The space shuttle Endeavour flew through the Mojave desert today, so we decided to take a break (from work, preschool, etc.) and watch it go. It was scheduled to land sometime around noon at Edwards Air Force Base, which is about an hour's drive (maybe just a bit more) from Ridgecrest. We probably could have gotten on base and seen it up close and personal (using Rocket Boy's pass), but we weren't sure about that, so we ended up parking on a Highway 58 off-ramp just above Edwards (along with lots of other people including two TV news teams) and watching from there.
We arrived around 11:45, got out of the car, and started scanning the skies. It was hot, over 100, as it has been out here in the desert for the past four months.
Around 12:30 there started to be activity. We heard a loudspeaker on the base announce something (but couldn't understand the words). A plane flew by, but it wasn't the one we were looking for. Finally people with binoculars started shouting about a dark spot in the clouds. And here it came, followed by its little chaser plane.
Right over our heads! It was very exciting!
Even though the twins have a toy shuttle (see first photo), I don't think this meant much to them. Baby A did ask when the shuttle was going to separate from the plane and go off into space, which was sweet. But Rocket Boy and I and all the other people there were quite moved to see the last little shuttle fly by.
Pretty soon it was all over (we saw the shuttle land in the distance) and everyone went back to their normal lives. We (because we are insane) continued down Highway 58 to Kramer Junction to have lunch in the diner there and then back to Ridgecrest on everyone's least favorite highway, 395, and back to our regular lives. But we have our memories.
One last thought: I've been reading the Twitter feed about people spotting the shuttle all over California and there's a real sense of pride in America coming through. A lot of "We (i.e., our scientists and engineers, paid for by the government, with our tax dollars) built this, and it went into outer space and came back again. We're so proud!" Kind of an alternate Patriot Day -- we love our country not because we think God has blessed it, but because its government pays for people to do great science. There was another, more sinister, echo of Patriot Day -- the big plane flying around rather "creatively" was just a little bit nerve-wracking, now that we know what damage big planes can do. But it had a happy ending -- the big plane carried the shuttle over lots of California landmarks, did not crash into anything, and landed safely where it was supposed to. Kind of an anti-9/11. I'm sure someone else out there will express these ideas much better than I can, but I hope I'm making some sense.
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