celebration is bittersweet

The end of an era: Big crowd turns out to salute 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 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 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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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”

celebration is bittersweet

The end of an era: Big crowd turns out to salute final space shuttle crew

Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

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