Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed!

 For a young man of 17, living in Ohio eight miles from where his (distant) cousin Neil Armstrong had been born, the summer of 1969 was an amazing time.  I was headed to college in Michigan in September, had a summer job working 11PM to 7AM making good money at the Goodyear factory (thanks, Dad), had a girl friend I married four years later (thanks, Ann), and got a chance to see the most incredible TV show ever on July 20th - the moon landing.   Because of my already geeky nature, the exploits of the NASA astronauts had been high on my list of happenings to follow.  

So I was parked in front of the TV today to watch the final mission of the space shuttle Discovery.  Discovery has made 38 trips into space, with its first trip coming in August of 1984. It has carried 246 crew members (including fellow Ohioan John Glenn at age 77), more than any other space vehicle.  John Glenn, if you remember, in 1962 became the first American to orbit the Earth. He responded to the question about how he felt as he waited on the launch pad in 1962 by saying, "I felt about as good as anybody would, sitting in a capsule on top of a rocket that were both built by the lowest bidder".  

Twice Discovery was the first shuttle into space after a tragedy: it followed both Challenger and Columbia flights into space. The buildup to the launch was exciting. There were issues that delayed the launch long enough that it was reported later that Discovery left with 2 seconds left in its launch window.

I think the general public is probably more interested in the next shuttle launch in April because the mission commander is Mark Kelly, the husband of Gabriel Giffords (the congresswoman shot in Arizona recently). But for the space geeks, watching the final flight of Discovery is very nostalgic. The video of the lift off is below if you didn't get a chance to see it.  Enjoy!