Macomb County's Astronaut Reflects on the Space Shuttle Program

Dr. Jerry Linenger has traveled to heights few in Macomb County—and the world—have ever reached.

The East Detroit native and graduate of East Detroit High School along with the U.S. Naval Academy flew on the space shuttle Discovery in 1994.

Three years later he flew on Atlantis to the Russian Mir space station where he spent 132 days until the Atlantis returned to bring him home.

"It was the greatest sight in the world … seeing the United States flag on the wing (of Atlantis) flying over the Mediterranean when it came up to get me," said Linenger, who retired from NASA in 1998 and now lives in northern Michigan.

His pride in the space program has been tempered in recent months as he stated that he was "proud" of NASA for making the tough budget decision to phase out the shuttle program.

But the administration's decision to cancel the next generation spacecraft and have commercial companies develop new spacecraft does not sit well with the astronaut. 

"It looks like a five-year gap before they build anything," he said. “It is kind of one giant leap backwards." 

His disappointment lies in the fact that it is the first time since 1961 that the United States has no capability to put a human in space. 

“We are about to give that leadership away that was earned with Apollo One, Challenger and Colombia and all the sacrifices of those astronauts," he said. 

He would rather see the country move forward, using the lessons learned from those tragic missions instead of "reinventing the wheel" with spacecraft that are similar to early capsules. 

"We are doing stuff we can do because it is easy," he said.

His own personal journey from East Detroit to outer space is a textbook story of someone living the American Dream.

Linenger, the son of a Michigan Bell employee, described his hometown as  “gritty” and where he learned the importance of hard work, which led him to representing the country in space.

Dave Clark, his swim teacher, taught him self-discipline to get his head in the water and “work hard to try to accomplish goals.”

He also credited his education at the Naval Academy, which helped him get through the challenges on Earth and space.

Despite his differences with the future of the program, he still plans to visit the shuttles on which he flew when they are placed in museums.

And Linenger, who was interviewed prior to the final space shuttle launch on July 8, had nothing but well wishes for the Atlantis crew.

"Godspeed to the crew and a great ending to great program," he said.