The moment has arrived. One of the flight crew members is peeking out the side hatch window. We exchange a few friendly gestures. I'm kiddingly suggesting that we can't find the door knob to let them out. I can't imagine why they are in a hurry to get out of those bulky orange flight suits. Actually, I can relate to being in those suits without purge air cooling you off. I once spent eight hours at open house here at KSC greeting some 40,000 center guests while fully suited in the orange flight suit complete with helmet. They are heavy and very HOT. The flight surgeon gives me the nod to go ahead and open the hatch.

The first step is to make sure the commander has vented the pressure from inside the crew module. I have to contact the convoy commander who, in turn, will up-link my question to the shuttle commander. If I just opened the hatch to the orbiter before the venting stopped, the escaping air pressure could hurt the astronaut's ear drums. This is especially true at Edwards Air Force Base because of the higher altitude. I had completed this some minutes before while I was waiting for the crew transport vehicle (CTV) to get into position.

I insert a tool called the T-tool. The T-tool is a t-handle wrench with a square end on it, much like a socket driver. The tool has a locking and unlocking lever on it to unlock the door. Once I have unlocked the hatch, I rotate the wrench to the vent position. Once I am sure that it is OK, I continue to unlatch the hatch. In opening the hatch, we have to exert upward pressure on the hatch and then pull outward and allow the hatch to swing down to the full open position. The hatch weighs about 75 pounds. Opening the hatch will take two people because of its weight.

The astronaut that I was joking with shakes my hand and thanks me for releasing him. I welcome him and the rest of the crew back to Earth. I extend my hand to the flight surgeon to help him and the rest of his party into the orbiter. They can then help the astronauts out of the orbiter and check to see if they are healthy. After the welcome party has entered, Scott and I will lower the white room platforms. These platforms make it safer and easier for all the work that will go on in the next three to four hours. Now that the hatch has been opened and the platforms have been placed, Scott and I step back into the CTV. In a little while they will start hauling all sorts of stuff out of the crew cabin. We'll get into helping with that endeavor.

It's been about an hour since we started to dock with the orbiter. The first of the astronauts is climbing out of the orbiter and being helped into the CTV. Inside the CTV there are large recliners, one for every crew member. They will sit in the chairs and have their vital signs checked. After they get their "ground legs" they will get out of those flight suits and into their blue jump suits. Once all the crew members have left the orbiter, Scott and I will enter the orbiter and relieve the ASPs that went in with the flight surgeon.

Well, it's time to enter the crew module and start three to four hours of switch throwing. That's what it takes to bring the orbiter out of flight operations and into ground monitoring. The first step for Scott to perform is to hook up a jumper hose to a port on the potty. This will allow us to bleed or purge any hydrogen bubbles that may have accumulated in the water lines. This procedure is called vacuum vent inerting. I will go up onto the flight deck and relieve the ASP. After I receive an update from the ASP and Houston has handed the operation of the shuttle to United Space Alliance (USA), I will take over.

Looking out the windows I can see a beehive of activity outside. The fan truck is parked in front of me, with its 16-foot blade spinning around moving air down the sides of the orbiter. This purges any dangerous air that may be accumulating from the different types of dangerous fluids on board.

The tow truck, or tug, is backing into position under the nose of the orbiter. There is a tow bar attached to the tug. The tow bar will mate to the orbiter's nose landing gear for the long tow back to the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF). Out the right windows, the CTV is backing away from the white room. They back up and park the CTV parallel to the orbiter. After they lower the CTV closer to the ground they will lower the back stairs so that the astronauts can walk out.

The orbiter test conductor (OTC) is calling me on the onboard communications system, telling me our handover to MILA is complete. MILA is a communication center on north Merritt Island, about 10 miles south of the orbiter. What this means is Houston has given control to KSC for orbiter monitoring. The test conductor wastes no time in starting the transition to ground monitoring. The first thing we are going to do is stow the air data probes. The air data probes provide the astronauts with air speed readings. They rotate from the sides of the orbiter into the air stream, pointing forward like a gun. The joke is when someone looks at them and asks, "What's that gun-looking thing sticking out the side of the orbiter?" we reply with, "Oh, that is our on-board laser gun." Of course you know the truth now.

Looking up from what I'm doing, I can see everyone is gathering at the back of the CTV. The astronauts are starting to descend to do the traditional walk around the orbiter to look at what they just spent the last 10 days or so inside of. They chat with the workers under the orbiter and with all the NASA and other dignitaries that have come out onto the runway to welcome them home.

The next thing will be to put the hard covers over the heads-up display units (HUDs). The HUDs are made up of two pieces of glass that reflect data from four gauges mounted on the front instrument panel. The HUD's glass is in line with the windshield so they are looking through the glass out the windshield. The HUDs are needed to keep the astronauts' eyes and head from bobbing up and down looking for these readings while trying to land. The less the movement the less chance one has of getting space sickness. Have you ever been on a boat in rough water all day? If you have, you probably found it hard to get the ground to quit moving after you got back home. After getting off a Tilt-a-Whirl, did you find it hard to walk in a straight line? Of course, most of you have gotten car sick at one time! Then you have an idea what it is the astronauts are hoping to avoid. After seeing the pilot and commander come down the steps, I can tell you they have been on orbit before, because they are getting around just fine.

The NASA administrator, Mr. Goldin, is lining up with the astronaut crew. They are getting ready to take a group photo with the orbiter and runway activities as the back drop. Some of my coworkers standing out of the way have noticed me in the window. I give them a wave and a smile.