Friday, July 8, 2011 marked a historical milestone for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). It was the last flight of the Space Shuttle Atlantis and the final flight for the space shuttle program. Began 30 years ago, the space shuttle has been the workhorse for NASA, ferrying astronaunts and satellites to orbit and completing construction of the huge International Space Station.
There were more press and journalists on hand for this launch than for any other. In fact, only more press credentials were given for the launch of John Glenn in 1962. Media from all across the globe desended on Kennedy Space Center to record the event. Literally, the eyes of the world were turned towards a 25 year old vehicle with more than a million miles on its odometer. Would it fly? on time? weather permitting?
Anxious moments.
My journey to witness the launch of Atlantis was a result of a formal gathering of Twitter followers to the Nasa web site. As part of the nasa social media called @NASATweetup, we were charged with the task of disseminating the multitude of information given by Nasa into a more public-friendly format.
I will be posting more information about the lauch, and a behind-the-scenes look at Nasa in the days to come. I will also use this space to generate 10 Twitter school lessons that can be used to supplement math and science curriculum lessons.
Follow me on Twitter @Skyviewscience
Email me at
tseip@district70.org
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Todd
