Today marks 10 days until the final launch of a NASA Space Shuttle into space. What a ride it has been!
GeekMom will be paying tribute to the shuttle program over the next 10 days in preparation of Atlantis’s final “Blast Off!” with STS-135. The last 30 years of the shuttle program have provided so many extreme highs and devastating lows that this program will have a special place the heart of every American.
While our children won’t grow up looking forward to shuttle missions they will likely be inspired by the stories of this amazing program and be instrumental in the next generation of human space flight.
For the next 10 days, please join us as we reminisce, teach, imagine and celebrate the NASA Space Shuttle program.
Info about the art above from NASA.gov:
As a tribute to NASA’s Space Shuttle Program, artist Brian Basset created this commemorative drawing depicting his characters, Red and Rover, racing alongside the space shuttle as it lands for the final time later this year. In 2004, Basset was honored with a one-man show of his space-themed comic strips at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. On July 26, 2005, an original drawing by Basset commemorating America’s return to flight launched aboard shuttle Discovery on the STS-114 mission.
Basset created the strip in 2000 about a boy and his dog, who dream of one day going into space. Twice nominated by the National Cartoonists Society for Best Comic Strip of the Year in 2003 and 2010, Red and Rover appears in more than 160 newspapers worldwide and is syndicated by Universal Uclick. Previously, Basset worked as an editorial cartoonist for The Seattle Times.
As a child of the 70s/80s, I remember the excitement of the shuttle. For the first few flights, we would watch launches and landings. I remember the horror of the Challenger explosion. I was in high school. I wanted to be a teacher and Christa McAuliffe was my idol.
Now, I teach about the space program and am shocked that kids know very little about the shuttle program. It has become commonplace. With that, it has become something that children don’t know about. It’s sad. I am glad that I have been able to share this important program with students who have passed through my classroom.
I am sad to see the end of an era.