Community Corner

Witnesses to History: End of the Space Shuttle

As NASA counts down to the final launches, three area residents - two from Naperville - play a role in documenting history through "The Last Shuttle" project.

Jeffrey Ross grew up in the shadow of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. His father worked for NASA, and he was fascinated by space and the space program. But Ross was no rocket scientist.

For years his fascination was just that, and he never imagined he would have the opportunity to work at NASA. As freelance photographer in Naperville, Ross made a connection that would send his spirit soaring and give him the opportunity of a lifetime.

Ross is a member of The Last Shuttle team, a group of 12 people working to document the end of the Space Shuttle Program.

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The team has unprecedented access to document the end of the shuttle era and the last few remaining launches.

"This is something I have to do," Ross said. "I grew up right next to the launch site. I was born the day after the moon landing. I was always a space kid."

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Ross isn't the only local on the team. Cathy Brinkworth, another Naperville resident, drew him into the project.

The local connection

Brinkworth was going through a divorce. Always interested in photography, she signed up to take classes at the College of DuPage (COD) to open a new chapter in her life.

In her studio lighting class she met Dennis Biela, a Downers Grove resident and a photographer who is an expert at creating virtual tours. Biela, CEO of  LightSpeed Media, was doing work to create virtual tours at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

Not one to be shy, Brinkworth approached Biela, offering to help. Biela wasn't taken aback, he said. He liked that Brinkworth was outgoing and asked to participate.

"It's a spirit thing," Biela said. "If you don't take no for an answer and you keep working at it, it will happen. And a lot of the people I have around me are like that."

Through her classes at COD, Brinkworth also met Ross. As the team took shape, Brinkworth connected Ross with Biela.

"It was kind of like six degrees of separation," Biela said.

Brinkworth has been told she is "the glue that holds the project together," she said.

Her key role is handling logistics, setting up travel and hotels, making sure equipment rentals are set up and everyone has proper security access to NASA. But she is also documenting and photographing the team behind the scenes.

Her experience as a mom helped her prepare for the job, she said. Scheduling, planning and keeping a cool head when things don't go as planned are essential.

Much of her work happens from Naperville, but when a launch is scheduled, she is down in Florida with the team.

"To think at this stage in my life I'm doing something so exciting," she said. "It's breathtaking to be on site to watch some of this come together."

Ross said it was pure luck he just happened to know Brinkworth, the project coordinator.

"The team needed a good photographer who could think on their feet and not panic," he said. "She pulled me into the team."

For all of the members, it's a labor of love. They work for free and always are looking for funding to keep the project going, Ross said.

A mission in motion

With his specialty in digital photography and 360-degree virtual tours, Biela started working with the Smithsonian around 2001-02 creating virtual tours.

He was given access people rarely receive to planes, aircraft and spacecraft, including the Apollo and Mercury capsules. The job allowed him to combine his loves of photography and aviation.

Knowing the space shuttle Discovery would be given to the Smithsonian when the program ended, Biela asked officials if they were documenting the shuttle program's end. They weren't, and the idea to document a moment in history was hatched. But the museum had very strict rules and not much interest or funding.

"I do work for the San Diego Air and Space Museum as well," he said. "I contacted them and they were all for it and said, 'Whatever you want, we are here to support you.'"

At the San Diego Air & Space Museum, Jim Kidrick, the museum's president and CEO, began contacting NASA and after months of discussion, proposals and documentation, NASA approved the project, Biela said.

Once the work was under way and officials realized his crew wouldn't be in the way, Biela said, "NASA said, 'OK, go ahead and document all of it.'"

The team members realize the weight and import of what they are doing.

"Nobody is doing it as in depth as we are," Biela said. "We are interviewing people who have worked on the project. Setting up to interview the people who have flown on the shuttle. Going to the towns where the factories have made the rocket boosters. Nobody is doing it as all encompassing as us."

Often people ignore history in the making, Biela said, which is why the project is so important.

"It is one of the most complicated machines man has ever made, with the amount of engineering and moving parts," Biela said. "It's also a big piece of America."

The technical side of things

The team arrives days in advance of a launch (there may be one later in December but NASA has not confirmed that) to set up and prepare. The team must gain security clearance each time it visits NASA and must undergo background checks and intense searches.

The security is necessary because prior to launch the team mounts cameras around the launch pad, Ross said.

"The launch triggers the cameras," he said.

The vibration as the shuttle lifts off sets the cameras in motion, but to ensure that they don't go off too early, timers are used as well, Biela said. Trucks on the pad in advance of the launch and birds landing on the camera housings could trigger the cameras prematurely.

The team is using roughly a dozen cameras but eventually will be shooting the launches with as many as 50 or 60 cameras, Biela said.

Along with photography and video, the team is creating 3-D imagery and using infrared photography to capture images as well.

"There is some guesswork involved," Ross said, such as picking the best angle and making sure the cameras aren't so close that they get fried by the rocket blast.

Finding funding to keep the project going is a challenge, Biela said. The team continues to seek partnerships with individuals, organizations or businesses willing to donate. Small donations are not out the question either.

"The toughest thing is finding funding, especially in this day and age," he said. "There are so many people vying for dollars it's tough to convince people what we are doing is important. We wouldn't be the first thing in your mind when you say to donate to something."

The cool factor

For Brinkworth, one of the most intense experiences she had was being at the Kennedy Space Center when the rotating service structure (RSS) was rolled back.

"The structure slowly opens and unveils the shuttle," she said. "This particular event was at night. To see that was so incredibly moving."

Her children, Zach and Annie Cowie, 29 and 27 respectively, are proud of their mom and brag to friends about her work.

"And I'm proud that I'm able to use my talents and pursue my creativity in this way," she said.

Ross, a divorced dad of two, said his work is taking him and all of the members away from their family, but it's a sacrifice that has to be made to document this moment in history.

"It's really exciting to be capturing something that is so much bigger than ourselves," Ross said. "It's a rush. We put in a lot of hours, but it's worth it."

In the next launch, Ross said he is supposed to get access to shoot photos from on top of the Vehicle Assembly Building, one of the largest buildings in the world where work on the shuttle takes place.

"That will be a thrill," he said. "I'm a little bit nervous and excited. … To grow up watching it and then to get to go up there, that will be an absolute thrill."

All of it is fascinating to Biela.

"The side stories are the coolest part for me. When you talk with people who have been working on it for 20, 30 years," he said. "You hear stories about how they had to make something fit or come up with a work around. … I find that part fascinating. They have a task. To us, we think it's monumental. To them, it's just something they have to get done."

To learn more about The Last Shuttle team and to learn how to become a partner, visit the website.

 


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