Reflections before I close out

I am back now, and for those of you that have been following the STS-90 mission, you have seen we had our successes and challenges to overcome.

My systems, the RAHFs, performed quite well, I thought, during the flight. We had some problems to overcome, and some questions still need to be answered. Allow me to pass on my own thoughts from prelaunch to landing.

First, at ten days prior to launch other engineering members of my team and I were involved in performing the PAD IVT which involves checking out our experimental hardware power on status and interconnections from the Orbiter to the control rooms. We encountered some minor problems with the RAHF drinking water systems, but we were able to solve these without impacting the mission schedule.

Solving these problems involved my going to the pad and seeing the Orbiter up close. That was exciting to say the least. If one is going to the pad, then one should not be afraid of heights, because walking along certain levels of the gantry can put one over 200 ft high. Thank God I can handle heights.

The days immediately prior to launch were a blur since the hours I was keeping were long ones. Sometimes people would ask me how my room was, and my typical response was, "I don't know. I only sleep a few hours there, otherwise I am supporting the Launch team." I celebrated Easter Sunday by assisting in preparing our rodent cages for flight,we have to follow a tight schedule you know.

The actual loading of the rodents into the cages was interesting, and I felt really great that we were getting closer to what we had been working so hard for. Then I felt great pride with our team as we saw the cages being installed into the RAHFs at L-35 (launch minus 35 hours), which was early Wednesday morning, about 1:00 a.m. on April 15. While the installation of cages was in process, we had our RAHFs running, and we could see the performance data making sure the animals were in safe environments.

As the time passed towards launch we had to power the RAHFs down to low power mode at L-3 hours on launch day. This process allows the orbiter to have access to all available power needed for launch and booster separation. Parallel to this low-power mode operation, the crew was leaving our building and being escorted to the orbiter. I was torn as to whether to see the crew off or witness the low power mode process. I decided to see the power change process since I felt I would be of more use in the monitoring room in case of problems.

Myself, Lauren Fletcher, Bruce Yost, Linda Conrad, Angela Wray and others ended up near the VAB to observe the launch. Using my binoculars I was able to do what I call "experience the launch." Seeing Columbia break the chains of gravity and ascend into the heavens is really beyond description. Not only can one see and hear this display of power and energy, but one can also feel the launch through the sound waves from the orbiter thrust.

Once Columbia was out of sight, I proceeded to meet Lauren, Tom Stolarik, Stefan Rosner, Brad Berch and others back in the O&C User room to witness spacelab activation and telemetry down linking.

Seeing the launch is always exciting, and followed with seeing the experiment hardware come to full power and performing that evening in microgravity gave me a feeling of pride and accomplishment. It was very exciting watching the astronauts entering spacelab and preparing for the neuroscience experiments.

Seeing the anxious looks from not only the Ames team but also the members of NASDA (National Space Development Agency of Japan) and DARA (Deutsche Agentur für Raumfahrt Angelegenheiten - the German space agency) was like seeing expectant parents awaiting the birth of a new life. The day we started receiving the telemetry indicating that our systems were operating was one day I will never forget.

During these anxious moments in the User room I received a page from my wife. I was able to get to a phone and she gave me a big "Congrats!" She had seen the launch on TV in California and she wanted to know how the systems were doing. Hearing this from her really made my day and kind of choked me up. Throughout my entire aerospace career she has been my supporting force, my coach and my inspiration. Listening to her voice that night really gave me an extra boost.

Once the RAHF systems were operational I retired for the night, finally taking a breath and reflecting on what we had accomplished and what we still needed to do. The next day I flew back to California and proceeded to monitor and support the mission from the Ames Monitoring Area. Here, I was able to lend support to ARC (Ames Research Center) personnel that were at JSC (Johnson Space Center) in resolving any problems and replans. Listening to the crew discussions and problem solving was an experience which I feel extremely privileged to have been part of. We had our share of problems but we also have had many successes.

Columbia is back now and we are preparing questions for the crew debriefing. On top of these questions to the crew, there are questions that need to be answered by both our engineering and science community. But this is all part of the mission. Did we end up with more questions than when we started? Perhaps. But this is what exploring is all about. I believe it is our nature to explore and try to find the answers.

Now that this mission is flown, I need to help close out a few RAHF issues while transferring over to the Space Station Biological Research Group. Many of us on the Neurolab team will also eventually transfer to the Space Station effort.

Before I close out, I want to salute the leaders in our team, Bruce, Angela, Chris M., Brad and Tony I.

That's all until next time
I have enjoyed sharing my thoughts with you ...

CB