celebration is bittersweet

Celebrating the final space shuttle crew

The final space shuttle crew, from left: Commander Chris Ferguson, pilot DougHurley, mission specialist Sandy Magnus and mission specialist Rex Walheim
Photo by Sarah Rufca
The crowd welcoming the astronauts home to Houston filled the hangar atEllington Field.
Photo by Sarah Rufca
Shuttle commander Chris Ferguson presents Mayor Annise Parker and Senator KayBailey Hutchison with a banner commemorating Houston's role as the first wordspoken from the moon.
Photo by Sarah Rufca
Senator Hutchison told the crowd that she had fought to "put this last missionon the books," and quoted John F. Kennedy on the importance of spaceflight inAmerica.
Photo by Sarah Rufca
"Houston is Johnson Space Center, and Johnson Space Center is Houston," Parkertold the astronauts.
Photo by Sarah Rufca
The STS-135 crew stands for the Star-Spangled Banner
Photo by Sarah Rufca

Hundreds of Houstonians braved the July heat and the trek to Ellington Field, southwest of Houston, on Friday to welcome home the quartet of astronauts returning from the final space shuttle mission.

The STS-135 crew — Commander Chris Ferguson, Doug Hurley, Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim — entered the full airplane hangar to Stars and Stripes Forever and extended applause and cheers from the crowd.

"We want to keep this a celebration," said Ferguson, "but there are going to be challenges."

The crowd remained upbeat, however, many savoring their last chance to take in a mission firsthand. NASA fans Jennifer Withey and Marcia Neuman, along with sons Caden and Justin, told CultureMap they waited nearly an hour and a half in the afternoon heat to get their front row spot on the rope line. But the trip to Ellington was a footnote to a 23-hour drive to Florida specifically made to see the space shuttle Atlantis take off.

"It's been my dream to be a part of NASA, I always wanted to be an astronaut," said Withey. "I had to see a launch when I got the chance."

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison took to the stage and quoted John F. Kennedy's speech on going to the moon, delivered in Houston in 1962. "It's the end of an era but not the end of Americans going into space," she said to applause.

Ferguson presented Houston Mayor Annise Parker and the city of Houston with a folded banner that had been taken along on the shuttle flight that celebrated the city's role in the history of the space program, noting that Houston would always be the first word spoken in space.

Each astronaut spoke to thank their families, the NASA team that supported the mission and the fans. Ferguson read the text of a commemorative plaque left onboard the International Space Station and shared that the crew had taken the original American flag from the first shuttle flight 30 years ago to the station as well — to be left onboard until Americans return in an American spacecraft.

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Self-driving Roller Coaster

More self-driving cars expected to roll out in Austin for 2025

Photo courtesy of Waymo via KVUE

Various brands offering self-driving cars are on-and-off in Austin.

Expect to see more self-driving rideshare vehicles, also known as robotaxis, on Austin roads next year.

Robotaxi company Waymo, which you may have already seen on Austin's roads, is partnering with Uber. At some point next year, customers will be able to use the Uber app to call a self-driving ride.

Austin-based company Avride is in the testing phase and plans to roll out its robotaxis next year.

Currently, Volkswagen ADMT and Amazon's Zoox are in the testing phase in Austin, while Hyundai's Motional is in the mapping phase.

Last year, robotaxi company Cruise paused operations in Austin after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the company's permits to operate driverless vehicles in the state. And last week, General Motors said it would no longer fund the company because of the time and resources needed.

This way of getting around has come with its safety concerns and issues. The city is tracking those concerns. According to the Transportation Department, the problems span from blocking the roads and parking in front of people's homes for weeks with lights beaming through their windows, to actual wrecks.

Since July 2023, robotaxis have been involved in 75 incidents. Only 21 of those incidents happened in 2024. It's important to note that Cruise has not been operating in Austin this year.

Since July 2023, driverless rideshare vehicles have been involved in 22 near collisions, eight collisions and seven instances where driverless taxis ignored directions from the Austin Police Department (APD).

According to the data, at least four of those Austin police incidents happened in recent months. The issues varied from driving through police checkpoints, to malfunctioning and getting stuck at an APD road closure near pedestrians, causing safety concerns.

A Waymo spokesperson said their vehicles have gesture recognition capabilities, which they've been training APD officers on using.

As the report shows, sometimes it does not work and Waymo said it is working to improve that. The spokesperson said that as of just last week, Waymo's First Responder Program has been independently verified by TÜV SÜD, making Waymo the first autonomous vehicle (AV) company to receive third-party validation for our emergency response protocols. They also said the data to date indicates the Waymo Driver is already reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where the company currently operates.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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