WEBVTT - Who's Been Sending NASA Flowers for Thirty Years?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff. Lauren Bogelbaum here. When Mark Shelton was

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<v Speaker 1>a boy growing up in Fort Worth, Texas, one of

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<v Speaker 1>his more nagging concerns was that someday he might grow

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<v Speaker 1>too big to fit into a space capsule. That was

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<v Speaker 1>the nineteen sixties. NASA's Mercury program had just made its

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<v Speaker 1>first phase around Earth, the Apollo program was in its

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<v Speaker 1>planning stages. The Moon landing was still a dream and

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<v Speaker 1>years away. It was a time, as President John F.

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<v Speaker 1>Kennedy said in Houston in the early part of the decade,

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<v Speaker 1>to take up quote the most hazardous and dangerous and

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<v Speaker 1>greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked. That was

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<v Speaker 1>the beginning of young Mark Shelton's infatuation with space travel

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<v Speaker 1>and the American space program. And though he never made

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<v Speaker 1>it into space himself, or hasn't yet anyway, Shelton has

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<v Speaker 1>become a part of NASA and the space program him

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<v Speaker 1>in his own poignant way. America's exploration of space has

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<v Speaker 1>been marked by soaring triumphs and crushing tragedies. The Space

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<v Speaker 1>Shuttle program suffered its first disaster in when the orbiter

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<v Speaker 1>Challenger exploded barely a minute after liftoff, killing all seven

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<v Speaker 1>astronauts on board. Shelton, like many others in America, watched

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<v Speaker 1>in horror that day. He didn't know what to do

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<v Speaker 1>to show his support for a program that, until Challenger

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<v Speaker 1>had become almost an afterthought too much of the American

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<v Speaker 1>public before the article this episode is based on how

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<v Speaker 1>st to Fork spoke with Shelton in he said, I

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<v Speaker 1>wanted to find a way to let them know that

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<v Speaker 1>every flight people care. Just because there isn't media coverage

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<v Speaker 1>didn't mean that people didn't care. We take it seriously

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<v Speaker 1>that they take it seriously. More than two and a

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<v Speaker 1>half years after the Challenger program, when NASA scientists had

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<v Speaker 1>worked countless ours to determine what went wrong with Challenger,

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<v Speaker 1>and countless more finding ways to make sure it didn't

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<v Speaker 1>happen again, the Space Shuttle program finally resumed, and Shelton

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<v Speaker 1>decided on a simple gesture. It was after STS six,

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<v Speaker 1>the first return to flight mission after the Challenger disaster

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<v Speaker 1>wrapped up its mission in October and the Shuttle Discovery

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<v Speaker 1>was safely back on land that Shelton, his wife Terry,

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<v Speaker 1>and daughter Mackenzie sent a bunch of roses to NASA's

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<v Speaker 1>Mission Control at Johnson's Space Center in Houston. In the

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<v Speaker 1>bouquet was a red rose for each of the seven

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<v Speaker 1>Discovery crew members on board, plus a single white one

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<v Speaker 1>in remembrance of those who had been lost in the

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<v Speaker 1>space program. The bouquet included a short note, but no

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<v Speaker 1>phone number or address for the sender for every manned

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<v Speaker 1>mission that NASA has flown since the family has continued

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<v Speaker 1>the tradition. Over more than three decades, the Sheltons have

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<v Speaker 1>sent more than a hundred bouquets to mission Control all

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<v Speaker 1>how stuff works. Also spoke with retired NASA Flight director

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<v Speaker 1>Milt Heflin. He said, they've never missed one time. They've

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<v Speaker 1>always been supportive. Mark and I talk every once in

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<v Speaker 1>a while. He'll call me and I'll call him. It's

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<v Speaker 1>a friendship that's lasted. They are just so dedicated to

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<v Speaker 1>doing this and to showing this support. That's what makes

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<v Speaker 1>this really really remarkable to me. They even sent a

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<v Speaker 1>bouquet to Mission control for SpaceX test launch of its

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<v Speaker 1>crew Dragon capsule on March two, twenty nineteen, which docked

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<v Speaker 1>successfully at the International Space Station. The Crew Dragon was unmanned,

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<v Speaker 1>but carried a censor laid in mannequin dubbed Ripley after

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<v Speaker 1>the Space Explorer in the Alien movies. It was the

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<v Speaker 1>first time the family sent to Bouquet for an unmanned mission,

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<v Speaker 1>and the first one they sent after the spatial program ended.

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<v Speaker 1>In this Bouquet also included a fake rose in honor

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<v Speaker 1>of Ripley. Shelton said, this was like, we're back. We

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<v Speaker 1>have a capsule that is capable of sup hoarding human life,

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<v Speaker 1>a crew rated capsule, the condoct with the I S

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<v Speaker 1>S in one with astronauts launching from US soil. Again,

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<v Speaker 1>they've kept up the tradition. It was NASA Flight director Heflin,

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<v Speaker 1>who spent forty seven years with NASA and supervised twenty

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<v Speaker 1>Shuttle missions, for seven of which he was the lead

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<v Speaker 1>flight director, who tracked down the Sheltons after receiving that

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<v Speaker 1>first vase of roses. They talked briefly on the phone.

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<v Speaker 1>As Shelton said in twenty nineteen, I couldn't believe it.

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<v Speaker 1>I was thinking, You've got way too much to do

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<v Speaker 1>to be talking with me. A few years later, with

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<v Speaker 1>hef Line at Mission Control helming another Shuttle flight, another

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<v Speaker 1>Bouquet arrived with a handwritten note from Terry. It read,

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<v Speaker 1>in part, NASA and her projects and missions have always

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<v Speaker 1>been a source of hope, pride, and inspiration to the

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<v Speaker 1>people of the United States and more importantly, to the

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<v Speaker 1>people all over the world. We all know the dedication

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<v Speaker 1>of all of you associated with the Space Program to

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<v Speaker 1>the successful co gletion of each mission and to the

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<v Speaker 1>safety of those whose lives are in your hands. We

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<v Speaker 1>send flowers each time because we care that y'all care.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm so grateful for the things that have come out

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<v Speaker 1>of the Space Program which help our lives and those

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<v Speaker 1>of our children. And my daughter Mackenzie is most important

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<v Speaker 1>in our lives, and we are grateful for what y'all

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<v Speaker 1>do to improve the quality of her life. Almost fifty

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<v Speaker 1>years after a human first walked on the Moon, Shelton

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<v Speaker 1>and Hefflin still marvel what the Space program has accomplished,

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<v Speaker 1>what it's still accomplishing, and look forward to what's next.

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<v Speaker 1>Shelton said, miniaturization, health and medical improvement, and technological changes.

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<v Speaker 1>We got this little phone in our hand, and it

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<v Speaker 1>has so much power, and we can see a satellite

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<v Speaker 1>image and a pretty close up view of where we

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<v Speaker 1>live and the weather and what's coming and global communication.

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<v Speaker 1>Are the studies of Earth that's really important, and we

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<v Speaker 1>don't know in the future are we ever going to

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<v Speaker 1>need to leave the planet? Exploration is just such a

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<v Speaker 1>basic need we have as individ Jules and as civilizations.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks to Shelton and those like him, Heflin says, the

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<v Speaker 1>more than seventeen thousands scientists, engineers, astronauts, teachers, and many

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<v Speaker 1>other professionals who work for NASA feel the appreciation. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>episode is based on the article One Family has sent

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<v Speaker 1>flowers to NASA for more than thirty years on how

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff Works dot Com, written by John Donovan. Brain Stuff

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