We recently got a pretty cool invitation from my Brother in Law Tim and his wife to go with them to see the shuttle landing at Edwards Air Force Base. It was originally supposed to land a day earlier at the Kennedy Space Center but due to adverse weather conditions they changed it at the last minute. It was really an interesting trip. On the ride up there I read up on it and learned some pretty interesting facts. It was a 14- day delivery mission to the International Space Station. They delivered a new crew member along with tons of supplies and science gear. Also among other things they delivered the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT). A treadmill actually named after comedian Stephen Colbert. Another interesting fun fact was that the astronaut that was brought back spent an entire 2 months straight in the Space Station WITH NO GRAVITY! I can't even imagine floating for 2 months straight.
Unfortunately there wasn't much to see when we got there but it was a good experience and it's something now that I can say I've done. It was fun checking the time and looking up and finally hearing the loud bangs as the shuttle entered each layer of the atmosphere. Evelyn of course detests loud noises so she got a good little scare in the beginning but she was alright after that. Andy brought the Red One (a super mac daddy camera) with him and shot the landing. The cops didn't wait long before shooing us off and then we ate a nice dinner at the McDonald's in Tehachapi.
I actually got to see a shuttle landing while serving as a missionary in Lancaster. As an aspiring aerospace engineer, I was enthralled. I remember the coolest thing being the size of the sonic boom as it flew overhead before turning around over Nevada and landing.
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