From Enterprise to Atlantis – a few thoughts on the end of the Space Shuttle program
by robertropars
It was with some very real sadness I watched the footage and viewed the images of the final Space Shuttle missing (Atlantis). Here’s a great shot of the final touchdown:
Final Atantis touchdown
What it’s reminding me of is the first Space Shuttle, the Enterprise. Named after the USS Enterprise of Star Trek legend (thanks to the many Star Trek fans both within/without NASA), this mockup/test model never actually made it into space. But it was tested for entry/re-entry and did a few solo flights/landings. It paved the way for the program and after the second shuttle disaster (Columbia), parts were removed to test the theory that foam debris could damage the heat resistant underbelly tiles helping solve the mystery of that tragedy.
Original Star Trek cast & Gene Roddenberry at NASA
But what many Americans may not know/remember was something that NASA did with Enterprise. At some point (haven’t been able to trace the actual dates so far) around 1978-80, they flew the Enterprise across the country on the back of a modified 747! Sort of PR tour to build American excitement, they came to Tulsa. We weren’t able to go to the airport to see it, however our house was directly under the flight path for approaching/departing flights. So we saw it fly over as it arrived. I remember stores were selling little space shuttle toys and running around the yard playing astronaut (I was 8-10 at this point). My imagination already wild with the sci-fi/fantasy I watched and read was engulfed. We were finally going up and away and going to really explore space.
Enterprise atop the special 747
The most exciting moment was when the tour moved on and the flight took off from the Tulsa airport. I have no idea where it was headed next, but I was in the backyard randomly when it came over. And boy did it do something that burned the memory forever into my mind. It’s so vividly impacted me, that I can see it in mind’s eye to this day so many years later.
As I heard the sound of a roaring plane engine I looked up to the sky to see the 747 coming over. It apparently needed to turn to head whichever direction it was going and the plan tilted (to my kid’s mind/memory nearly vertical). I remember a feeling of awe and panic staring up at the massive objects above me. I remember my heart soaring that I really got to see it since we couldn’t go to the airport for some reason (which was heartbreaking). There it was above me. The space shuttle. So close, yet so far.
But it was a bit scary at the same moment. As it was tilted nearly vertical (well pretty vertical) and engines strained as it turned and accelerated to change direction, I had some panic. The Enterprise was attached by some kind of tether to the 747, but what if it broke. A part of imagined the Enterprise breaking free and crashing down onto our home and me. Years later watching Donnie Darko I had some serious flashbacks to that moment.
The 747 made the turn, the Enterprise went on to get things rolling and we had 30 years of a space program with some highs and real lows (Challenger/Columbia). But although the space exploration program is entering a reduced new phase, I remain ever confident and inspired that humans will expand, explore and colonize our solar system and beyond. As Earth continues to run out of room, resources and be devastated by our pollution and abuse, we will need to find new room to evolve and grow.
And as Stephen Hawking has noted, by staying Earth-bound, as a species we’re putting all of our eggs in one basket. Assuming there are aliens, some being hostile, and some being far more advanced, if they come and attack do we all want to be in one spot? Exploring and expanding into space will go a long way to ensuring humanity survives farther into the future than we could hope otherwise.
Think of this some night when you take a moment and stare up at the stars. I know I do.
