Safe trip, Discovery

2005-07-26 - 11:08 a.m.

Man, that was a beautiful launch. I've never watched one that didn't give me goosebumps.

I've got a particular softspot for Discovery. She's the one who deployed the satellite I used to work on oh, so many years ago. One of the few things that has survived from my past is a beautiful, full-color, poster-sized mission certificate. It's framed here in my cube at work (which is how it escaped being destroyed in the apartment fire like my mission patch and everything else). It's one of the things I'm proudest of, though my maiden name inscribed on the certificate confuses a lot of people.

Not only was it the complete realization of a dream to get to work on the space program and not only was it amazing to get to work with my wonderful aunt and a scientist I admired, but I was hired solely because of people's faith in my ability to learn fast and fit right in with a group. While there was frequently too little to do, the work that I did there was among the most exciting and rewarding I've ever had. It was pretty nifty getting those space program goosebumps on a regular basis and amusing to have groups of elementary school kids watch with fascination as we made our way to the vending machines.

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