Delighted I was one of the lucky 50 For Final Shuttle Landing Atlantis #NASATweetup #STS135 Landing attendees

Travel Tips – Nasa Tweetups

Started in 2009 but my First knowledge came in the spring. I registered for the Final Shuttle Launch Tweetup July 8, 2011 for a two-day event. STS-135 Final Shuttle Launch Tweetup – Atlantis described by Wikipedia.  My notice from Stephanie Schierholz, social media manager at NASA, stated I was on the WaitList came June 10, 2011 with the Finalized registration list June 24, 2011. June 24th came and went without being moved off the Waitlist. Resigned to watch on TV or the Internet and then a surprise.

NASA HQ Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Tweetup Shuttle Landing Surprise #1

July 15, 2011 Twitter was a fluttering about Shuttle Landing Tweetup and checking your email. Tweeting @nasatweetup and emailing the Contact person to find out YES I was one of the lucky 50 #NASATweetup  #STS135  Landing attendees. The email was resent.

I was official

Fifty people selected from the Waitlist. This was a no frills Tweetup. No tours. Just meet at Tweetup Registration, Ride Bus to a field near the Control Tower and Landing Strip. Return within 15 minutes of Landing. Responded by the July 16 deadline. It was a Go Houston!

Meet at O’Dark Thirty on the Morning of July 21, 2011 aka. 4 AM

Tweetup Shuttle Landing Surprise #2

July 19, 2011 mid-afternoon another Email – We could bring a guest to the July 21, 2011 event. We had to send their information. Of course I had to pick my fellow Travel Writer @jenniferhuber of Solo Travel Girl since she is like an excited and very happy little kid about all of this and the one who had told me about it in the Spring when she was confirmed for a prior Launch. Sending a Tweet and email to Jennifer generated her response immediately. Information sent to Stephanie by 7Pm with expectation to hear by Midday Wednesday.

July 19, 2011 Before 10Pm Jennifer is Confirmed Guest! Woot! Woot!

This will be like having a little kid along who is so excited and hyper about all that we will do.

Did not disappoint. Jennifer knew the way and offered to drive and pick me up. She had multiple cameras including IPhone, Flip Camera, Nikon and snacks, water, apples with a pick up for me at very O’Dark Thirty 2 am on July 21, 2011

LisaASullivan01 video on YouTube

From video We see the Tweetup Registration Building, Stephanie, Beth, and Chris on the Bus with the Buses in the Parking Lot.

Tweetup Registration Building: A very nondescript building off a two lane road in the middle of nowhere. I would have driven right past this building wandering in the dark. Danny Engesser has a photo on his Flickr Stream. Gosh it was super great to have a driver. We were in a Wildlife Refuge surrounding the whole Space Center area with lots of wild animals and alligators. Arriving at 3am we waited for the staff to show up. We picked up a Badge, a bag containing a 2011 calendar, STS-135 Space Shuttle Badge with the Astronauts names, Space Person out of foam, Guest Landing Button, Lanyard, Window Sticker, and a memo Book.

Bus to the Shuttle Landing

There was more waiting. We boarded the bus around 4:15 AM but did not drive anywhere for another 45 minutes to an hour until we got the GO. We sat in traffic. The convoy for the Shuttle and a gazillion buses for the Landing. Anxious, a lot anxious. Why oh Why get up at O’dark Thirty and were we going to get there in time. Chris a NASA employee doing volunteer work entertained us with facts about what was happening on the shuttle as they prepared to land. Very interesting! I was worried. I did not want to be late. Anxious more. Yes I am a putts when it comes to being on time for important events on a schedule.

STS -135 Patch

From NASA Press Release: The STS-135 patch represents the space shuttle Atlantis embarking on its mission to resupply the International Space Station. Atlantis is centered over elements of the NASA emblem depicting how the space shuttle has been at the heart of NASA for the last 30 years. It also pays tribute to the entire NASA and contractor team that made possible all the incredible accomplishments of the space shuttle. Omega, the last letter in the Greek alphabet, recognizes this mission as the last flight of the Space Shuttle Program.

Finally we arrived

There are a lot of people already there with less than 15 minutes to landing. OMG! Where to stand? It was very dark out. What if anything would we see. I loved the commentary being broadcasted by Mission Control NASA’s Capsule Communicator (capcom) Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore – Everything was a script on how this was the last time they would do this or that with education and sadness at this phase of the Space Program ends. My pictures are way too dark to really see anything. The Video I did is good for sound but not much for picture. I have been hunting on the Internet to find some decent shots and reasonable video length to add here. Found some incredible photojournalists along the way.

Mexico Video by  NeoCastillos on YouTube shows Reentry Trail of Space Shuttle Atlantis

Final Descent to Kennedy Space Center

I am amazed about space even today. Having watched the Moon Landing on a small Black and White TV and now we can watch on a computer streaming video in color is incredibly amazing and wonderful. The fact that we can send this humongous rocket into space to come back as a very humongous airplane and land on a specific landing spot is enough to boggle the mind. People have a hard time keeping it between the ditches when they drive and here we have this machine flying in at very, very, very, fast speeds to land right in front of our eyes. A very Bright light was at the end of the runway.

Nasa TV Video

Double Sonic Booms as Space Shuttle Atlantis enters Earth’s Atmosphere are first the Wings entering and then the Tail. Chris explained this on the bus. It seems these are louder in Orlando. No way to compare. Listen to the video past the landing to hear the wonderful ongoing commentary about history. Atlantis landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center after 200 orbits around Earth and a journey of 5,284,862 miles on STS-135

Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

When the shuttle landed we could hear the commentary, clapping, cheering, but not see it until close to the end with the chute open as it quickly in less than a minute went past us. It was nice! Wish it was lighter as the schedule had been for 7 something the day before but this was landing before 6 AM – everyone quickly dispersed after. We headed back to our bus taking more night pictures that are blurry (at least mine are) or yellow or light shine but they will remind me of the morning and the event and the incredibleness of being there.

Social Media

A technology connecting people around the world. People flew in from many places across this wide country to attend this last minute event of Tweetup Landing. We were the 23th Tweetup but the first Tweetup Landing. Using Social Media to communicate with others from around the World. Talking in less than 140 characters. Group meetings online by hashtag #nasatweetup where eventually meeting IRL in real life with a kindred spirit. Going with someone I met online was priceless. Meeting any  of the tweeps in Real Life (IRL) is always priceless. Love the connections!

STS-135/Atlantis
Launch Date: July 8
Launch Time: 11:29 a.m. EDT
Landing Date: July 21
Landing Time: 5:56 a.m. EDT

The Final Space Shuttle Mission: STS-135

• If necessary search for the title above because there was not a direct link to it but it will go into the archives and is full of great links and facts to other part of this Final Space Shuttle Mission.
• Final Space Shuttle #Atlantis landed 42 years to the date of the first Moonwalk: Neil Armstrong  July 21, 1969 #STS135 #NASAtweetup

Social Media NASA Tweetup online

• @NASAtweetup, and the entire STS-135 crew on Twitter:
• Commander Chris Ferguson: @Astro_Ferg
• Pilot Doug Hurley: @Astro_Doug
• Mission Specialist Sandy Magnus: @Astro_Sandy
• Mission Specialist Rex Walheim: @Astro_Rex
• @schierholz – NASA Social Media Manager
• @BethBeck – NASA Space Operations Outreach Manager
• http://twitter.com/NASATweetup/sts-135-landing
• Twitter Hashtags to Follow
   
  • #NASATweetup
  • #STS135

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Partial Infrared Landing by Lon Seidman YouTube Video

Nature Video Channel YouTube Video

Writers, Journalists, Travel Writers, Photojournalist Stories or Reports

• Report from Launch Day of STS-135 Final Shuttle
• unforgettable Space Shuttle Pictures from National Geographic
• Another Persons thoughts on the end and beginning space
• Twitter as Real Life
• Orlando Sentinel Writeup on Atlantis Landing ending 30 years of space shuttle flight
• Space Shuttle Flash Mob at NASA Langley doing the Shuttle Shuffle
• Solo Travel Girl writes about her adventure of the Shuttle Landing
• Solo Travel Girl Video with sound of Commentary before, during and after Landing interspersed with photo captures of tweets

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Eileen Lud­wig, travel writer of Free­lance Tourist brings to the world insights about places to travel, dis­counts, Stay­ca­tions, Restau­rant Reviews, movie reviews, and fas­ci­nat­ing tibits. She is owner of three other sites: Pho­tog­ra­phy, Web Design School, and Social Media School Each are in dif­fer­ent stages of devel­op­ment and evolution.

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