Crowds gathered along piers, cameras slung around their necks. Onlookers bundled up in a blustery spring day to await the flyover along the Hudson River. The shuttle had been scheduled to arrive earlier in the week, but NASA pushed it back because of bad weather. It was chased through the air by a NASA plane, and in the Hudson River by numerous ferries and other boats. The Intrepid's "Personal Space" exhibit also includes "The Wave," a watercolor painted by Nicole Stott while in Earth orbit, a collapsible, fabric model of the Hubble Space Telescope handcrafted by John Grunsfeld, a telescope eyepiece "smuggled" aboard the space shuttle by Al Drew and a guitar pick used by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield to perform with the band Barenaked Ladies for the first space-to-Earth musical collaboration in 2013.As the shuttle passed Manhattan, people gathered on rooftops to gawk. Without gravity, the chain didn't hang down from my neck." "As I floated around in space for two weeks, the items on my chain floated around, too. "It was my way of taking them all along and sharing the adventure with them," Good told. Paul Catholic Church community back at his home in Houston. Good said the pendants were important symbols of his faith and love, representing his family members and the St. "I also used this chain to wear my wedding ring and my wife Joan's wedding ring." "These items launched with me on the space shuttle Atlantis, went out with me on spacewalks to repair Hubble, and returned with me as we reentered the Earth's atmosphere at 25 times the speed of sound," said Good. "That connection means something to me, and hopefully it resonates with people when they look at the exhibit." Īstronaut Mike Good loaned the Intrepid a Saint Christopher medal and nail cross that he wore aboard both of his space shuttle missions, STS-125 and STS-132. "Now it is even a more precious a piece because I know that it traveled with me, just like it traveled with him when he went to work," Altman told. But it was of his work ethic that was something I wanted to have with me."Īltman said objects like his grandfather's pocket watch take on an added meaning having flown in space. "My grandfather started off as a coal miner in central Illinois and ultimately became a union leader. "He wound it in the morning when he went to work and on the days he didn't have work, he set it down," said Altman. For Scott Altman, the pocket watch flown on his second spaceflight, STS-106 in 2000, connected him to his grandfather. "That Halloween I dressed up as an astronaut and there is a picture of me holding that Snoopy as a little kid and I got to fly that same Snoopy in space as an adult."Įach object in "Personal Space" is accompanied by a photo of the item in space and a quote from the astronaut who carried it, describing why the memento meant something to him or her. "I was very excited to get it," said Massimino, recalling when he was six years old. "I am lending - not donating by the way, I want it back! - my astronaut Snoopy toy," said Massimino in an interview with .Ī prized gift from his older brother, Massimino took the plastic Snoopy figure with him when he launched on his second of two missions to service the Hubble Space Telescope, STS-125, in 2009. (Image credit: Mike Massimino via ) Where Jane Austen meets SnoopyĪmong the space-flown items that are part of the "Personal Space" exhibit are astronaut Mario Runco's "Star Trek" starship Enterprise toy, Ellen Baker's paper dolls and Megan McArthur Behnken's pocket copy of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice," her favorite book. Mike Massimino poses with his astronaut Snoopy toy in July 1969 and May 2009, the latter on space shuttle Atlantis.
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