In the early 1960s, Rick Fabing served on a space capsule recovery mission as a petty officer 2nd class on the Navy submarine the USS Sennet.
The anticipation and excitement of participating in the capsule recovery effort remains one of Fabing’s most unforgettable memories as an American of the U.S. space program.
Being so close to history then, and later witnessing the magnificence of space shuttle launches at a distance in The Villages, explains why the Village of Winifred resident and his wife Linda expressed regret Wednesday morning that NASA intends this week to retire the Space Transportation System — the space shuttle program.
At 11:26 a.m. Friday, weather and systems permitting, NASA launches the Space Shuttle Atlantis as the climax to a 30-year space program that experienced some of the greatest triumphs and tragedies in the history of American space exploration.
Over the years, the shuttle launches elicited feelings in Rick similar to what he experienced during that day aboard the Sennet.
“We saw it come down, but we were not deployed to pick it up,” Rick recalled about being part of NASA’s space capsule recovery effort. “It just blew me away. I thought it was the neatest thing I ever saw in my life.”
Feeling proud
The pending retirement of the space shuttle program prompted some of the most poignant memories that many Villagers collected over the years as they witnessed historic NASA events.
During a sixth-grade class, for instance, Linda recalled how proud she felt as an American to witness the first NASA launch — Pioneer I.
“I remember the teacher brought in the television set, and we all watched the space launch,” Linda said. “It was very brief. I remember at lot of the launches — the moon landing, moon walk. But I remember the (Pioneer I) because that was the first one. It just made me feel extremely proud to be an American.”
Such patriotism also explains Linda’s regret that the Obama administration is retiring the space shuttle fleet and cutting back NASA’s space operations budget to $4.3 billion the next fiscal year from the $6.1 billion appropriated in the current fiscal year, the space agency’s 2012 budget showed.
“On the one hand, being patriotic, I would like us to continue to be the space leader,” Linda said. “But, I do realize the world is getting smaller. And, if there are other countries that are peaceful and willing to do their own space exploration, that’s OK, too. I just don’t want us to be at the tail end.”
Maintaining an edge
The final flight of the of the space shuttle program gave David Yates, a Village of Pennecamp resident, a moment to reflect on probably single most important event that led to NASA’s formation.
“Wow, there’s so many memories,” Yates said. “The first great impression would be, for people my age, the Russian Sputnik. That was the kick-off to everything.”
Then came the first lunar landing, Apollo 11, Yates recalled, with astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin becoming the first humans to walk on the moon.
“I was fortunate enough to watch it on television as it was happening,” Yates said. “That was a miracle then to think that you could transmit television right from the moon to Earth and to see them step foot on the moon.”
That instance, Yates said, erased any doubt about supposed Russian space superiority.
“Here we were, the first ones there,” Yates said. “It was a wonderful feeling.”
That sentiment also explains Yates’ concern about the future of the U.S. space program, if the United States allows other countries to take the lead.
“First of all, we’re at a time in our history where we need to maintain a technological edge,” Yates said.
Then there is just the basic issue of jobs, Yates said.
Florida stood to lose around 6,000 space shuttle program jobs, NASA published in a fact sheet.
“Shutting down the space shuttle program is going to ripple out all across the country,” Yates said. “So we have that issue. But we also seem to be losing that pioneer spirit, not to mention all the modern advantages we have as a result of the space program. I fear we’re in danger of losing a lot of that, as well.”
The anticipation and excitement of participating in the capsule recovery effort remains one of Fabing’s most unforgettable memories as an American of the U.S. space program.
Being so close to history then, and later witnessing the magnificence of space shuttle launches at a distance in The Villages, explains why the Village of Winifred resident and his wife Linda expressed regret Wednesday morning that NASA intends this week to retire the Space Transportation System — the space shuttle program.
At 11:26 a.m. Friday, weather and systems permitting, NASA launches the Space Shuttle Atlantis as the climax to a 30-year space program that experienced some of the greatest triumphs and tragedies in the history of American space exploration.
Over the years, the shuttle launches elicited feelings in Rick similar to what he experienced during that day aboard the Sennet.
“We saw it come down, but we were not deployed to pick it up,” Rick recalled about being part of NASA’s space capsule recovery effort. “It just blew me away. I thought it was the neatest thing I ever saw in my life.”
Feeling proud
The pending retirement of the space shuttle program prompted some of the most poignant memories that many Villagers collected over the years as they witnessed historic NASA events.
“I remember the teacher brought in the television set, and we all watched the space launch,” Linda said. “It was very brief. I remember at lot of the launches — the moon landing, moon walk. But I remember the (Pioneer I) because that was the first one. It just made me feel extremely proud to be an American.”
Such patriotism also explains Linda’s regret that the Obama administration is retiring the space shuttle fleet and cutting back NASA’s space operations budget to $4.3 billion the next fiscal year from the $6.1 billion appropriated in the current fiscal year, the space agency’s 2012 budget showed.
“On the one hand, being patriotic, I would like us to continue to be the space leader,” Linda said. “But, I do realize the world is getting smaller. And, if there are other countries that are peaceful and willing to do their own space exploration, that’s OK, too. I just don’t want us to be at the tail end.”
Maintaining an edge
The final flight of the of the space shuttle program gave David Yates, a Village of Pennecamp resident, a moment to reflect on probably single most important event that led to NASA’s formation.
“Wow, there’s so many memories,” Yates said. “The first great impression would be, for people my age, the Russian Sputnik. That was the kick-off to everything.”
Then came the first lunar landing, Apollo 11, Yates recalled, with astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin becoming the first humans to walk on the moon.
“I was fortunate enough to watch it on television as it was happening,” Yates said. “That was a miracle then to think that you could transmit television right from the moon to Earth and to see them step foot on the moon.”
That instance, Yates said, erased any doubt about supposed Russian space superiority.
“Here we were, the first ones there,” Yates said. “It was a wonderful feeling.”
That sentiment also explains Yates’ concern about the future of the U.S. space program, if the United States allows other countries to take the lead.
“First of all, we’re at a time in our history where we need to maintain a technological edge,” Yates said.
Then there is just the basic issue of jobs, Yates said.
Florida stood to lose around 6,000 space shuttle program jobs, NASA published in a fact sheet.
“Shutting down the space shuttle program is going to ripple out all across the country,” Yates said. “So we have that issue. But we also seem to be losing that pioneer spirit, not to mention all the modern advantages we have as a result of the space program. I fear we’re in danger of losing a lot of that, as well.”
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