RWR team owner and former Cup Series Champion, Rusty Wallace began a two-day visit to Kennedy Space Center on Thursday, along with oldest son Greg. They were invited as official guests of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to witness Fridays launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis’ÂSTS-132. The launch, set for 2:28pm/et on Friday, marks the final flight for Atlantis, before the upcoming closure of the Shuttle program.
On Thursday, the Wallaces embarked on an extensive behind-the-scenes tour of Kennedy Space Center with NASA officials, including the Space Station Processing Facility, the Orbiter Processing Facility’Âwhere they enjoyed an up-close visit with the Orbiter Endeavour, the Rotation Processing Surge Facility, the Mobile Launch Platform Park site, the Vehicle Assembly Building and the Shuttle Landing Facility. Thursdays tour ended with an up-close photo opportunity at Launch Pad 39A, where Atlantis currently sits ready for launch.
Both father and son hold Private Pilot ratings, which the elder Wallace says only adds to the excitement, ‘For any pilot or aviation enthusiast, the space program is the ultimate. It really doesnt get much bigger, faster, more powerful or more exciting than the Space Shuttle. The work that NASA does for our country is incredible; it really benefits our society in so many ways that we dont even realize. Just in our world of racing, a lot of the heat shielding that we use to help our drivers and their race cars stay cool was actually developed by the space program. Were extremely grateful to NASA for giving us the opportunity to watch their work in person.’Â Following Friday afternoons scheduled launch, the Wallaces will depart Cape Canaveral for Dover, DE, where RWRs #62 and #66 Toyota Camrys’Âdriven by Brendan Gaughan and Steve Wallace’Âwill compete in Saturday afternoons Heluva Good! 200 at Dover International Speedway.(RWR)(5-14-2010)
