Fly-by

Discovery just landed safely in Florida after - gasp! shock! worry! - flying over a good portion of the United States and even a little bit of Canada.

It was interesting and a little frustrating to hear the media harping on the fact that the mission changed to fly a descending approach that brought the shuttle over the heart of the country (instead of the usual ascending approach that takes the shuttle mostly over the ocean before crossing Mexico, the Caribbean, and possibly the Gulf Coast). Somewhere along the way, the media got the impression that we don't usually fly descending opportunities because we want to avoid populated areas -- but that's just not true. We don't usually fly descending opportunites from high latitudes because there are high altitude clouds that form that aren't totally understood. Plus, you have to remember that the shuttle can't just come home to Florida any time it chooses -- there are only a couple chances per day, and ascending opportunities usually fit better into the flight plan and crew schedule.

But this mission did something different, and the media jumped on it. The first descending opportunity -- the first landing to cross a significant part of the country -- since the Columbia accident. Gasp! Shock! Worry!

Pam Melroy put it best yesterday when she was asked by a reporter for her thoughts on the descending approach. To paraphase her answer: "Well, I hope a lot of people get a great view as we fly by!"

I hope a lot of people did.