STS-90 Landing Picture Perfect & Gators Roar!

An e-mail from Brad Berch to his Neurolab team
May 3, l998

To all,

Just wanted to share with you some of the excitement, sights and sounds of today's landing of the STS-90 Neurolab Mission and to thank each of you for your hard work and dedication that has made this mission possible!

Today's weather could not have been more perfect for a space shuttle landing. With miles of visibility, low humidity, and winds of less than 5 miles per hour it was truly a perfect day.

Many of us on the team met near the space shuttle runway and waited anxiously for the twin sonic booms that signify that the space shuttle is coming home. As we waited, a very large Florida alligator was seen basking in the sun close to our viewing area. Then something uncanny occurred as the space shuttle broke the sound barrier and the sonic booms shook the area. Our gator friend arched his back and began loudly roaring back to this intruder that dared to wake or challenge him!

As we watched, the space shuttle descended for a picture perfect landing and the alligator continued to arch his back, thrash his tail and growl at the Space Shuttle Columbia! This was definitely a landing day image and feeling of exuberance that we are not likely to forget!

At the present time, everything is going well with our destow operations with rodents and crickets returned to Hangar L, Toadfish back in the SSPF and CEBAS back in the O&C building. Some of our stowage hardware has been returned to our labs with more to come over the next 24-48 hours.

While a good deal of work remains to be done, I wanted to send out a quick thank you for your perseverance, dedication, and willingness to get the job done and to do it right!

It has been a real pleasure working with all of you on this mission and I look forward to returning back to ARC on May 11.

Have a great Neurolab Day!
Sincerely, Brad