A Salute to Hemphill, Texas

by JonathanNo Comments
Texas Highways magazine was the first periodical to feature "Bringing Columbia Home." There's a very poignant article about Hemphill and Sabine County, Texas in the January 2023 issue, which also mentions the book. https://texashighways.com/culture/history/hemphill-remembers-the-columbia-disaster-20-years-later/ Mike Leinbach and I will forever be grateful that we were able to help honor the heroic deeds of the people who assisted in the recovery of Columbia and her crew.  If you're ever in East Texas, please consider making a pilgrimage to Hemphill to see the incredible Remembering Columbia Museum and meet some of the people who answered the call in the darkest hours following the accident in 2003. ...
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SpaceX Launch Team is “Go!”

by JonathanNo Comments
Mike Leinbach, the final Launch Director of the Space Shuttle Program, and the last man to give the "go for launch" for a crewed US mission from Kennedy Space Center, returned to his old stamping grounds on May 25. He was invited by SpaceX management to meet with the SpaceX launch team and answer any questions they might have about what it's like to launch humans into orbit. The testing and launch countdowns for the final decade of Space Shuttle launches were run from Firing Room 4 in the Launch Control Center (LCC). Back in the Shuttle era, four stair-stepped tiers of consoles were staffed by test conductors, security officers, public affairs officers, and other managers. On the main floor, eight semi-circular arcs of consoles, staffed by engineers specializing in the systems of the Space Shuttle and the ground support equipment, faced toward the manager rows and the large windows. Off to either side of the management rows were triangular, glassed-in...
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