By Pete Trubucco

From Left to right MS Garrett Reisman, Shuttle Pilot Tony Antonelli, Pete Trabucco, Commander Ken Ham, MS Michael GoodAs a pilot and space fanatic, I have always followed our NASA space program closely and secretly hoped that one day that I would be able to work with these astronauts in space.  Of course this could never really occur but a funny thing did happen to me on my way to Houston (and Johnson Space Center) not too long ago.  As we all know, the end of the Space Shuttle program is right around the corner.  Due to budget cuts, it looks like after the final mission is scheduled for next June and the program will truly be concluded.  However on a faithful day in March, I did get to play “astronaut in training” with these star voyages and I can tell you, not many things that I have done can top this experience. 

As the Space Shuttle Atlantis was scheduled for its last flight, I got a call from the NASA front office saying if I were able to get down to Houston, I would be in for a real treat. The flight that was up next was designated as STS 132 and the ship Atlantis was scheduled for liftoff (from pad 34A) on May 14, 2010.  This flight marked the 32^nd and (at the time) final flight for Atlantis closing almost a quarter century of service for NASA and our manned space program.