Politics & Government

Emotions Swell as the Discovery Space Shuttle Lifts Off One Last Time

They came to make memories for a lifetime—and, perhaps, ignite a future career.

Verna Fimbres and Stacy Rademacher involuntarily held their breaths in the dark as they watched the launch of STS-133 space shuttle Discovery on the big screen, through the countdown and spectacle of its rockets igniting.

"Lift off!" some said excitedly.

Applause broke out all around the room, from the delighted children who packed the front of NASA's Exploration Center to the adults, among the 150 people who gathered at NASA Ames to watch a simulcast of the final launch of a NASA Space Shuttle Thursday afternoon.

Find out what's happening in Los Altoswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Discovery flew onward, one minute, two minutes, upward and upward, applause breaking out each time as its booster rockets fell away.

“It was almost like being there,” said Verna Fimbres of Mountain View. Being with so many people to watch it together brought the excitement into a visceral experience, she said.

Find out what's happening in Los Altoswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

They both had tears in their eyes. They felt proud. And relieved, Stacy Rademacher said. The adults were old enough to remember watching the Challenger tragedy in 1986 as it unfolded on live TV, exploding and breaking apart 73 seconds into its flight.

But for their children, it was about wonder.

“I liked how the smoke came all over,” said Tatum Rademacher, 13, transfixed by the lift off. The Blach Intermediate School student went with her mother, Stacy; her 7-year-old brother, Cole; and her neighbors, 10-year-old Will Fimbres and mother, Verna. Besides watching Tom Hanks in Apollo 13, she said, she had never seen a space ship take off.

Valerie Milanes, 11, of Campbell, came with three of her best friends from Moreland Middle School, Alina Madera, Natalie Niemeyer and Kristen Miller. Her mother, Lisa Milanes, had surpirsed her with a special “staycation,” and the NASA launch was on the list. They had mimicked floating in space as they mugged pictures, oohed at the space rock, stuck their faces in the stand-up cut-outs of astronauts for yet more pictures. But the launch? 

Capturing the emotion of the moment, Valerie said simply—"Cool!"


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here