Prologue: The Bright Stuff of Dreams

08 July 2011 – Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida

Jeff Knox stepped off the shuttle bus and turned around.

Next, he watched his daughter, Sabrina, bounce off the NASA bus. Her raven ponytail swished from side to side with each step while coming through the back of her Boston Bruins hat. Jeff grimaced at the thought of the boys who would soon swarm around his increasingly pretty little girl.

Jeff had scored tickets to watch the launch of STS-135, the last Space Shuttle mission, from within the confines of Kennedy Space Center rather than somewhere more distant.

A partnership between the Nashoba News Corporation and the Devens Regional High School Free Press meant his eldest son, Alex, held valid press credentials. NASA upgraded their visitor passes to press passes, allowing them access to the press observation gantry at Complex 39, three miles from the launch pad.

Allison Newbury, PhD, whispering a word or two in people’s ears hadn’t hurt either. She’d been one of Jeff’s high school girlfriends. Allison was also the project lead on the astronomy package being launched today.

“Why are we wasting time at this place again, Dad?” Ryan Knox griped as the family stepped off the bus.

“Ryan, we’ve explained this to you three times. This is history, the final shuttle launch. We explored the space program’s history here during the last two days. Pull your attention away from your phone for half a second, and you might learn something. Like, where did that all-important phone’s technology start?”

“Right...” his middle child snorted and said in a sotto voice.

Jeff ignored his son’s sullen response. Ryan’s attitude hadn’t been an issue until the middle of the hockey season this spring. Jeff figured all the testosterone flooding Ryan’s body during puberty was the reason for the change.

Alex, Ryan’s twin, hadn’t changed much emotionally. However, physically, Alex was now three inches taller than his brother. They were fraternal twins, not identical, and Alex and Ryan had always been different. Jeff thanked God for that, especially now.

Jeff and Keiko led their family up the stairs to the platform that overlooked Launch Complex 39. Alex set up his camera and tripod to record the mission’s liftoff. Ryan unfolded his chair and sulked. Sabrina and Jeff looked around, taking in the view. He sighed. Alex walked over and joined them after setting up the camera.

“I’ve wanted to come here since I was a boy,” Jeff said in a low voice to Alex and Sabrina. “Touring the Space Center these last two days has been great, but watching a launch live? I’ve been dreaming of that since I can remember.”

“Yeah, the Mercury program must have been cool to see back when you were a kid, huh, Dad?”

Jeff rolled his eyes at Sabrina’s question. His daughter already used sarcasm far too well.

“Shaddap, kid,” they all said simultaneously.

Jeff glared at Sabrina and Alex while his youngest and oldest laughed. He used that phrase often – too often, it seemed. Jeff sighed and shook his head. He turned away to set up his chair.

NASA had scheduled the launch for 11:26 a.m. – a little over an hour and a half from now. The mission clock showed only forty-five minutes remaining in the countdown. ‘Planned holds’ built into the countdown were the reason for the difference.

As a result, most of the family used the time to discuss various space-related topics, ranging from orbital mechanics to life aboard the spacecraft to the physiologic stresses of spaceflight, to fill the time. Ryan continued to stare at his phone instead. He was more than a little miffed that the family wasn’t somewhere he could at least watch a baseball game or two.

Most of the family rose from their chairs at T-minus nine minutes to get a clear view of the launch. Unfortunately, the gantry rail blocked part of it while seated. The countdown restarted after the final planned hold.