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NASA
rm% street scribe
Columbia Takes Flight
WITNESSING THE FIRST SPACE SHUTTLE LAUNCH 40 YEARS AGO
By Ed Tant news@flagpole.com
EEDE^ hey, bonita...
My Roommate Won’t Leave Me Alone
ADVICE FOR ATHENS’ DISTURBED AND DISTRESSED
By Bonita Applebum advice@flagpole.com
It has been 40 years since I saw the first
space shuttle thunder into the blue Cape
Canaveral sky on Apr. 12,1981.1 covered
the spaceship’s premier launch as a colum
nist for the Athens Observer newspaper.
The first flight of the mighty machine was
a must-see, so I flew down to Florida to
view the launch of Columbia and write my
impressions of the historic event.
I have been a long-time space buff ever
since my childhood days watching “Flash
Gordon” and “Captain Video” on early
1950s black-and-white television and read
ing the science fiction tales of Ray Bradbury
and Arthur C. Clark. I was captivated by
Walt Disney’s 1955 television series about
space travel narrated by Wernher von
Braun, the World War II Nazi rocket scien
tist who was brought to America after the
war to lead the postwar U.S. space program.
I was amazed at the age of 10 in 1957 when
Russia’s Sputnik became the first satellite to
orbit Earth, and I have for decades followed
the space programs of both the Soviets and
the Americans that culminated in footsteps
on the moon and space stations orbiting
Earth. As an Athens writer, I have covered
such events as protest marches, political
conventions and presidential inaugurations
for many years, but being on the scene for
the first space shuttle launch was an event
that is indelibly etched into my mind.
As the day of the spaceship’s launch
neared, towns like Titusville and Cocoa
Beach near the launch site bustled with
excitement. The ambiance of the area
that calls itself the Space Coast was like a
high-tech version of Dodge City during a
cattle drive. Flags festooned town roads,
and businesses posted signs and banners
voicing messages like “Good luck, astro
nauts” and “Hail Columbia.” Newspapers
published special editions to commemorate
the upcoming launch. The Orlando Sentinel
Star’s special edition featured a large color
photo of the shuttle on the launch pad and
a huge headline blaring “Space Odyssey:
1981.” Hotels, motels, bars and restaurants
on the Space Coast were packed with tour
ists and reporters, and local people were
thrilled that the area would be back in the
space business after a long lull in manned
launches since the
Apollo and Skylab
programs ended
in the mid-1970s.
Titusville resident
R.H. Scobie beamed
with pride over the
space shuttle as he
said to me, “It’s like
Buck Rogers! Who
would ever think
we’d have it? It’s
beautiful, partner. It’s
beautiful.”
Columbia indeed
was beautiful as it
stood on the far hori
zon in the predawn
hours before launch,
bathed in spotlights
and clutched in the
steel embrace of
its service tower.
Hundreds of thou
sands of people from
all over America and
around the world
were camped out in
viewing areas along
the Indian River,
at Jetty Park, and in the nearby towns of
Cocoa Beach and Titusville, all waiting with
Zen-like patience for the countdown to
come to its dramatic denouement. Car ste
reos blared Elton John’s “Rocket Man” and
David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.” A computer
glitch had caused the cancelation of the
launch two days before, but the crowd was
confident on the morning of Apr. 12, 1981,
as astronauts John Young and Bob Crippen
boarded their spacecraft.
When the countdown dropped to zero,
the crowd was on its feet. An instant orange
glow erupted from the faraway launch
site, and Columbia fairly vaulted into the
early morning sky, trailing billowing smoke
and flames hundreds of feet in length as
it roared its way into orbit. All around me
people shouted, cried, screamed and prayed
as the spaceship disappeared from view in
just two heart-stopping minutes. Along
with many others, I wiped tears from my
eyes after the launch. We had seen the
future, and it worked.
It was exactly 20 years to the day after
Russia’s Yuri Gagarin became the first
human to travel in space on Apr. 12,1961.
Later, I would cover other space shuttle
launches, including the first night flight in
1983 and legendary astronaut John Glenn’s
return to space aboard a shuttle in 1998,
but the first space shuttle flight 40 years
ago was history that I will always remember
seeing. ©
Columbia takes off during the first space shuttle launch on Apr. 12,1981.
Hey Bonita!
I am having some roommate troubles. My
room is on the first floor of the house along
side the common areas (living room, kitchen,
etc.), and everyone else’s is upstairs. One of
my roommates treats my room as if it’s just
an extension of the common area and tries to
enter, loudly (and repeatedly) calls my name or
knocks on my door when my door is closed and
lights are off. It seems obvious to everyone else
that I’m either sleeping, enjoying intimate time
with my fiance or studying in private, but she
just disregards the facts and seems to intrude
almost on purpose (especially when my fiance
is visiting).
When 1 try to have a conversation about
privacy and respecting my space, she immedi
ately assumes the position of the victim and
says, “I thought you were
my friend and I
could ask you for
things,” and then
literally pouts
room doors. Even if she was a homeowner
renting out spare rooms, this kind of behav
ior crosses the line by disregarding another
adult’s agency and treating them like a child
with no rights. As a friend, this person’s
behavior is pure trash. The entitlement is
shocking—not only does she demand and
abuse your emotional labor with statements
about being entitled to your time because
you’re friends, but the guilt-tripping is
completely uncalled for. You did not tell
her to stop eating—that is a choice she’s
making, and I have respect for anxiety and
trauma responses, but trying to blame
that on you is completely uncalled for and
rather disturbing. Her boyfriend is not part
of this in any way (unless he’s paying rent,
which I assume he’s not, so shut up dude)
and should not be intervening on her
behalf. He is enabling her
childishness and
guarantee-
and actu
ally stomps
around the
house for WEEKS
without talking to me at
all. Her boyfriend also reaches out
to me, trying to explain her side of things when
he wasn’t even there to begin with! The only
way to stop the pouting is for me to go upstairs
and have a conversation where I feel like I need
to apologize just to spare the awkwardness and
my other roommates from the weirdness. She
also is quick to say, “Yeah, I have been really
anxious in the house since our conversation
and barely eating,” which, once again, puts me
in a weird position because how am I supposed
to have adult conversations with her if she acts
this way? The whole thing just feels so childish
and is exhausting.
Yours truly,
Irritated and Annoyed
Hey Irritated,
Wow, I am annoyed on your behalf. I
can’t think of any way to justify this per
son’s behavior or make the way she treats
you acceptable. As a roommate, she is being
shamelessly inconsiderate of her housemate
and acting as if she’s one of those parents
who don’t allow their kids to shut their bed-
ing that her
roommates
will resent the
hell out of him.
Do not apologize
to her. You have nothing
to apologize for, and she is the only one in
this scenario who needs to make amends.
The only thing you need to do is assert your
right to your own room and your right to be
left alone, to sleep through the night with
no interruptions. She is attempting to make
this about your commitment to your friend
ship when this has nothing to do with that,
and she’s doing that to avoid copping to
the fact that she’s a self-centered and rude
roommate, on top of being a bad friend. She
sounds like she has esteem and self-image
issues, but those are not your problem.
The next time she knocks, ignore it. And
ignore her, too, if she goes into another
anger stomp. And ignore her boyfriend if he
tries to intervene. I’ll be blunt: Those two
sound like young idiots, and you are miles
more mature than them. Might be time for
a friend inventory. ©
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10 FLAGPOLE.COM | APRIL 14, 2021