Friday afternoon, Space shuttle Endeavour launched from Kennedy Space Center at 3:47 p.m eastern time, the second to last launch for the 30-year-old shuttle program. That means it will be the second-to-last time thousands of viewers will gather on beaches around Cape Canaveral, to crane their necks at the sky and wonder at the ear-popping, heart-stopping pleasure of the launch.
When Rep. Gabrielle Giffords watches her astronaut husband get started into space on Friday, two of her staff members who also stayed alive from the Tucson mass shooting will be there, too, thinking about how far they've all come in less than four months.
Ron Barber and Pam Simon reached Florida on Thursday with family and other staff members of Giffords to watch the space shuttle launch. They both spoke with The Associated Press shortly after landing.
"This just really makes you think about the human courage, and our willpower to go into space as a nation I think parallels Gabby's willpower to get well," said Simon, a community outreach coordinator for Giffords who survived after a bullet hit her in the chest and exited her hip.
When Rep. Gabrielle Giffords watches her astronaut husband get started into space on Friday, two of her staff members who also stayed alive from the Tucson mass shooting will be there, too, thinking about how far they've all come in less than four months.Ron Barber and Pam Simon reached Florida on Thursday with family and other staff members of Giffords to watch the space shuttle launch. They both spoke with The Associated Press shortly after landing.
"This just really makes you think about the human courage, and our willpower to go into space as a nation I think parallels Gabby's willpower to get well," said Simon, a community outreach coordinator for Giffords who survived after a bullet hit her in the chest and exited her hip.
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