Astronauts, visitors celebrate Atlantis exhibit’s 10th anniversary

BY MIKE GAFFEY

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex’s Space Shuttle Atlantis attraction turned 10 years old June 29 and some high-flying guests stopped by to celebrate.

Veteran shuttle astronauts Richard “Mike” Mullane, Anna Fisher, William “Bill” Shepard, Guy Gardner, Mike Baker and Chris Ferguson visited the retired orbiter in its 65,000-square-foot indoor facility for two live-in-person panels with space center guests.

Astronauts also answered questions submitted online by the public during the event, hosted by former CNN space reporter John Zarrella.

“This was the first orbiter on display that really had a display that justified it,” Ferguson, a U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame member who commanded Atlantis’ final flight in 2011, said of the exhibit. “It’s beautiful and you really get a chance to appreciate it from every single angle.”

Atlantis went on public display at KSC on June 29, 2013, after having flown 33 missions in space and having carried 156 crew members into orbit.

The 122-foot-long, 151,000-pound space plane first launched on Oct. 3, 1985. Atlantis lifted off July 8, 2011 and landed at KSC on July 21, 2011 for the shuttle fleet’s last mission.

During its time in service, Atlantis orbited the Earth 4,848 times and traveled nearly 126 million miles.

KSC now displays Atlantis with payload doors opened and mounted at a 43.21-degree angle to give the appearance of being in orbit. A multistory digital projection of Earth rotates behind the orbiter. The facility also features more than 60 interactive exhibits chronicling the shuttle’s missions.

Atlantis was chosen to reside at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in April 2011, and groundbreaking for its new home began in 2012. Three remaining orbiters are on display across the United States. Shuttle Discovery is at the Steven F. Udar-Hazy Center, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s annex at Washington Dulles International Airport in Washington D.C.

Endeavour is at the California Science Center in Los Angeles and Enterprise, which never flew in space, is on display at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City. Astronauts shared their memories of life in zero gravity high above Earth with hundreds of KSC visitors gathered beneath Atlantis.

“I loved the whole experience of being in space, being with crew members that I really, truly admired and are still good friends with, and doing a very complex mission, and also getting to be weightless is a lot of fun,” said Fisher, a mission specialist aboard shuttle Discovery’s second flight in November 1984.

“It was just everything I ever dreamed about. I remember when I came back the first thing I said to my husband was, ‘It’s all worth it. It’s worth every little bit of the hard work and sacrifice, because it’s just an amazing experience.’ ”

Kissimmee found the astronaut-studded event “fantastic.”

“Hearing the conversations about things we don’t read about, we don’t know about, their personal experiences, was just out of this world, so to speak,” said Larcher, whose family has annual KSC passes and drove to Titusville for the event.

Larcher noted that her grandson, Justin, 15, was inspired enough by a previous space center visit to want to pursue a career in engineering in hopes of building spacecraft.

“That was a life-changing event for him,” she said.

For more information about the Atlantis display, visit kennedyspacecenter.com. SL

“I was out in the front yard talking to a neighbor when I kicked a palm frond,’’ the 54-year-old Gross said. “It kind of looked like a turtle. I grabbed a knife and cut some pieces off to make legs and then I made a head. All of a sudden, I had a sea turtle.’’

The quick work made an impression on the neighbor.

“She asked, ‘Can I buy it?’ I said, ‘How much will you give me? She said, ‘Fifty bucks.’ I handed it over. She ordered three more. It kept happening. My wife (Nicole) thought it was incredible. I’ve made more in the last couple of weeks than I would make at my old job in a whole month.’’

Gross collects driftwood to carve fish. There’s no short supply as he roams along the shore line of the Indian River Lagoon from the Pineda Causeway to the Melbourne Causeway.

“I’m always disgusted by what I see in the river with the trash,’’ said Gross, a 1988 graduate of Jupiter High School. “I always bring back a bag to send to the landfill. Sometimes, it’s overwhelming. It can stink so bad, but I can see that the bottom is getting clearer.’’

Some of the fish he carves are marlin, sailfish, snapper, kingfish, tarpon and shark.

“I’ll see a pile of driftwood and I’ll see a fish,’’ said Gross, who attended Culinary School at the now-defunct Lincoln College in South Florida.

“I see things in the wood and

Captioned Phones

Continued from page 6 a small fee on all telephone bills. The genesis of CapTel goes back to the 1970’s when Rob Engelke, an engineering student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, invented a teletypewriter (TTY) such that the deaf could communicate by text. In 1977, Engelke founded Ultratec and built a miniature, microprocessorbased teletypewriter that plugged into a regular phone line to make the cost of these devices much cheaper. In 1998, Engelke then founded CapTel as a way for the hard of hearing to better communicate and feel more comfortable during phone calls.

In the 2000’s, CapTel introduced an IP-based version to allow users to receive captions through high-speed Internet.

In 2012, CapTel released its 840i model, which had a built-in answering machine, could work with WiFi, and is ideal for users more comfortable with a traditional-style telephone. Then, in 2013, CapTel released its 880i model which has an extra-large display screen ideal for users with low vision. Cap Tel’s latest model, the 2400i, has a touch-screen, the largest screen of any model, an easy to follow menu system, and advanced sound quality features. CapTel 2400i also provides Bluetooth wireless technology, enabling users to connect wirelessly to Bluetooth headsets, assistive devices, hearing aids and cell phones.

For more information on how to get a captioned telephone, visit CapTel. com, or call 561-373-7543. SL in the clouds. I don’t go to church, but I’m a Christian. I talk to God everyday and ask him to protect my family. I’ll see people’s faces in animals and I just love fish. I love being around water and it’s my sacred place.’’ Gross couldn’t have made the career change without the help of his wife.

“My wife inherited some money after her father passed away, ” he said. “She was so generous in allowing me to focus on my art. I would have been too afraid to do it otherwise.”

Gross plans to have a booth at the Space Coast Arts Festival scheduled for Oct. 14 in Viera. He also can be contacted via his Facebook page Second Chance Creations. SL