I am taking notes like mad! Since I am so locked into visual understanding, seeing the Space Shuttle doing stuff is like, awesome!
NASA has a video of the flip the Shuttle did today. Go to the video section of that page to find it. Or, you can view it directly (link opens into new window). It uses MS Media Player to view it.
Now I can let my imagination run with this to act as a starting place.
Jael shifted her case from one hand to the other and checked her visa yet again. With this being her first flight, she was understandably nervous.
“Don’t worry, little one, it’s just like a bumpy hover ride across a lake.” An old man patted her hand. “If you look there, you can see it docking.”
Jael turned toward the huge vid screen. Set up so it looked as if she were looking out a window, the screen’s current image was of the docking passenger shuttle, the Elisor. As she watched, the ship approached, its rear engines burping flame as it maneuvered into position. Then it began a slow twist and flip, its nose cone rising upward and to her right while the rear swung closer, exposing the underneath of the ship.
She’d once seen a beached sea creature, floating off a dock. Its white belly was a sharp contrast to the dark green water. That is what the underside of the ship reminded her of. Except the ship had burn marks and a moving iris, opening to connect to the boarding corridor.
See what I mean? I can see it now, see the white belly, the quite unpristine surface.