Originally published http://absolutspaceguy.posterous.com.
(JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, Texas) — Lying on my back strapped in with a five-point harness preparing to lift-off in the space shuttle was the highlight of my second NASA tweetup at the Johnson Space Center this week.
After viewing over thirty space shuttle launches from the Kennedy Space Center I was ready to take the ride of a lifetime.
Strapped into the same space shuttle simulator in which every astronaut since STS-1 have used since 1981, the four of us waited for the countdown to reach zero as we rested on our backs and the excitement began to build.
Every space shuttle crew sat on the same flight deck in which I sat. And now it was my turn.
Minutes earlier, Michael Grabois — who has worked in the simulator operations for over a decade to support the space shuttle crews — gave us a detailed briefing on what to expect and what he and his team do during a sim.
As the final space shuttle flight soared over Johnson and the Houston landscape 240 miles above, I awaited my own launch as Mission Specialist 2 – the flight engineer.