Champagne at NASA?!
After NASA got around a dismal weather forecast, and Atlantis launched successfully toward the International Space Station, two kinds of celebrations went on. First, at the Launch Control Center, they had beans. Yes, beans. It’s a tradition that started with the first Shuttle launch in 1981. NASA says Test Director Norm Carlson brought a small pot of beans and cornbread, and shared with the launch team. The tradition caught on, and pretty soon the LCC needed an eighteen quart cooker to keep up with demand. The Europeans have a different idea for celebrating the successful launch of Atlantis. The ten ton Columbus lab, built by the European Space Agency or ESA, was aboard and finally going into space to be attached to the Space Station. More than a few eyebrows went up in the KSC News Center when, not one, but two Champagne corks popped off behind the ESA news support desk. Out came plastic glasses, and the Europeans started pouring bubbly for all. Before you ask, I was busy filing stories for NPR and WMFE, so I did not partake. Still, there seems to a divergence here. Beans on the one hand, Champagne on the other. Beans…Champagne Beans…Champagne. Hmmm, that’s a toughy. That being said, the Europeans have a lot to be relieved about. They’ve been waiting since 1992 for the launch of the Columbus lab, and they’re not out of the woods yet. The five billion dollar module has to be connected to the Space Station, power and data cables have to be hooked up, and then the lab must be checked out. Saturday morning may be a bit early for Champagne, but you can still join me for a re-airing of a talk I gave on my book "Final Countdown". C-SPAN is featuring it on its BookTV program, this Saturday (2/9) at 8 am on C-SPAN2. Click here for the C-SPAN schedule. See you there, or set your DVR! http://www.booktv.org/program.aspx?ProgramId=8985&SectionName=&PlayMedia=No More to come... Photo courtesy of NASA
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February 7, 2008—Atlantis is on its way to the International Space Station, and clearly we Americans have a thing or two to learn about celebrating.