PEORIA, Ill. – You might say it was 25 years ago Monday Scott Altman took his first “one small step for man.”
The Pekin native and retired NASA astronaut went on his first flight into space.
That was after a daylong delay in his flight, but when it was time, Altman could barely contain his excitement.
“I told people when I got suited up — finally — to go to launch, and you come down the stairs to go out, it felt like Christmas morning. I don’t know what I am going to get, but this is going to be great!” said Altman, to WMBD’s Greg and Dan.
Altman says there’s plenty of time to be nervous on a flight.
“When we get in the real vehicle, and the main engines really start up, and the vehicle starts shaking a little bit, you’re like ‘Wow, this is a little different than the simulator,’” said Altman, “and when the solid rockets boosters ride off, and the whole vehicle is really rocking and rolling.”
When you get done with a mission, Altman says, reality sure does have a funny way of slapping you.
“You land, you’re neurovestibular system is like, ‘Well, this is weird. Gravity is back.’ and that’s hard to deal with,” said Altman. “I get home and I tell people my wife kept me grounded. She said, ‘You went to space. Great. Now take out the trash.’”
These days, Altman works with a company that helps work on space vehicles.
