Winning Songs Played For Space Shuttle Crew

NASA announced one of their most popular contests ever earlier this year and today the contest officially came to a close as the winner was given his prize. The contest was all about writing a song to honor and remember Space Shuttle Endeavor and the once in a lifetime prize has having the winning song played for the Space Shuttle crew just before the mission ended.

The winner of this incredibly contest was Jorge Otero from Spain along with his band; the song is titled “Sunrise Number 1”. Just as the contest called for the song was made to commemorate the final mission of Space Shuttle Endeavor. The shuttle crew will be hearing the winning song just before they re-enter Earth’s atmosphere, drawing a close to the final mission.

The second place song was also given a very prestigious award today. “Dreams you Give” by Brian Plunkett from Missouri was played as a wakeup song for the Space Shuttle Endeavor crew this morning. Neither of the contest winners have commented on the prize though it is surely something they will never forget; especially given how rare it is for such a prize to be available.

Space Shuttle Endeavor is scheduled to finish the current mission Tuesday afternoon when it lands back home at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. There will be one more space shuttle mission before the program ends; it is currently scheduled to take place in the next two months.

Giffords Attends Space Shuttle Launch

Just one week into the New Year Arizona Representative, Gabrielle Giffords, was shot in an attempted assassination. Through the past 5 months she has been undergoing substantial surgeries and treatments to help expedite her recovery and today Giffords showed the best sign of recovery yet.

What Giffords did today is gaining all sorts of press conference not because of the miraculous recovery but simply because she was able to attend Space Shuttle Endeavor’s final launch. Giffords’ husband, Mark Kelly, was commanding Endeavor as it lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for the last time and up until recently Giffords’ doctors were not sure if she would be able to attend.

The original schedule for Endeavor’s final launch would have made it much more difficult for Giffords to attend but after nearly 2 weeks of delays she had absolutely no trouble making to Florida to see the launch in person. Overall doctors say it is a very good sign that Giffords has recovered enough to accomplish such a feat.

Of course recovery is not over for Representative Giffords either. Doctors are planning another incredibly important surgery which will replace a large portion of her skull that was removed. At this time doctors have not yet chosen an exact surgery date though overall most medical analysts agree that Giffords’ long term outlook for recovery looks very good. 5 months ago many doctors and medical experts believed she had little chance of survival but she has proven them wrong today by showing how much she has recovered.

Friday’s Shuttle Launch Looking Good

NASA is planning to launch Space Shuttle Endeavor on its final mission this Friday and currently the outlook is good for the flight. This is scheduled to be the second to last space shuttle launch ever and as a result there is quite a bit of attention surrounding the upcoming launch. Even better news is that Representative Giffords will reportedly be attending the launch.

Giffords’ husband is one of the crewmembers for this final launch of Space Shuttle Endeavor and ever since the tragic shooting doctors were unsure if Giffords would be able to attend to watch her husband leave for space. Fortunately she has been recovering remarkably well and as a result will be attending the launch.

Besides Giffords’ miraculous recovery this shuttle launch is also gaining plenty of attention thanks to the fact that it is brining the NASA Space Shuttle era to an end. Currently there is no alternative launch vehicle so obviously NASA and others are sad to see the project coming to an end.

NASA is also hopeful that the experiments being conducted during this mission will reveal some critical information about the universe and how it works. The flight is scheduled to last 14 days which will be spent primarily at the international space station where they will be conducting various experiments, upgrades, and tests. No word on exactly when the final shuttle mission will occur though it will likely draw even more attention as the space shuttle program officially draws to a close.

Astronauts Will Wear Giffords Bracelet in Space

Earlier this year the political world was struck by a large shooting in Arizona; in the shooting Arizona Representative, Gabrielle Giffords, was shot and wounded severely. For the past few months she has been recovering well and doctors have hope that she will be able to go to her husband’s upcoming Space Shuttle mission.

As a sign of support Giffords’ husband even managed to get the crew of the upcoming Space Shuttle Endeavor mission to wear a special bracelet. The bracelet is light blue and simply says “Gabby” but the support being offered is truly astounding; there are also talks that the bracelet may be offered for public sale to raise funds for charity though at this time the possibility has not materialized yet.

The upcoming flight will carry a standard sized crew, all of which will be wearing the bracelet to remember the horrible shooting. Unfortunately at this time it is still unknown whether or not Giffords will actually be able to attend the shuttle launch and doctors say they may not be able to say for sure until the launch gets closer.

Giffords’ husband, Mark Kelly, says he fully intends to continue with the mission as scheduled as it is the right thing to do; reports indicate that Giffords has expressed the same sentiment for her husband. The exact date of the upcoming launch is also unknown due to some unfinished inspections for the Space Shuttle. As NASA finishes their final inspection of the spacecraft they will announce an official launch date.

Representative Giffords Recovering Well

Two months ago Representative Gabrielle Giffords was in the hospital after a political activist attempted to murder her on the street. Fortunately today we have learned that Giffords’ recovery is going well and she plans to attend her husband’s upcoming space shuttle launch.

Giffords’ husband, Mark Kelly, is currently scheduled to be the captain for the space shuttle mission in April. Originally medical experts were concerned that she might not recover in time to see it but today her press team officially confirmed that she will be attending.

Following the announcement NASA officially announced that they will be doing everything possible to assist her and the entire family at the launch. Giffords is still undergoing extensive recovery and rehabilitation services though the actual results are incredibly promising right now. Overall the terrible event from two months ago has been greatly overshadowed by the exceptional recovery she has undergone.

As April draws nearer the Giffords family is expected to continue updating the public on her condition. At this time all signs point towards a successful and speedy recovery so there should be no major mishaps in her future. In the end the story has turned out much better than doctors originally expected; previously there was little hope for Giffords to recover but now it is almost a 100% success for her and her family.