#thankfulfor NASA & the Space Shuttle Program
“Welcome home” Discovery! Guest post by Jeff Tong
“Mission Accomplished!” Photo by Jeff Tong.
Today, Tuesday, April 20, 2010 the space shuttle Discovery landed safely on the Kennedy Space Center’s Runway 33, in Cape Canaveral, Fl.
You might think, “Oh, yeah. Just another safe landing.” But have you known all the hardships NASA has dealt with over the years? Do you remember how tragically NASA lost Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003?
NASA has since had major budget cuts and operated with only two astronauts until 2006 when it added one more for a total of three. Sudden thunderstorms and high winds around the launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Fl have been the least of NASA’s problems since a mandatory retirement of the current program in 2010 was issued by President George W. Bush in his Vision for Space Exploration policy.
Growing up in DC, I spent a lot of time visiting the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum. I fell in love with spacecrafts, airplanes and the universe. Although life has taken me to another track, I still follow news about NASA and space exploration pretty closely. I am truly thankful for the great job from the dedicated NASA specialists and astronauts. I am definitely looking forward to the Constellation Program with the Ares I/Orion system when it becomes operational in 2014.
Thank you to The New York Times and The Associated Press for sharing the news.
Thank you NASA for your inspiration to keep reaching for the sky and continuously strive for excellence. And to the Discovery astronauts, from all your fans and Mission Control, welcome home.
Jeff Tong is an outgoing entrepreneur, avid volunteer, social media strategist, and photography evangelist based in the DC region. Jeff has worked alongside international and local groups such as The American Red Cross, Alpha Phi Omega, and Bootstrap Maryland. He is currently Community Manager of Diditz, a facebook fan page application. Jeff’s journal.Comments
