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Satellite Servicing Demonstration

The Hubble Servicing Project goes to work
on other Satellites
(Page 5)


Page 4 is here.

Launch!

In preparation for launch, members of the SSCO team staff
press events at the Kennedy Space Center.  The website
is updated with team bios for this activity.


On July 6, we attended a press conference to present RRM to the general press.  We
took along "Rosie", which is a high-fidelity copy of the flight hardware that is used
for training and public events.


Poets TV was there as with previous launches, and he interviewed some of the team
members including Cepi.


We had Rosie and its components in the Press Center at the launch site,
and received a lot of opportunity to show what we are 
all about to the international press.


I did a Skype interview with my good friend Tito Lacle,
who has the "Papia Cla" TV talk show on TeleAruba, the local
Aruba television station.  The show is very popular.  I skyped
from the KSC press center.  You can see the background in
the above image.


I explained in Papiamento (native Aruban language), what the RRM does and
the various parts of the flight hardware.
A report sent to TeleAruba for the nightly news is here.

The documentary was aired on 12/4/2011, and then repeated on
12/8/2011
due to demand.  Announcement archived.


Excerpt of the PoetsTV documentary featuring Frank Cepollina,
who heads the Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office.


One of the visitors to our hardware is famed John Grunsfeld from multiple
Hubble missions and Matt Mountain, head of the Space Telescope
Science Institute.


Also present was Leon Harris, anchor of the Washington DC
Channel 7 news.


I also caught up to long time friend Bob Sieck, who is former launch
director at the Kennedy Space Center.  I shared a condo unit
with his son Bruce when I worked at KSC, and got to know the family.


We met "The voice of NASA" George Diller.


One the day before launch, they rolled the RSS back, and the press was bussed to
the pad.  It was a rainy day, and we got soaked in the drizzle.


One last look at a working Orbiter up close.


My last picture inside the security fence.  God Speed Atlantis.


A souvenir from the launch pad: one of the river rocks that the
crawler crunches on when it moves to the pad.  Note the missing
chunks due to wear.  It is a really wonderful memento for me.
(courtesy Christy Hansen).


On launch day, I spoke at the STS-135 Tweetup tent.  Here is Bob "Crip" Crippen, famed
astronaut speaking to us.


After my presentation to the tweeters, I was asked to sign their T-shirt.
My usual 'grafitti' signature is just by my left hand.


Shot of one of the tweeter's page showing a picture of me holding
the Safety Cap Tool.  They were impressed by how it looked.


I met actor Seth Green, who is pointing out his RRM team pin.


While I was working in the Tweetup tent, Poets was having fun seeing the
astronauts leave their quarters, and head into their Astrovan for launch.


Photo by Poets.


I was also interviewed on niconico.com by the CEO James Spahn about our mission,
and I was able to pull in my boss Frank Cepollina as he walked by.


The launch went nearly flawlessly, and I had never seen a launch that
close.  The sound hits you in the chest, and you see a bright red tail.


Here with cameraman Roderick Lopez, and the leftover
plume of the Shuttle in the background.  It was sublime.


The cloud deck was pretty low, so as soon as she punched through, she was gone.
No more Shuttle launches from Pad 39.

Amazing Compilation of views by the NASA imagery team of this launch.

Retirement of Space Shuttle Atlantis

The final launch leaves me with trepidation about the future.  Shuttle has been a huge benefit to mankind, and I will miss the program.  Thank you for those on the ground that maintained and equipped her for the hundreds of memorable and successful missions.

Next : Installation onto Space Station and Ops.
Page 6.



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