Middle Tennessee State University aerospace research assistant Jeff Brummitt stands less than 1,500 feet away from the space shuttle Endeavor on June 12, a day before the launch was canceled.
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A MTSU graduate student attended workshops and toured Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. on June 12, a day before the space shuttle Endeavor was scheduled to launch.
“The launch was canceled early Saturday morning, due to a hydrogen leak,” U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon, who coordinated the workshops and tour for the student and a group of eight Middle Tennessee teachers, said. “Despite the disappointment of missing the launch, the teachers reported they would be able to use the things they learned in the workshops in their classrooms back home and were thrilled at the access they had to the shuttles Discovery and Endeavor.”
Gordon chairs the House Science and Technology Committee, of which the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics is a part. NASA is governed by this subcommittee.
Jeff Brummitt, a research assistant for MTSU aerospace Professor Paul Craig, stood under the Discovery space shuttle as NASA employees were repairing her tiles and got a close-up view of Endeavor while it was on the launch pad during his tour of Kennedy Space Center. Craig and Brummitt are conducting research to determine the best methods to train air traffic controllers and pilots on how to use the next generation of technology through funding secured by Gordon.
“I was surprised and very pleased at the access the group was given to the operations at the space center. The orbital processing center and the close-up view of the active launch pad were truly amazing,” Brummitt said. “I truly stood in awe at the size of the Vehicle Assembly Building. I know the walls there have seen many historic moon rockets and spacecraft pass through over the years.”
Prior to touring the Kennedy Space Center, Brummitt spent the morning in workshops. “One of the most beneficial things I brought back was how vital it is to use the resources and tools available to us. We must always be looking for new tools to aid us in our research and improve the ones we already have,” he said. “The exercise on the lunar landing was very interesting and convinced me that we must gather all the facts that we can in order to make intelligent decisions.”
Brummitt said the safety of the shuttle crew was more important than the scheduled launch. “I was prepared ahead of time for this possibility. The tour alone was well worth my travel down. The safety of the crew far outweighs the glamour of the launch coming together for the viewing public,” he said. “Just knowing that the launch will eventually still take place is enough to keep me more than interested.”
Endeavor is scheduled to launch on July 11. Her payload includes the “front porch” and spare parts for the International Space Station. The front porch will allow astronauts to conduct research outside the space station. The STS-127 crew consists of Commander Mark Polansky; Pilot Doug Hurley; astronauts Dave Wolf, Christopher Cassidy, Canadian Space Agency’s Julie Payette, Tom Marshburn and Tim Kopra, all mission specialists. Kopra will stay at the International Space Station as a flight engineer, and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata will return to Earth in Kopra’s place.
Teachers interested in attending future shuttle launches should contact Joe Patterson at Gordon’s Murfreesboro district office by calling 615-896-1986 or e-mailing joe.patterson@mail.house.gov.
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