Cape Canaveral, Florida — Unlike many in the crowds of people who lined the Space Coast today, Ross Zimmerman doesn’t mind that he’s returning to Tucson without witnessing the Endeavour shuttle launch.
Zimmerman, whose son Gabe was killed in the Tucson shooting tragedy Jan. 8, said spending time with his son’s co-workers was the main reason he came.
“The rocketship is secondary to having a good time with the folks from Gabe’s office,” Zimmerman said. “We’ve been having a wonderful time.”
About 30 staff, friends and family connected with U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ office made the trip to attend today’s scheduled launch of the space shuttle Endeavour, which Giffords’ husband Capt. Mark Kelly was set to command. A problem with an auxiliary heater on the shuttle resulted in a launch delay. NASA officials say the earliest the shuttle will leave Earth is 2:33 p.m. on Monday. A NASA news conference is scheduled for 1 p.m. Tucson time.
Zimmerman traveled to Florida with his son’s fiancee, Kelly O’Brien, who is a neurology nurse at Tucson Medical Center. Both are scheduled to leave Saturday.
“It’s been a fabulous trip. I have so enjoyed spending time with people who knew and loved Gabe,” Zimmerman said.
Gabe Zimmerman, 30, was Giffords’ director of community outreach. He was one of six people killed Jan. 8. Thirteen others, including Giffords, were wounded.
It was unclear today whether Giffords will remain in Florida until the shuttle launches. The 40-year-old congresswoman, shot clear through the left side of the brain Jan. 8, left her Houston rehabilitation hospital Wednesday to see the shuttle launch.
Several other Tucsonans who traveled to Florida for the launch were unsure today whether they’d stay. Some are waiting for a more definitive word from NASA as to when the shuttle might leave.
“We’re disappointed, but it sounds like a majority will be trying to stay. We’re trying to stay optimistic,” said University Medical Center nurse Kim Hilty after learning of the delay.
About 15 to 20 UMC staff members who were working the day of the Jan. 8 shootings are in Cape Canaveral.
Attending the launch is symbolic for nurses Jessica Laplant and Wendi Cooper, who were both working in the emergency department when the shooting victims came in.
“To see Gabby from when she came in and where she is today, it’s another step to heal,” Cooper said.
Huge crowds that rivaled the moon missions of the 1960s flocked to the Space Coast for today’s scheduled 3:47 p.m. liftoff.
Kelly's upcoming mission is scheduled to be the last flight for Endeavour and the next-to-last space shuttle flight before the fleet is retired. While the end of the shuttle program is part of the reason for the crowds, the Giffords story has clearly also had an effect on interest in space exploration.
NASA officials today said about 1,500 journalists attended today’s Endeavour launch. The last time media attendance reached that level for a shuttle launch was for the Discovery launch in July 2005. That shuttle attracted heightened attention because it marked NASA’s first return to flight since the Feb. 1 2003 Columbia shuttle disaster, when the shuttle disintegrated on re-entry to Earth and all seven crew members died.
Other Giffords staff members who are in Cape Canaveral include Pam Simon and Ron Barber who were both injured Jan. 8. Giffords intern Daniel Hernandez, whose actions Jan. 8 have been credited with saving her life, also came to Florida for the launch.
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