The flight crew technicians (techs) are looking to remove all the stuff from the flight deck. So I'm removing placards as I go and I am starting a nice pile on the floor for them. You cannot believe the amount of stuff that gets loaded onto the shuttle. There are hundreds of feet of wires strung all over the place. The wires are like extension cords; they connect computers, cameras and all sorts of stuff to different ports on the panels. The astronauts use cue cards to help them remember what to do in a hurry if something does not go well. There must be close to a hundred of these cards all over the place.

My friend Jim from flight crew gathers up all the stuff I have piled up and puts them into a large green flight bag. The flight crew techs have to account for all the stuff they remove from the orbiter. Everything used in the orbiter has to be audited, going in and coming out. The number of items that has to be audited is in the thousands. There are cameras, camera attachments, tools, clothes, food, napkins, towels, sleeping bags, experiments and too many other things to mention here. On the last MIR mission, the time it took to de-stow the crew compartment was eight hours. That's a lot of stuff to haul off and account for.

Four hours of switch configuring and four more hours of de-stowing the crew compartment has passed, and the team is ready to close the hatch. The move director asks us if we are ready to close the hatch and begin the trip back to the Orbiter Processing Facility. We need to use the port-a-john. We take turns running to the bathroom on a trailer that's parked just to the right of the orbiter, next to the grass at the edge of the runway. The trip back to the OPF will take about one to two hours.

All is well, so I give the move director a "go-ahead" to close the hatch. Now it's my turn to be staring out the hatch window from the inside as the white room truck slowly backs away. I get a few hand signals and good-bye waves from the people on the ground. Climbing the ladder to the flight deck, I ready myself for orbiter first movement. Once the move director gives the go to start orbiter movement, I have to listen to hear if any noises are coming from things like the brakes. The first movement has started and everything is going fine. Outside everyone is walking next to the orbiter as we start to turn toward the right edge of the runway. We will have to make a U-turn and head the orbiter back south down the runway toward the OPF. The runway is about three miles long and the orbiter is close to the north end of the runway.

After about an hour, we are moving past the halfway point where the aft convoy started from and we reported to work. There are workers parking vehicles that are no longer part of the convoy. Some of the people are waving at me from the parking lot while taking pictures and giving the thumbs up, indicating the orbiter passing by is a wonderful sight to see.

Another half hour has passed and we are now near the south end of the runway. Out the left windows, I can see the mate/demate device that would have been used if we were returning from a landing at Edwards AFB. Just to the west of the tower, one of the NASA helicopters is taking off. The helicopter is based at Patrick AFB, about 20 miles south of the space center, on the ocean. Also, three of the T-38 jets the astronauts train in are warming up to take off. There are five planes parked there; Mr. Goldin must have flown in the big twin engine one.

Another half hour has passed and we are now within a mile of the OPF. Now there is a sight for you to see! We are crossing over a bridge. Out my left window next to the railroad bridge there is a huge alligator lying on a sand bar; he must be 16 foot long. If any of you has taken the bus tour from the visitor center, you too may have seen this guy. The tour guides like to slow down and let visitors see him when he's out. There are two blue herons about 20 feet away from this guy. I hope lunch will be three or four of those big fish that are swimming just in front of him and not the birds. Maybe someone should walk over to him and mention that fish are healthier for him than birds, I think . . . not. To my right, there is a small lake and it is full of alligators; not a good place to cool your feet, if you know what I mean. One nice thing about this route is that in the middle of a game preserve and it's full of bird and animal life. I'd like to see more white tail deer; the population is not very heavy for a preserve.

We are now making a slow turn to the left as we approach the OPF. People are lined up on both sides of the tow way taking pictures. I remember one time in the same spot a group of college recruiters was filming the orbiter. One of them noticed that I was in the window. They had no idea that someone was riding inside. They got me to wave and they filmed me inside. Later they interviewed me to see why I had to ride inside. I explained to them that the fuel cells that power the orbiter on orbit are still operating. We have to keep electric power on the orbiter to preserve the experiments on-board, otherwise the mission would be for naught. I'm on board in case something goes wrong; I can correct problems before we lose power.

We now make a hard right turn lining up with the painted stripes on the concrete. These lines help the tug driver to line the orbiter up with the center of the hangar. Once they have centered the orbiter, they can head straight into the hangar. Just before we go into the hangar though, we come to a complete stop. The white room truck is parked next to the hangar door on my left. The white room truck is approaching the orbiter. The orbiter test conductor has given me the go-ahead to vent down the crew cabin for hatch opening. They spot the white room truck and I vent the cabin. I tell the OTC to go ahead and open the hatch. The hatch is opened and the new SCOs are climbing in. They climb the ladder and get themselves settled onto the flight deck. Van will be taking the "dash one" responsibility over from me. I show him what temperatures I have been monitoring and any other important readings he needs to monitor.

Van and his buddy Bart will be locked inside longer than Scott and I were. They will stay inside through spotting of the orbiter. Spotting means the orbiter is in the exact spot on the jacks to be raised to the working height. Once the orbiter is spotted, it will be raised to its working height. Then the support stands will be put into place. Once the orbiter is on the jacks, the forward shop will lower the forward work platforms. The next thing will be to open the hatch. Once the hatch has been opened, Bart and Van will be able to break each other out. Since the orbiter is in the OPF and the hatch has been opened there is no longer a requirement for the SCO to have a buddy.

For me, I gather up all the paper work I have performed plus all my personal stuff, and say, "Have fun," and leave. Once out in the white room truck, I stop to help close the hatch. Standing off to the side of the orbiter, I wave good-bye and give thumbs up from outside the orbiter to Van and Bart. You know, from where I'm standing, the orbiter does look awesome. Just think: 12 hours ago, this white and black space plane was several hundred miles above the Earth, circling. Ten hours ago astronauts climbed out and I've been in there since. I guess the smile and gratitude I feel is special.