Thrill of the Ride
It was dark and anticipation was in the air, you could smell the salt off the sea. In the distance, lights and people moving about like little ants scurrying back to their queen. And then, the wait is over….9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, "we have go for main engine start, we have liftoff of America's first Space Shuttle and the Shuttle has cleared the tower." The g-forces hold the occupants firmly against their seats as the shuttle climbs towards the heavens with the brilliant light from the rocket boosters propelling her at 26,246 feet per second. Seconds after lift-off, the command is given from Houston, “Columbia Houston, you're go at throttle up.” The astronauts on board, were John Young and Robert Crippen. Young was the head of the astronaut office and Crippen was a rookie who was hired in 1978, this was his first time in space. NASA was a bit gun shy to put a full crew on the shuttle considering they weren’t quite sure what was going to happen. John Young was a vete