the Nobel Prize? Let's look at Where Genius Meets “Wait—Where’s My Medal?” Every October, the Nobel Prizes are announced, and humanity pauses to celebrate the "greatest benefit to mankind." And every year, like clockwork, a specific type of person appears online to complain—at length—that they were robbed. (Well, maybe this year more than most.) The Origin: A Legacy of Guilt The prize exists because Alfred Nobel, a Swedish inventor, had a crisis of conscience. Nobel held 355 patents, but he was most famous for inventing dynamite. When a French newspaper mistakenly published his obituary, calling him the " Merchant of Death, " he decided to buy a better legacy. In his 1895 will, he left the bulk of his massive fortune to establish five prizes (Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature, and Peace). Because he was Swedish, he entrusted the selection to Swedish institutions, such as the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The only outlier...
1 comment
Read more