Endeavour Rockets Roar While Crowds Roar Back Applause
STS-118 Mission Becomes A Feast For The Eyes
Santa Maria, CA –When the space shuttle Endeavour lifted off in a roar on August 8, 2007, it also sparked a roar of applause California Space Authority (CSA) representatives, other supporters, and well-wishers from around the nation. The mission, STS-118, was designed to bring additional materials to the expanding International Space Station (ISS) and to utilize the orbital station’s “Station-to-Shuttle Power Transfer System (SSPTS)” for the first time in the space shuttle program.
For many of the attendees it was the first time to see a shuttle launch. The descriptions were various from ages and occupations that included calling it “God’s Candle,” “Space Bus,” “the Eighth Wonder of the World,” and “Art in Space.” Several attendees also visited the Kennedy Space Center attraction designed to educate and inspire the public about the role space exploration for the nation’s future.
On board the space shuttle were two California born astronauts—Fresno native Barbara Morgan who graduated from Stanford University, and Arcadia native Dr. Tracy Caldwell who did her undergraduate studies at California State University of Fullerton and her graduate work at California State University of Davis in physical chemistry. Morgan who served as the backup for Challenger’s Christa McAuliffe in 1986, has waited 22 years to go up into space. Morgan entered and passed the astronaut training program and is considered America’s first “Educator Astronaut” into space.
CSA supporters at the recent Endeavour launch included Executive Director Jim Long, Aerojet/GenCorp; Senior Vice President Drexel Smith, Wyle Labs; Vice President of Mission Assurance, Space and Aerospace Systems, Susan Sloan, Raytheon; Director, Strategic Communications & Development, Angela Phillips Diaz, NASA Ames Research Center; President & CEO, Jim McGlothlin, Quintron Systems; Consultant Steven Bridge, Frontier Technology, Inc.; Director of Communications Diane Murphy, Northrop Grumman Corporation; Deputy Program Executive Officer Bryan Scurry, U.S. Navy; Vice President of Business Development Gwynne Shotwell, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX); Senior Manager Mike Van Scoy, United Launch Alliance (ULA); Project Manager, Economic Business Development, Laurel Shockley, Southern California Edison (SCE); and Partner/Owner Trevor Foster, Empirical Systems Aerospace.
