From Window Magazine: 'Down to Earth'

Weightless and untethered in the vastness of outer space, astronaut George “Pinky” Nelson maneuvered toward the errant satellite for the world’s first in-orbit satellite repair.

The date was April 11, 1984, but Nelson’s trip into space had really begun back in 1957 when the Soviets’ Sputnik 1 soared over him and his Illinois farm town. The 7-year-old boy was already dreaming of the stars after gaping at a two-tailed comet through binoculars from a neighbor’s back porch. But the sight of a Soviet satellite ringing the planet galvanized the U.S. into pouring billions into science research and development; the Space Race to dominate the skies launched Nelson’s career as an astronaut.

Back in Mission Control, a room full of nervous engineers and Cold War-era military brass watched on screens as Nelson inched closer to the satellite. His colleagues on the Challenger space shuttle, trained test pilots who wished to God they were out there instead of the red-haired astrophysicist tooling around in a real-life jetpack, crowded together to peek at Nelson through a window.

He moved forward, nice and stable like in the simulations back on Earth. The satellite was rolling ever-so-slowly; he moved the Manned Maneuvering Unit to dock onto the satellite.

And bounced right off. Twice. Nelson grabbed the solar array, but the darn thing wouldn’t stop rolling through space.

Read the rest of this story on the website for Window Magazine.