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Welcome!
In this issue: The
experience of a lifetime!
We often rate our daily
experiences as successful, wonderful, or exciting, however it is seldom that
we rate an experience as" the experience of a lifetime! " I am happy to say that I have just had
"the experience of a lifetime" by being a part of the launch
of Endeavor last weekend at the Kennedy
Space Center
in Florida.
We live in the world of NASA here in Houston,
however the excitement of watching a launch was beyond belief. I was
invited to view the launch by a patient that was one of
the 6 astronauts on board the Endeavor. The launch was
scheduled for 4:29 AM Sunday morning, Feb. 7th, and the invite suggested
that you arrive by at least 9:00PM on Saturday night to make sure you got
through security before the buses started departing at 1:30AM for the viewing
area. Standing in the security line, I realized there were about 10,000
people at KSC to also have "the experience of a
lifetime"! After 2 hours of clearing security, I had enough
time to watch the IMAX production about the construction of the Space Station
before boarding the 2:30AM bus. After the IMAX I had a much
better appreciation of what goes on during a mission and a tremendous
appreciation for our men and women that train to execute these difficult
missions. The
space program borders on unbelievable, and as a part of the NASA
community, I was very proud to know and treat the dental needs of some
of these men and women who are an integral part of the research in space that
will benefit all of us in the future. Moving on to the launch, I
arrived by bus at the viewing area around 3:14AM.
The area is in a field that is 6 miles from the launch pad and the excitement
in the air was tremendous! You could see the Endeavor shuttle on the
pad with large bright lights shining into the sky around the
pad. The shuttle mission, STS-130, was to launch at 4:39AM and the
anticipation was tremendous. There was a countdown underway and the
launch team was communicating regarding the cloud cover that was beginning to
form. Everyone got their tripods and cameras in place ready for
the lift off and at 4:25AM the announcement over the PA system
announced that the launch was scrubbed due to cloud cover that was
now at 3800 ft. above Endeavor which was 200ft lower than the limits
allow! The coordination with the launch team was incredible considering
they only have about a 15 minute window to get a launch off, and they have to
take every possibility into consideration. Despite the disappointment
of a cancelled launch, everyone was in good sprits and headed back to KSC on
the busses to return the next night for a possible launch. The next
night was the same drill, except the launch was set for 4:15PM and this
night was a launch success! After spending 8 hours in the 42
degree weather on Sat. night and Sun. morning, I decided to watch the launch
from the 17th floor of my hotel and listen to the countdown on the NASA web
site. When the rockets ignite and the shuttle starts to move, the
feeling of excitement and awe is overwhelming. The earth shakes and the
launch lights up the night sky for miles. I cannot imagine what
feelings the astronauts have on lift off, but I was left
speechless watching the Endeavor lift off into space.
All of us from
4Smiling wish this crew the most successful of missions and want to say " Thank You" for giving me the
"experience of a lifetime!"
Have a great day!
Dr. Joe
4Smiling Aesthetic Dentistry
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