Gear down and locked

Discovery lands, through a local's eyes
Cocoa Beach, FL
December 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The scene: Long ago, before all the rules changed, our little family was on vacation beside a large ocean. We were checking out of the hotel, and as I often do, I was wandering around the lobby trying to remember the moment.

This hotel was in Cocoa Beach, Florida, just down the road from where rockets - and human beings - leave the planet. Space flight is embedded in the DNA of everyone who lives here. Heck, they even call this place the Space Coast.

So to no one's surprise, there was a delightfully diverse assortment of space artifacts and decorations scattered around the lobby, including this rather insane shot of Discovery on final approach to the Shuttle Landing Facility. If you look closely, you can see the air data probes deployed on either side of the nose. Neat.

Locals see the most incredible things. And they take wonderful photos of experiences now consigned to history.

And for what it's worth, those memories deserve to be preserved. The folks who preserve them deserve to be thanked.

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