It's going to be about one hour before we'll have the orbiter on the ground. There are canals full of water on both sides of our convoy. The canals are full of wildlife. For now, everyone's attention is on an alligator that is on the other side of the canal. I'd say it is about six feet long. Suddenly an extremely loud "boom-boom!" breaks the silence. The wild life scatters to the four winds. Everyone's heart skips a beat as they spring to their feet. The loud "boom-boom!" is the sonic signature that a space shuttle is straight overhead and about five minutes from touch down on the runway ahead of us.

Everyone's eye's are looking up to see if they can spot the shuttle against the blue sky as it drops to Earth. I spot a small white triangle high against the dark blue sky. The white triangle is the reflection of the Sun against the shuttle's tiles. The shuttle crosses overhead heading southeast. It makes a long right turn coming around and lining up with the south end of runway 33. You can see how fast the shuttle is diving by its angle and the vapor coming from its wing tips. As the shuttle approaches the end of the runway, the commander has to raise the nose up into the air to slow his speed for touch down. He'll touch down at around 180 to 220 miles per hour. Once the nose is up and the speed is down, the pilot will deploy the gear. Just before the halfway mark the pilot will deploy the drag chute to help slow them down.

When the convoy commander receives the "wheels have stopped" call from the shuttle commander, both the forward and aft convoy will start moving toward the orbiter. The air erupts with the roaring of the crowds and the roaring of the trucks as they race toward the orbiter. Both teams will stop 1500 feet from the orbiter. From 1500 feet, we can hear the "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh" of the three auxiliary power units (APUs). The APUs are what power the orbiter hydraulics. A group of individuals called the Safety Assessment Team will put on ranger air packs and approach the orbiter. They will be checking to see if any of the hazardous liquids that are on board the orbiter are leaking. Once the checks are complete, the assessment team will give the OK for the rest of the convoy to advance toward the orbiter.

Once the convoy commander has cleared me to approach the orbiter, I will approach it from its left side. I'll make a wide turn coming close to the grass at the edge of the runway then turn left 90 degrees and stop. Scott and I will get out and lower the front stabilizers to within three inches of the ground. The "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh" is louder and very eerie. I can smell ammonia from the cooling system. Scott will go up the steps to the white room and open the door and release the straps holding the seal. I will inflate the seal. The orbiter move director will stand under the orbiter's hatch and along with Scott direct me toward the orbiter by hand signals. The move director will tell me to stop when the air-seal touches the orbiter and compresses slightly.

Now that I have spotted the truck I can lower the stabilizers. I climb out off the truck and retrieve the grounding cable. With cable in hand I head for the nose wheel well. The orbiter is very hot and I can smell the distinct odor of heated parts. I locate the grounding hole and insert the cable. I gather all the stuff Scott and I have in the truck cab and head up the stairs to open the hatch. I have to do the step just mentioned before the crew transport vehicle is spotted over the stair case. Scott has already started to remove the two carrier panels that protect the hatch opening holes. Once we remove the panels we can install the milk stool. The milk stool is what we use as a handling fixture. We will now wait until the CTV has positioned itself. The flight surgeon will step out of the CTV and when he is ready we will open the hatch.

These events take us up to hatch opening. My next journal will be what happens after hatch opening...