Sushi For Breakfast

It's only just-after-lunch on Day 3, but it's been three days of awesome significance and mixed emotions.

( Compartmentalisation required )

So back home, I have a week off work to come so YAY. And Bean is here today, she's so happy, when she smiles she looks like my sister and I did when we were small. And I also have jellybeans so more yay.

The final Space Shuttle launch took place around five hours ago, after most of us had spent the day not getting our hopes up due to the prediction of rubbish weather. And also after an unscheduled hold at T-31seconds to verify the beanie cap was retracted properly.

( Words and Pictures )

It is sad that this is the final shuttle mission, but it's a shuttle mission nevertheless, and we should enjoy it like all the other shuttle missions. Wikipedia tends to be a good source of info on the mission, and if you're watching NASA TV, look out for Shannon Lucid on Capcom duties - she joined NASA as part of the 1978 Astronaut Class, the first class trained with the Space Shuttle in mind, and has been with NASA and the Space Shuttle constantly ever since.

Both active Space Shuttles can currently be seen via webcam/web-accessible TV right now (hurry!). Endeavour is now docked to the ISS and can be seen as part of regular mission coverage on NASA TV of STS-134. Atlantis is in the Vehicle Assembly Building at KSC, being mated to the external tank & solid rocket boosters for STS-135.

Please take a look now, while you can. Note the header - when I say 'both' space shuttles that's what I mean, we're down to two, and in a couple of weeks' time we'll be down to one, then none by the end of the summer :'(

What happens when you fart in space? One of the schoolkids on the STS-132 crew's tour of the UK asked that question. Garrett Reisman has the answer in this report from local media.

Day 146 Every time I visit Marks & Spencers Food Hall I look out for these. They come in a pack of ten, two each of five box designs, and are packed to the brim with raisins.



And Atlantis is home! Quite possibly home for good. Luckily I got to see the landing via NASA TV. So beautiful, and such a perfect showcase landing. Will probably post more on Atlantis separately, but for now enjoy the coverage at the BBC Website.

Day 138 My mission patches have finally arrived! This is the patch for the current mission, STS-132:



The good thing is I recognise most crewmembers; the downside is I don't know everyone immediately. Like I don't know who it was we saw after yesterday's EVA (it wasn't Steve Bowen or Ken Ham) who was holding Garrett Reisman firmly between his thighs while he undressed him.

Day 134 Atlantis is now in preliminary orbit, on her final scheduled mission. I've been watching most of the coverage online:



The mission's Commander is Ken Ham, who is one of the astronauts I met in Bradford in September 2008. So fantastic to see him go back into space. Although the launch was almost scuppered by a ballbearing, part of a camera setup in the payload bay. But great to see the launch eventually go so well. Sad that there's no crew tweets (Are they shy? Is Garrett Reisman suddenly shy?) and I don't have my mission patch yet, although I've just had the customs charge notification and paid it this afternoon so hopefully it will arrive soon. And sad too that I'm not at KSC with the rest of the Space Tweep Society, who have been having an awesome time hearing from various astronauts and shuttle people and then watching the launch.

Atlantis has launched, it all went excellently and totally by-the-book. I watched the launch online on NASA TV, I've seen a few launches now but ZOMG they don't get routine. Just so exciting, waiting for everything to happen like it should. And then when it lifts off, it's like you can hardly believe the time has come, everything is going perfectly like it should but it's still amazing. It's like when you're a little kid and it's suddenly Christmas Day, well not quite suddenly, but after all the work and the build-up and you can hardly believe it's really happening even though you know it will happen.

The NASA Tweetup has been taking place yesterday & today, so my Twitterfeed has been rather busy. Sad that I can't be there, it would have been so awesome, meeting all the space tweeps and seeing the launch. And this is Atlantis' penultimate mission, there are only five more shuttle missions after this one :'( But let's hope they are all as awesome as they've been in the recent past.

STS-125: Atlantis has finally returned home! To Edwards AFB/Dryden, California on EOM+2. The last opportunity it had to land naturally before Godzilla got fed up with the procrastination and leapt up and ate the thing.

It was all because they were waiting for the "dynamic" weather (ie thunderstorms and heavy rain) over Florida to clear enough. Nearly happened today, but not quite. Today they had Steve Lindsey at Kennedy and Chris Ferguson at Edwards out in STAs assessing nearby clouds and runway approaches to see which would be the best landing site. I don't think there was ever any doubt that Edwards would be good today, they were hoping KSC would be clear enough to save the inconvenience and expense of flying the orbiter back across the country. And Ken Ham was at Edwards! He was on TV briefly during the walkaround. He's due to command Atlantis on a mission next year.

But now the mission is over I can say ZOMG ZOMG YAY YAY Whoo-Hoo IT WORKED!!!! We have our upgraded Hubble thanks to all the awesome peeps involved in the mission being so awesome. And the doomladen people who were all OH NOES OH WOE IS YOU DO NOT FLY YOU WILL DIE before the mission are now sneeped. We did it so there. Now we have the new Hubbly goodness to look forward to. And when the shuttle program finishes and a wave of shuttle nostalgia starts, the Hollywood film based around the STS-400 rescue mission won't be a real-life drama, it will be fiction. Yay!

All five EVAs on STS-125 to service Hubble have now been completed and everything got completed well. There was a problem with a bolt yesterday which meant one of yesterday's tasks didn't get done, but it was completed with today's work. Hubble is now sparkly new and upgraded and is due to be redeployed tomorrow; the last touch (and a kiss goodbye, according to the downlinked video) was from John Grunsfeld, who is on his third Hubble servicing mission.

They've been shooting IMAX footage of the repairs, I hope I get the chance to see the completed movie when it's released. It's strange how I've watched so much of this mission, I guess because it's the only chance I've had to see an "old-fashioned" Space Shuttle mission (ie without visiting the ISS). And with Mike Massimino tweeting, it's almost like when I was following STS-124 - can't believe that mission launched almost a year ago now. Much as this mission has been a good one to watch another crew closely, STS-124 will always be "my" mission. That day meeting crewmembers last September is my happy time to think of whenever I'm having a crappy day. The photo I took of the crewmembers in front of the college is on my bookcase, a reminder of the day, and of the awesomeness we can achieve. Like all the awesomeness of Hubble: devising it, fixing it, all the wonderful sights we've seen thanks to the telescope, and all the things we've learned about the universe - even being tested on how well I know them is awesome.

After Hubble is sent on its way for the final time, the crew have a day off before preparations for landing - which include a final inspection of the shuttle's heat tiles for re-entry. Landing is due on Friday; usual procedure is to identify two consecutive orbits for landing, but they've been talking about slotting in an earlier one to give Atlantis chance to land before sea breezes can develop.