from space shuttle columbia as columbia continues to orbit the earth at an altitude of about 150 statute miles. columbia, houston, laurel, you re loud and clear on air to ground one. -the second day, i drive in to work kind of euphoric because another launch, another successful launch. you know, the flight director s office and the mission control center in houston is working with them. they re everything s good. i walked into the analysis lab to start reviewing film from the launch. we started the film at the beginning. [ rockets roaring ] we re watching this liftoff. you see the roll maneuvers, beautiful blue sky. we do the normal review, and we start pointing out all the things that we normally see. and we got to 81 seconds, and then we see this object come off of the external tank area. it moved down, and then striked the vehicle and explode into a white cloud. my reaction was, oh, shit. - you ll always find me sunny side up you ll always find me sunny side
eating and working and. going to the bathroom and. .seeing earth from space. -well, actually, things are going really well. and, uh, things have been working well. columbia is in great shape and working absolutely perfectly. we had a great ride to orbit. -after the launch, we came home for the next 16 days. we knew that the crew was going to be in space. by that point, i mean, i turned on nasa tv here and just started watching the mission. -next up for the blue shift was a blood draw experiment here. here, laurel is telling mike that this isn t going to hurt her a bit. -i was just thrilled for them. they were they were doing great.
After the launch, we came home for the next 16 days. We knew that the crew was going to be in space. By that point, i mean, i turned on Nasa Tv here and just started watching the mission. Next up for the Blue Shift was a Blood Draw Experiment here. Here, laurel is telling mike that this isnt going to hurt her a bit. I was just thrilled for them. They were they were doing great. Theres pride, excitement. But more than anything, i just loved listening to ricks voice. I loved listening to him talk back and forth with mission control. As a kid, it mostly just felt. Exciting and new and just kind of made your world feel more magical and bigger. I was just like, yeah, thats just awesome. Space is so cool