|
Just in from Greg Chamitoff,
Dear Family & Friends,
Suddenly it’s time to go! We’ve had a very emotional and exciting few days at KSC since we arrived on Tuesday. Today at one point Chantal and I did the ‘wave across the ditch’ with our family on the other side (of the ‘road’ actually). Natasha and Dimitri were there with 50 of our family, some of which they were meeting for the first time. I thought it would be an exciting day for them, and I’m sure it was, but Natasha was crying the whole time as we did this greeting with family by the launch pad, and so I was crying the whole time as well.
The kids and I had preplanned some hand signals to tell each other some special things, which are a secret that I cannot reveal. There was a lot of signing, but Natasha could hardly look at me she was so upset. Like last time, the hardest part will be the time away from them. I think Dimitri is quite excited about all the ‘rocket stuff’. But the nice thing about training for a Shuttle mission is that I’ve had quality time at home with them these past few years. We are very close, and I’ll be thinking of them the whole time.
Chantal and I, with the rest of the crew and spouses, had an awesome tour of the launch pad today – crawling all around the outside of the Shuttle, tank, and solid rocket boosters. This morning, Drew, Mike, and I went into the cockpit to examine all the wiring and to make sure we can find all the connections we expect when it comes time to set things up in-orbit. All was in great shape, but sitting there in the cabin was a tech who was doing his last pre-launch checkout. He has been doing this for 27 years, and he can hardly believe that this incredible space-flying machine is heading to a museum after this mission. We had a good talk there, just sitting in the launch seats – he was in the pilot seat, I was behind him (so under him with the nose of the orbiter facing straight up) and Roberto was next to me. He was so incredibly proud of the role he has had in the history of the Space Program. What an amazing career – his job is to sit at the top of the rocket and make sure everything is working right before launch. He’s done that for every Shuttle since 1984. There’s no one else alive with a better appreciation for what humans can do and accomplish when they work together. He sat at the very top, and the tens of thousands of others did everything else to design and build and process the systems and equipment to put that amazing vehicle on the launch pad. It’s routine. We have it all figured out. Yet it is just incredible that we humans have done this. We left him there with the hope that in our lifetimes we would see a greater accomplishment.
In 6 hours we get up, get ready, and head out to the launch pad. I’m really looking forward to this like you can’t imagine – or maybe you can. I remember from last time that tomorrow is unlike today in that the ship will seem alive. It was all quiet today as we climbed around and took pictures. Tomorrow it will be steaming and hissing and venting and banging. All the systems will be running, and it is quite a different feeling – you sense that it wants to fly, whereas it was just an object sitting there today. They are expecting 750,000 people here tomorrow to watch this launch – that’s an incredible number, more along the lines of the crowds during the Apollo Moon landings. There’s a lot of excitement here and it is contagious. I’ve been combing through notes and working task lists all week to get ready, but the cloud of details is finally lifting, and I’m starting to believe that we’re really going to Space tomorrow. I can’t wait to see the Space Station again, and that view of our beautiful Earth. Suddenly it’s time to go!
Greg
|