Gregory M. Ledet

I’ve been thinking about this for a while now.  As a huge fan of science and technology, as well as the space program, I think I’m going to get a tattoo commemorating the Space Shuttle program.  I’ve talked to a few people about it and I’ve gotten some weird comments.  One person wanted to know why the Shuttle and not Apollo or even Mercury.  That’s actually pretty simple for me.  The Shuttle program is what I know.  It’s been the manned space program for the vast majority of my life.  I was born in November of 1976 and the first test flights of the Shuttle started in February of 1977.  This has been the only space program my generation has known.

The shuttle program first launched on April 12, 1981 with Columbia and STS-1.  I was 4 years old at the time of the first launch.  I still remember very vividly the Challenger disaster in 1986 (STS-51-L) and thinking at the time that man would never go to space again.  I didn’t know about Apollo 1 at the time… hell I had just turned 9 years old a couple of months before.

I was glued to the TV on February 1, 2003 when Columbia and the crew of STS-107 burned up upon reentry.  I had tears in my eyes for those 7 people and their families.  I knew that they shuttle would fly again, seeing as I had already experienced the Challenger disaster, but little did I know that it would cause NASA to scrap the program in 2010 in favor of Orion.

The Space Shuttle has been a huge part of all of our lives.  The launch of Hubble during STS-31 and the subsequent servicing missions concluding with STS-125 have benefited all of humanity.  I am so jealous of John Grunsfeld and Megan McArthur for being the final 2 people to touch Hubble.  That one scientific instrument has taught us more about the cosmos than anything else in history.  Hubble is just 6 of the total of 134 Shuttle missions.

So, in memory of the Shuttle program, I think I’m going to get a tattoo of STS-133′s mission patch.  STS-133 is going to be the final flight of the Space Shuttle (STS-134 will actually fly before STS-133) and with it, it’ll be the end of an era.  I don’t think that NASA has picked the final mission patch, but I do know that they were down to 15 finalist back in January.  I have seen those 15 finalist and they were all cool and something I wouldn’t mind having on my body forever.

Another idea was to get the Shuttle Program patch tattooed on me.  I have nothing on the right side of my chest, and that’s where the mission patch is located on the astronaut’s suits, so that’s where I’ll likely get something.  I need to get something to remember the 14 people that lost their lives trying to improve our knowledge of the cosmos.  I need to get something to commemorate all of the astronauts that have flown into space aboard the Shuttle and the countless support people on the ground that have made the program possible.

Sure, to some people the Shuttle will just be another craft in the list that went to space, but to me it’s something different. Mercury got into space, Apollo got us to the Moon, but the Shuttle has taught us more than we could have ever imagined.  Because of that, I owe it to every astronaut, engineer, and even janitor that has been a part of the Shuttle Program to carry forward what they have done for all of humanity and to get something permanent that will stay with me forever.

EDIT

I was just informed that they chose the final mission patch for STS-133, and it just so happens to be the one I really liked.  This will be my new tattoo.