We have a Lofty Ambitions YouTube channel where you can find an an array of videos we’ve posted over more than two years. Those videos include space shuttle launches and chats with astronauts. Here are five among our favorites: The Last Launch of a Space Shuttle (July 2011) Dee O’Hara: First Nurse to the Astronauts Michael Barratt: STS-133 Astronaut & Physician Studying Radiation Space Shuttle … Continue reading Lofty Ambitions at YouTube
Chattering fifth-graders pass around us on all sides. A small group of three—two boys and a girl—stop along a wall that recounts the space shuttle Endeavour’s twenty-five-mission history in text and crew images. The children are tightly clustered, shoulder to shoulder, in front of the placard for STS-134, Endeavour’s final mission. Ken Phillips—the California Science Center’s Curator for Aerospace Science and someone that we have … Continue reading The California Story (Part 2)
1. Endeavour is the youngest orbiter, the space shuttle made of spare parts to replace Challenger. Building this new orbiter was deemed less expensive than updating Enterprise for spaceflight. 2. Endeavour takes its name—and British spelling—from the ship upon which Captain James Cook first set out to chart the globe. American schoolchildren weighed in on the selection of this name. 3. Endeavour’s first flight was STS-49 in … Continue reading 10 Things You Should Know about Endeavour
On Friday, we’re headed to Kennedy Space Center yet again. On this trip, we’ll watch as space shuttle Endeavour is made ready for its journey across the country on the back of a Boeing 747. That 3000-mile trip will end next week in California, our home and the birthplace of all the space shuttle orbiters. The shuttle will land first at Dryden Flight Research Center, … Continue reading I Remember California: Preparing for Endeavour Departure
Yesterday, we rose early and braved the traffic, driving almost two hours to the California Science Center because that museum will be the new, permanent home of space shuttle Endeavour. Earlier this year, we saw Endeavour on the launch pad. We were at Kennedy Space Center for its last not-launch and its last launch, which was the first shuttle launch we witnessed in person (all … Continue reading I Remember California: Title for Title
We interviewed Astronaut Mike Good when we were at Kennedy Space Center to see space shuttle Endeavvour launch for the last time. He’s from Ohio, and we earned graduate degrees from Ohio University, so that’s where our conversation begins. Mike Good has flown 3,000 hours in more than 30 different aircraft. What was left? The space shuttle, on which he served twice. Good was part of … Continue reading Interview: Mike Good
The past few days have been amazing! We’ve learned a lot, and we’ve had fun. That’s not to say that “A Launch to Remember” was easy for us. In fact, we’ve been running ourselves pretty ragged. Two cross-country trips in two weeks without missing any classes was a bit of a feat for Anna. And the lack of sleep and twelve-hour workdays may be taking … Continue reading A Launch to Remember (Conclusion!)
GO, ENDEAVOUR! LAUNCH IS A GO! And Lofty Ambitions is there to see it! Continue reading A Launch to Remember (Part 14: Launch Video!)
STS-134 CREW WALKOUT at 5:11a.m. on May 16, 2011 We arrived at the KSC News Center at just after 3a.m. this morning. Within an hour, we had gone through the dog-sniffing security and were on the bus to the astronaut walkout, where we waited about an hour for the STS-134 crew to emerge. The STS-134 mission is commanded by Mark Kelly, about whom we’ve written … Continue reading A Launch to Remember (Part 13)
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