Pilot Ron Franco was "commander" for our SIM of ascent (shuttle lift off). After the SIM of launch finished, Ron was the first of us to "land" the shuttle at Kennedy Space Center.











 







Next to "land" the shuttle was Dayna Steele.


















Elissa took her turn next. Elissa is not a pilot, does not play one on TV, and has never had a flight lesson. She was able to "grease it in" and land on the centerline of the landing strip at KSC.










Bill, a pilot & engineer, was last to take the stick. The instructor was very quiet for most of Bill's flight SIM. Bill said he had the advantage of seeing the other three "fly" first and so he needed less guidance.

"Commander" Elissa Banas and "Pilot" Bill Banas in the NASA Motion-based Shuttle SIM.


On the side of this blog you'll find a link to videos of our time in the SIM and of our phone call with Astronaut Ron Garan (keep reading for more about that).