NASA astronaut Chris Ferguson had already flown into space twice. But he remembers feeling “absolutely astounded” by how quickly Atlantis vaulted off the launch pad in July 2011, kicking off America’s final historic shuttle mission.
“You actually went into space upside-down. And when you’re upside-down, the pilot’s window — which is where I was sitting, in the right seat — you get to see the East Coast of the United States,” Ferguson recalled.
“And it’s a lot like flying an airplane. Only you were flying an airplane straight up — and you could feel that you were going faster and faster. And I’d never seen the East Coast that far away, or that far below me before,” he said.
“So it was just an incredible feeling of flying in space,” he said.
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The former NASA astronaut recalled his shuttle days to a standing room only crowd during a Thursday speech at the Denius Student Center at the Florida Institute of Technology. His speech addressed the impacts and challenges of commercial human spaceflight.
In July 2022, Ferguson was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame. Ferguson commanded STS-135 — the 135th and last mission of NASA’s 30-year shuttle program — which lifted Atlantis to a rendezvous with the International Space Station.
Previously, Ferguson flew in space as pilot of Atlantis on STS-115 in 2006 and commander of Endeavour on STS-126 in 2008. After his NASA career, the retired U.S. Navy captain served as a commercial astronaut and operations manager in The Boeing Co.’s space program.
The aerospace giant hopes to launch its years-delayed Starliner capsule with a crew for the first time this spring, joining SpaceX as private companies transporting astronauts to the ISS. Ferguson likened SpaceX and Boeing with Avis, in that they provide “rental rockets” that send people to space.
“Inexpensive. Every shuttle flight was a half billion dollars. It was $500 million to fly a shuttle. We were actually able to fly cargo and crew for a fraction of it. So ultimately, you’re really saving taxpayers well,” Ferguson told the crowd.
“And I think it was a little rough on NASA to sort of take in the fact that industry was going to take over the job they formerly did,” he said.
“But it allows also NASA to focus a lot more on exploration, rather than worry about getting stuff to (low-Earth orbit) and back,” he said.
Thursday, Ferguson presented framed plaques to Florida Tech seniors Karly Liebendorfer and Ruth Nichols, who are two of the 68 current Astronaut Scholars nationwide. The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation bestows these prestigious STEM scholarships.
Liebendorfer is a biomedical engineering major with minors in nanoscience/nanotechnology and chemistry. She participated in the yearlong Werner H. Kirsten Student Intern Program at the National Cancer Institute at Fort Detrick, Maryland.
A midfielder on the Panthers women’s lacrosse team, she was supported Thursday by a contingent of her teammates in the audience.
Nichols has been honored as an Astronaut Scholar two straight years. A double-major in astrobiology and applied mathematics, she is a past recipient of the university’s Outstanding Student of the Year and Distinguished Student Scholar awards.
She presented her research at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex this summer, where Atlantis is on public display.
For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space.
Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: NASA Atlantis commander recalls last liftoff during Florida Tech speech
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