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the 26th mission of the space shuttle

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the first after the Challenger accident

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what was our main objective a safe

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launch and a safe return we used that as

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the dominant theme of our crew patch the

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red vector from the NASA meatball

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indicates that we are still building

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upon the traditional strengths of NASA

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the seven star Big Dipper symbolized our

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seven friends lost on the Challenger the

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sunrise represented a new beginning on

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September 29th 1988 while we slept

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discovery was being fueled on the launch

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pad we got up at about 5:00 a.m. and

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after breakfast in our weather briefs we

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suited up I'm captain Rick out commander

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of the mission the pilot was Colonel

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dick Covey mission specialists

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Lieutenant Colonel Dave helmers dr.

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pinky Nelson and Mike lounge this flight

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was to be the culmination of the efforts

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of tens of thousands of people across

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the nation NASA engineers contractors

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many advisory groups both within and

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outside government this was to be in

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every sense a test flight during the 30

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months since the Challenger accident

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there had been hundreds of hardware

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changes to not only the solid rocket

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booster but also to the orbiter and the

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large liquid rocket fuel tank numerous

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software changes had been implemented

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all had been tested exhaustively we had

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trained as a crew for 20 months when it

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came time to strap into this four and a

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half million pounds of hardware we were

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convinced that the team was as ready as

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autosequence start discoveries for

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redundant computers have assumed t-minus

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23 seconds and counting

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the s are being the nozzle profiles - 15

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14 13 12 11 10 we're go for main engine

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start

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Humphry cleared the tower Roger roll

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discovery roll program Houston and

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controlling whether you have flown

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aboard the shuttle before or not you're

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never really quite ready for the launch

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experience emotions adrenaline sight

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sound and motion all well together in an

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overwhelming bond your body tells you

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that something very powerful is

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propelling you and leaves no doubt that

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you were going somewhere very fast as we

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pass through the region of maximum

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dynamic pressure ii seem to move ever so

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slowly the solid rocket motors worked

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superbly the long hard work of the

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redesign and test teams had paid off in

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a perfect launch those motors burned for

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two minutes but it takes another six and

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a half minutes to achieve orbital

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velocity the discoveries liquid fuel

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engines provided the additional push

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required to accelerate to a speed of

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five miles a second and an altitude of

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160 nautical miles in that orbit we

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would see 16 sunrises and sunsets a day

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for the next four days traveling over

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one and two thirds million miles engines

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still running 104 percent fifty six

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hundred feet per second velocity 31.8

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nautical miles altitude downrange

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distance thirty-eight nautical miles one

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of our primary objectives for this

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flight was to deploy a large

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communication satellite for NASA and

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once we got safely into orbit we got

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busy preparing for that deployment Rick

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and Vic up in the front seats of a

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flight deck got busy check-in the

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orbiter and making sure it was healthy

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and ready to do the required separation

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maneuver after the deployment of the

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TDRs satellite meanwhile Dave and I were

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busy on the aft flight deck checking the

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telemetry from the spacecraft and its

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booster making sure it was healthy and

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for deployment the satellite is a 5,000

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pound very complex communication

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satellite the dark object here in the

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picture it's carried to its 22,000 mile

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high orbit by the inertial upper stage

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which is the white portion of this

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40-foot stack and my job here was upon

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getting a go from Mission Control to

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throw a switch that would separate this

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stack from the support structure go

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procedures deploy here we see the

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tigress eye us.combination shortly after

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deployment at the moment of deployment

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push-off Springs gave it a slow and

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majestic separation from the shuttle

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pinky was our chief photo documentary

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for the deploy Rick came back to the app

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flight deck and maneuvered the orbiter

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about one minute after the deploy the

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maneuver that he made gave additional

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separation from the satellite and

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positioned it in the overhead window so

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it could be tracked visually about 60

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minutes after the deploy the first of

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two solid rocket motors fired on the

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upper stage these rockets placed the

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satellite in an orbit above the equator

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such will remain fixed relative to the

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ground it will be used by NASA to

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increase shuttle communications with

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Mission Control and will also be

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utilized by spacecraft such as Landsat

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to relay telemetry to the ground many

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other private and government agencies

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will be using this extremely

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sophisticated satellite until the United

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States Space Station is on orbit the

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mid-deck of the orbiter will be the free

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world's only microgravity laboratory the

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mid-deck is a national resource that was

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well used during the flight of discovery

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we carried 11 experiments on board from

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the Marshall Space Flight Center

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JSC industry and university laboratories

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all across the country ranging from

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biomedical investigations like protein

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crystal growth to material science to an

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engineering test of an infrared

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communication system to experiments

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designed by high school students were

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performed both for their scientific

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value and to encourage young people to

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develop interest in space science and

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spaceflight

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both of these experiments were very

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visual when heated titanium wires the

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other grew crystals of lead iodide on a

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membrane even on a short four day

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mission the scientific return from our

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experiments is significant another

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mid-deck experiment we performed was a

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phased partition experiment here we see

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pinky shaken up the experiment container

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while I was setting up the photo

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equipment first partitioning is one

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method currently used for separating

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different types of biological cells this

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process has been shown to be extremely

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valuable in developing new

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pharmaceuticals and also in performing

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biomedical research after we had shaken

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the experiment we photographed the

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chambers to study their D mixing

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properties which are not completely

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understood here on earth discovery

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Houston

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we're with you through Hawaii we'd like

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to take just a few moments today to

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share with you some of the sites that

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we've been privileged to view over the

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past several days as we watch along with

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you many emotions swell up in our hearts

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joy for America's return to space

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gratitude for an eighth support through

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difficult times Thanksgiving for the

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safety of our crew reverence for those

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who sacrifice made our journey possible

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gazing outside we can understand why

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mankind has looked towards the heavens

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with all and wonder since the dawn of

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human existence we can comprehend why

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our countrymen have been driven to

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explore the vast expanse of space and we

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are convinced that this is the road to

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the future the road that Americans must

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travel if we are to maintain the dream

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of our Constitution

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to secure the blessings of liberty to

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ourselves and our posterity as we occur

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discovery witness this earthly splendor

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from American spacecraft less than 200

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miles separates us from the remainder of

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mankind in a fraction of a second our

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words reach our ears but lest we ever

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forget that these few miles represent a

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great gulf that to the center this

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seemingly tranquil sea will always be

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fraught with danger let us remember the

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Challenger crew whose voyage was so

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tragically short with them we share the

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common purpose with them we shared a

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common goal at this moment our place in

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the heavens makes us feel closer to them

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than ever before those are the

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Challenger who had flown before us seen

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these sites they would know the meaning

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of our thoughts those who had gone to

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view them for the first time they would

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know why we searched forth they were

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fellow sojourners they were our friends

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today up here where the blue sky turns

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to black we can say at long last to dick

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Mike duty to Ron and now and the Kristin

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break dear friends we have resumed the

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journey that we promise to continue for

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you dear friends your loss has meant

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that we could confidently begin anew

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dear friends your spit and your dream I

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still alive in our heart a discovery on

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behalf of the Challenger families and

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all of us down here

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it sure does feel good to see the

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Challenger mission continue in America

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back in space time to stop doing that

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is the place to be

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just give her the gas and look at his

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baby oh are you awake yet why

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because it's time to eat breakfast from

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special control on NASA select

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television we're now taking a view from

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helicopter over the landing area we're

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looking at some of the 380,000 people

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discovery handled beautifully even

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though it's a two hundred thousand pound

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lighter it responds very well to control

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inputs we came subsonic overhead the

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Edwards Lake bed in about forty thousand

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feet and dick coming took control for

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about ten or 15 seconds and passed it to

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me

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discovery Houston on centerline on glide

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flew the glide slope in the standard

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orbiter approach about three hundred

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miles an hour

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pointed down at the lake bed our sink

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rates about eleven thousand feet per

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minute then as we get to eighteen

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hundred feet I pulled back gently on the

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stick both to shallow the descent rate

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and about 300 feet to come he lowered

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the landing gear their gear down and

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thank you touchdown man hurry up now

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rotating the nose down standing by for

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with only moderate breaking we stopped

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roger wheelstop discovery welcome back

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great ending to the new beginning I

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collapse

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after completing the post Landing checks

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we were met at the bottom of the steps

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by Vice President Bush NASA

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Administrator dr. Jim Fletcher and the

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head of the office of space flight Rear

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Admiral dick truly we knew that the

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smiles on their faces reflected the mood

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of the NASA team we'd accomplished the