Message posted by Richard on July 22, 2011 at 9:41:14 PST:

It is indeed. And today there is the crew return event at Ellington field. If I get any decent photos I will post them somewhere.

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From: Coats, Michael {Jsc-Center-Director}(JSC-AA111)
Sent: Friday, July 22, 2011 9:50 AM
To: JSC-DL-JSC-Civil-Servants; JSC-DL-JSC-Contractors
Subject: Crew Return/Shuttle Celebration

STS-135 put an exclamation point on a very successful program. Atlantis' 12-day mission to the International Space Station delivered the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module filled with supplies and spare parts.. The mission also flew the Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM), an experiment designed to demonstrate and test the tools, technologies and techniques needed to robotically refuel satellites in space. The mission went extremely well and now that we have our crew back on the ground we will have many opportunities to celebrate. I was glad that so many of you were able to come out to view the final landing early Thursday morning at the Wheels Stop event. Many of you also attended the splashdown happy hour at the Gilruth yesterday afternoon.

I look forward to seeing you at the historic final Shuttle Crew Return at Ellington Field this afternoon in Hangar 990. Gates will open at 3:30 and the program will begin at 4 p.m. You’ll want to arrive a little early as we are expecting many guests, family members and media.

While we’ve had several events this week to participate in this important milestone, we’re also planning a larger Shuttle celebration. I know that your families have endured your many long work hours and time away to support Shuttle missions so we need to thank them as well. Mark your calendars now for Saturday, August 27 when we will have a late afternoon/early evening function at JSC. This will be a time for employees, families and friends to share in your many successes. You’ll be hearing more about the event in the weeks ahead.

For the past 30 years the Shuttle Program has served as a shining example of American ingenuity and determination. At JSC, among our many core competencies are designing, developing and operating spacecraft. I truly believe we will be doing that here, long into the future. We have some bright days ahead, which will yield incredible technical achievements. I look forward to watching your continued success.

Thanks again to all of you for a truly great mission, and an outstanding conclusion to the Space Shuttle Program!

Mike

In Reply to: Re: Space Shuttle Program Newsletter Commemorative Edition 1 & 2 posted by Rodeo65 on July 21, 2011 at 16:27:06 PST:

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