They may not have the traditional fixings for a Thanksgiving
dinner, but the seven astronauts returning to Earth onboard space shuttle
Atlantis are set to show their thanks with a memento-stuffed locker for
those who made their mission a success.
The STS-129 crew hit the road for the holiday
Wednesday, departing from the International Space Station (ISS) after six days
delivering spare parts to extend the outpost's on-orbit lifespan. They
will spend today and Thanksgiving day circling the planet as they prepare their
ship for a return to Earth on Friday, weather permitting.
This isn't the first shuttle crew to spend Thanksgiving in
space: Seven prior missions dating back to 1985 have spent turkey day in orbit,
many complete
with the turkey. The NASA food lab has, at the commander's
request, prepared special meals with thermostabilized smoked turkey, freeze-dried
cornbread stuffing and spicy green beans, as well as condiment-size packs of
cranberry sauce.
Atlantis' commander, Charles "Scorch" Hobaugh,
however, decided he and his crew would forego the festive foods for whatever
was on the regular menu.
"Whatever is in flight day [11] 'Meal B' that our
wonderful food people packed for us, that's what we're eating. And actually, I
guess it's 'Meal C,'" explained Hobaugh during a news conference held
from space on Tuesday.
"Thanksgiving isn't all about what you eat, it's the
people you spend it with. This has become my second family and of course, my
main family is back home," he added.
There is a third "family" that Hobaugh and his
crewmates have included as part of their mission, at least vicariously: the
organizations, educational institutions and community societies that
supported each of them individually and together as a crew. For them, the
astronauts have packed small souvenirs in the mission's Official
Flight Kit (OFK).
"Trying to find things you can pay back organizations
and outfits that either have special meaning to me or just do something special
for the community or the U.S. people in general can be hard," said
Hobaugh in a preflight interview with collectSPACE.com.
Every shuttle mission carries the duffle-bag-size OFK, in
which crew members can carry 20 small items alongside mementos packed by
NASA. The package of space-flown souvenirs is not Thanksgiving-specific,
but it does share the theme of the holiday: giving thanks.
For family, friends and fraternities
Hobaugh, a Marine Corps colonel, looked to his history in
the military to chose some of the items he flew. In addition to carrying a
banner for the U.S. Naval Academy, he also has an item with relevance to a
fellow student.
"My roommate from the Academy of four years, a great
friend of mine that I hardly get to see but when I do it is like long-lost
brothers, he's the commanding officer of the USS Bonhomme Richard, so I am
flying up a ship patch for them," said the shuttle commander.
Atlantis' pilot, Barry "Butch" Wilmore was
similarly inspired to take mementos from his alma mater. Completing both his
undergraduate and Master's degrees from Tennessee Technical University in
Cookeville, Wilmore made sure the school was well represented in the STS-129
OFK.
In addition to a gold medallion for the school's College of
Education and a purple-and-gold placard for the Electrical Engineering
college, Wilmore packed a thumb flash drive and a plush eagle mascot for
the university.
Wilmore's eagle is joined in the OFK by a stuffed-toy blue
spider from University of Richmond alumnus and mission specialist Leland
Melvin.
Melvin also stowed several pins and the front page of local
newspapers for the Commonwealth of Virginia capital city. An amateur songwriter
in his own right, Melvin also flew a family ancestry chart for musician
Quincy Jones, a friend who provided a "wake-up call" song during Melvin's earlier
shuttle flight.
Bobby Satcher, one of this mission's three spacewalkers,
also became the first orthopedic surgeon in space. Though he left the tools of
the trade at home -- "We're not taking any joint replacement
equipment," he told collectSPACE.com
-- he did represent his profession on Atlantis. In addition to
"tweeting" from orbit with the screen name "Astro_Bones,"
he said he had a banner from the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons,
"so they are definitely represented."
For fellow spacewalker Randy Bresnik, packing items was a
family affair. His grandfather, Albert Bresnik, had been Amelia Earhart's
personal photographer and so he flew
a scarf that had belonged to the famed aviator, as well as a
photograph taken of her by his grandfather.
Bresnik also recognized the next generation of his family,
his daughter Abigail Mae who was born during the mission hours after he made
his first spacewalk. The next day, he showed off a pink
onesie decorated with the mission logo, a design he had a hand in
creating.
"If you think about it, you are designing something
that is part of a legacy," Bresnik said, referring to the long history of
space shuttle mission patches. "I think we ended up with a pretty
unique patch that people really appreciate for its originality."
More than 600 of the STS-129 patches were stowed in the
flight kit for later presentation to NASA employees and the contractors who
worked on the mission.
A sporting tradition
It wouldn't be a proper Thanksgiving without the toss of a
pigskin, and thanks to Wilmore, a former college football outside linebacker,
there's one aboard Atlantis, too...
Continue reading
about football in space and browse the full STS-129 Official Flight
Kit manifest at collectSPACE.com.
Copyright 2009 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.
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