Walking on the Moon with Harrison Schmitt of Apollo 17
"And right at the instant that we lifted off all we had on the communication link was static... We couldn't hear a thing. And of course Cernan as the commander was getting very upset that he couldn't hear the ground talking to him and I said 'I didn't do anything!'"
Read MoreGo For It! (JSC135 Tweetup – Part 1)
Sitting in the cockpit of this simulator would be identical to being in the cockpit of the real shuttle - the motion based simulator even tilts up 90 degrees to put you on your back for launch. Since STS-135 was now in orbit and the last shuttle mission to fly, this simulator was going to be decommissioned only a few days after the JSC Tweetup. To me, this was the closest I was ever going to get to being an astronaut, so I felt like it was a now or never opportunity.
Read MoreAl Worden at KSC – May 2, 2010
"On my third trip out I stood up on the outside of the service module – you figure we’re 50,000 miles this side of the moon and 200,000 miles from Earth – hooked my feet to the foot restraints and stood up and just looked around and – unbelievable site, I could see both the Earth and the Moon in the same phase. Really, really weird place to be, you know."
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