Greetings to Goddard from Former Employee in Space

	Astronaut Piers J. Sellers, STS-112 mission specialist, is pictured on the aft flight deck of the Space Shuttle Atlantis.

Space Shuttle mission STS 112 came to successful conclusion today with Atlantis touching down on the runway at the Kennedy Space Center at 11:44 a.m. STS-112 returns home following an 11-day mission to install and activate the S1 (S-One) Truss onto the International Space Station, which required three spacewalks. The crew also transferred cargo and supplies to the station that will be used primarily by the next resident crew of the station -- Expedition Six -- scheduled to arrive at the station on the next shuttle mission of Endeavour next month.

Following Atlantis's successful launch on Oct.7, Center Director A.V. Diaz sent the following message to one of the crew members aboard the flight, former Goddard employee Dr. Piers Sellers, on behalf of the Center.

Piers Sellers,
On behalf of your friends and colleagues at the Goddard Space Flight Center, I wanted to congratulate you on your first Space Shuttle mission. You made a number of significant contributions to the mission of NASA while you were at Goddard. Now, as part of Atlantis's crew, you will be involved in a vital mission to expand on the capabilities of the International Space Station, and we couldn't be more proud. You represent for us the unique blend of researcher, explorer, role model. You offer the vision of a single NASA interest, using the environment of space to answer questions that will inspire the next generation. Thank you for your hard effort and work. We here at Goddard are following your mission with extreme interest. I would be particularly interested to hear your thoughts on what it's like for an Earth scientist to see our planet for the first time not through the lenses or detectors of a spacecraft, but with your own eyes. It has to be an awesome and inspiring view. I hope the EVA planners have carved out a few minutes for you to just look at the Earth during one of your spacewalks - I know how deeply you care about our planet, and I'm sure you can't wait to see it from that spectacular vantage point. I hope when you get back home, you can come back to Goddard and tell us about your mission - I'm sure it would be a fantastic story. Piers, we are extremely proud of you, and please extend to Commander Ashby and the rest of your crew our sincere wishes for a safe and successful mission.

A. V. Diaz

Thursday afternoon, as the crew was preparing for the trip home, Dr. Sellers sent a message back to his friends and colleagues at Goddard. Click here http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/Sellers.mp3 to listen to his message.