I-X Marks the Start

Excitement was in the air. It was a little hard to tell after about 15 trips out the door to peer at the lightning towers in the distance, but it was there. Then, on a beautiful Wednesday morning, a new start took off.

Florida Today sometimes annoys me with the corny puns on the front page (and I'm a punny guy) but this was an historic headline. The Shuttle, wonderful flyer that she is, has just about flown her last. She was a grand science project, and truly marvelous, but it's time to move on. Whether she flies until 2010, 2011, or 2014, her days are numbered.

As the Ares I-X engine burned out and she began drifting to a certain splash down in the Atlantic Ocean, the crowd outside the Headquarters Building broke into spontaneous applause. I haven't seen that since Challenger return to flight. There was something new and fresh in the air. Those of us that never get near a pad or launch control room don't often feel the excitement that the controller and hands on people feel, but this launch was something special and everyone knew it.

I've seen it in the halls, in the lunchroom, and around the center. The engineers are getting excited. Someone that doesn't work at KSC, taking a walk down the hall at headquarters, might not discern it. I've been there 22 years and I can tell the difference between excitement and the same old thing. People are excited. It's a good thing.

We've got a new pad, new rocket, new firing room, new firing room windows, new O&C, new Base Operations Contractor, and soon a new launch contractor, and a bunch of new, young engineers.

We don't know what Congress and Obama are going to do, but it's now a sure thing that something new is coming. Bring it on. GO ORION!!