CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- They walk in their father's footsteps, building a future in space for all humankind.

They are the Shinholster's: Tommy Jr., Barrett and Jason -- sons of Tommy Sr., a 34-year Kennedy Space Center (KSC) veteran who is close to retirement.

Quiet, polite and clearly determined to make their father proud, this second generation of KSC workers represent the heart and soul of the thousands who prepare space shuttles for launch, doing critical jobs that most people don't even think about when they dream of spaceflight.

The Shinholster family, all employees of United Space Alliance at Kennedy Space Center, gather for a Father's Day 2000 family picture in front of the Vehicle Assembly Building. From left: Tommy Jr., Tommy Sr., Joann, Barrett and Jason. SPACE.com photo.

Blessed with their father's mechanical aptitude, the Shinholsters -- including their mom and dad -- all work at KSC for United Space Alliance, taking advantage of the handy skills they honed growing up and spending weekend family time tinkering with everything from lawn mowers to motorcycles to dad's latest drag racer.

And now today marks the first Father's Day that all three sons of Tommy Sr. are working at America's rocket ranch -- a Father's Day present for the new millennium the patriarch is not bashful in saying he's looked forward to for many years.

"It feels good," Shinholster told SPACE.com this week, beaming with pride and love for his grown boys. "Now I can retire, knowing that they've got a good job and I don't have to worry about them. They are out here and they can handle it."

During separate interviews in their space center workplaces, all three sons volunteered their father is a tough act to follow.

"My dad has always been a hard worker and I don't know that me or any of my brothers will ever be able to keep up with him," said first born Tommy Jr., 34, who works as a technician on the giant crawler transporters that move the space shuttle out to the launch pad. "To be honest, I try to make sure that I would do everything that he wanted me to do. I want to do as well or better then he did."

"There's a lot of people that know him because he's been out here a long time," added youngest son Jason, 23, who works on the space shuttle's heat-protection tiles in the shuttle hangar. "Everyone speaks very highly of dad."

But it's middle child Barrett, 31, who may have the toughest job living up to his father's legacy.

Barrett works on the crane crew in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), part of the team responsible for lifting and stacking the shuttle components together before they head out to the launch pad. It's the same team Tommy Sr. has worked with the past three decades.

"I hear a lot of stories about my dad from these guys and a lot of them have worked with him for years," Barrett said. "I've just got to try and do the best I can."

Having joined the crew just last October, Barrett hasn't accumulated enough experience yet to lift one of NASA's $2 billion orbiters.

Nonetheless, the time will come soon enough and when it does, Barrett said he's sure his experienced father -- who lifted the first two space shuttles -- will be there watching him and supporting him all the way.

"I've got a lot to learn first," Barrett said.

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One father's story

Born just before the United States was thrust into World War 2, Tommy Shinholster grew up in Central Florida, living in Gainesville and working in a fish market with his mother to help make ends meet, according to son Jason.

Tommy Sr. learned early on what it meant to put in a full day of work and not squander the rewards, his sons said.

"He taught us when we were little that when you get up and you had stuff to do, you did it and everybody did it together," Jason said. "He had to work ever since he was little and he just worked and worked. I guess he wanted better than what they had had."

A couple of years after graduating from high school, Tommy Sr. wound up in Jacksonville working with a construction crew that won a contract to help build Launch Complex 34, the site where NASA was to launch its Saturn 1 and 1-B rockets, as well as where the Apollo 1 fire would claim the lives of three astronauts in 1967.

Before making the trip south to what was then called Cape Kennedy, Tommy Sr. said everyone warned him about how bad it was to work at the Cape and don't get any bright ideas about joining the space race.

"When I got down here and the job was over, I said you guys can go back, I'm staying. So I quit the company, went to work down here and got another union job, and I started working on the VAB when they poured the slab," he said. "To me this was the best place to work and the safest place to work of any place I had ever been."

His career at KSC officially began in 1966 with Bendix, which held the contract then for operating the VAB's massive doors, cranes and moveable platforms. He spent the first four years operating and maintaining the doors, before being moved over to help operate the cranes.

As the Apollo moon landings came to an end, Tommy met his current wife Joann and they were married in 1972. Like the Shinholster men, she still works at KSC for United Space Alliance, so all five family members are part of the space community.

Tommy Sr. soon found himself planning for the space shuttle program and eventually lifting the first two space shuttles -- although he doesn't remember if that was Enterprise for the fit-check tests and Columbia on STS 1, or Columbia for STS 1 and STS 2. His efforts during the years have been recognized by many, including earning the coveted Silver Snoopy award given by the astronauts.

Revealing he has one year to go before retirement, his biggest reward has come during the past few months when he was able to see all three sons earn jobs at the space center. Tommy Jr. and Barrett began last fall, while Jason started just two weeks ago -- although the oldest and youngest boys have spent plenty of time at KSC and nearby Patrick Air Force Base working on a construction crew for an uncle.

"I pushed them to come this way and they wanted to come this way, but I told them I don't know if I'll ever live long enough to see all of you work out here," he said. "I just felt that if they could work out here it would be a plus for them, and for me too."

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Growing up with dad and rockets

Living across the Indian River from the Kennedy Space Center and being able to walk outside your back door to watch a Saturn 5 carry astronauts to the moon or a space shuttle fly into Earth orbit, it was probably inevitable the Shinholster boys would become a part of the space program some day.

"They knew their dad worked hard and they felt like they wanted to be a part of the program and be able to accomplish something for the space program," Joann recalled. "They just always thought it would be neat to work out here."

Each of the Shinholster brothers said they remember being interested in the space program as children and especially remember those days when they could visit the places where their dad worked during a tour or open house.

Barrett particularly remembers the classic early signs of becoming a space cadet: "I just liked to be around the stuff. Ever since I was a little kid I had a stack of books in my closet at the house of nothing but aerospace, missiles and fighter planes."

And although there is some acknowledgment from these men about noble goals and the human spirit of exploration and high adventure, the principal attraction to the idea of working at the space center for all three brothers was the fact their dad worked there all his life. Nothing more complicated than that.

"He raised us working out here and it's been good to him, and it's been good to me while I've been here." said Tommy Jr.

"I wanted a better job and this place treated my dad pretty well over the years," said Barrett.

"I grew up with my dad being out here and just looking across the river at this place. It seems like the best place to be," said Jason.

Echoing his three son's sentiments almost word for word -- a sign of a close family -- Tommy Sr. came to the same conclusion when asked why he thought all three boys would want to grow up and work for the space program at KSC, instead of becoming an astronaut or a scientist or some other profession that would take them to another place.

"I'm sure they sat back and saw me work out of here and saw that it's been good for me," the father said. "Everything they've heard me say about the place, it made them want to come out here and see what's going on."