Just like many people, our friend Col. Timothy Kopra watched the first astronauts walk on the moon in July 1969.

Like many children, he dreamed of being an astronaut. What he didn’t know is that 40 years later almost to the day that Apollo 11 lifted off to go to the moon he would be on the Space Shuttle Endeavour on mission STS-127.
He also didn’t know that 40 years later he would be doing his first EVA (extra-vehicular activity or “spacewalk”) to help attach Japan’s Kibo laboratory to the International Space Station (ISS) or that he would be a part of history when his crew arrived at the International Space Station to total 13 people in space, the most ever at one time.
We have known our friend Tim since we attended elementary, middle and high school together in Austin. We knew him as he worked to make his way from McCallum High School into the United States Military Academy at West Point. We lost touch with him as he flew Apache helicopters in Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield and got married and had two children.
Fortunately we reconnected with him in 2000 and rekindled the friendship we had formed as teenagers. That year, Tim was selected as an astronaut and has spent the last several years serving as a U.S. Army officer at NASA, completing Army War College, becoming fluent in Russian, training as a Mission Specialist and Flight Engineer and being a good friend, husband and father. He is now aboard the ISS as one of Expedition 20’s flight engineers.
Tim was raised in Austin but definitely has some ties to Lakeway. He told us on a recent call from space that he could actually see Lake Travis as the ISS passed over Austin in one of its 90-minute orbits of our Earth. Many people in Lakeway have had the opportunity to meet Tim. He has spoken to our children’s elementary school classes on several occasions including a special lecture to our daughter’s Discoveries class at Johnson Space Center in Houston. Many of our children’s teachers have autographed photos of Tim in their classrooms so his face has been seen by many of the students/faculty/staff who are a part of LTISD. He has attended our son’s Lake Travis Pop Warner football games and he and his family have just “hung out” at our house on Lake Travis with our Lakeway friends many, many times.
On Tuesday, June 9, after our daughter attended HBMS Pom Squad/Cheer Camp, we loaded our family into the car and headed to Cape Canaveral to watch our dear friend’s launch. After 20 hours in the car, celebrating our daughter’s 12th birthday in Florida, waving at the astronauts “across the ditch”, my husband Jay having dinner with the STS-127 crew, attending a huge reception of people from all walks of Tim’s life, watching a lot of NASA TV, and spending quality time with the Kopra family (minus Tim who was in quarantine), it was finally time to watch the launch. The 1st attempt to launch was on Saturday, June 13 at 7:19 a.m. We were honored to be on the “family bus” with mostly family and a few close friends.
At 3 a.m. as we were about to walk out the door to head to Kiwanis Island to board our bus for the launch, when we got the text from Tim’s wife Dawn saying that the mission was scrubbed (postponed) because of a hydrogen leak in the external fuel tank. Later that day, we attended what was supposed to be a “post launch” party but was really a “post scrubbed launch” party.
We found out that then the Endeavour was scheduled to launch a few days later… now at 5:40 a.m. Because we had to leave our condo around 2 a.m., we decided to stay awake, visit with Tim’s friends and family, watch the fueling of the tanks on NASA TV and then leave to board the busses. About the time the tank was to be filled with 500,000 gallons of fuel, a thunderstorm blew in causing the fueling of the tanks to be delayed. Just at the right moment, the storm blew past and the tanks began to fuel. As the tanks neared the 98 percent full mark, the hydrogen leak happened again.
We were sad for Tim but happy that NASA’s utmost concern was the safety of these seven astronauts. At about 3 a.m., we got a call from Tim that he was released from quarantine and was coming to join our party of family and friends! It was very special to get to see Tim, and something no one had expected because of his quarantine. The following day after spending a week in Florida, everyone headed back to their homes across the U.S. and Canada with the hopes of being back in Cape Canaveral again soon.
In the weeks that followed, Tim spent time at work at NASA and with his family in Houston and then the hydrogen leak was repaired on the external tank and the Space Shuttle Endeavour and mission STS 127 was good to go… again! Around July 6, many of us loaded up our families and made our way to Cape Canaveral once again. We were excited to see the launch scheduled for the evening of Saturday, July 11.
Once again we spent some fun times with STS-127 crew families and friends including other astronauts, hung out at the beach, enjoyed some pre-launch parties and this time we celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary/pre-launch party with some “old” friends and some “new found” friends. The excitement was building as we were about to attend a pre-launch party before leaving for Kiwanis Island to board our bus for the launch. At the moment the party was about to begin, we got the message that the launch pad had received several lightning strikes during the prior night’s storm. NASA had to assess the damage to the shuttle and make sure that there was nothing that could adversely affect the launch of the Endeavour. After NASA was assured that there was no damage to the shuttle or the external tanks, the Endeavour was once again cleared to launch. During the next two attempts, we boarded the family bus with a group of people which was a bit smaller now because some couldn’t stay for these next launch attempts. At the nine-minute hold on attempts number 4 and 5 the launch was scrubbed again. This time the scrubs were related to inclement weather within a twenty mile radius of the launch pad.
On July 15, we went to Dawn’s room to watch the astronauts “suit up”…again…
After we witnessed Dawn getting a quick phone call from Tim at the 195 feet level on launch pad 39A before he entered Endeavour with the rest of the crew, we quickly hurried to Kiwanis Island to board the family bus for the third time (sixth attempt). We didn’t know if this would be the final time or if we were destined to be in Florida all summer waiting on the launch to happen.
As we passed the nine-minute hold, the excitement began to build. We all knew that it was really going to happen this time and that our sweet friend Tim was going to fulfill his life-long dream and go into space where only 502 people have been. Our hearts were racing and then it came time for the final 10-second countdown. It was surreal as the rockets were ignited and the steam started to rise. Then there was the breathtaking sight of lift-off. All I could think was, “Wow, there is a lot of fire, that is a huge rocket and my friend Tim is attached to it!” We watched as Endeavour lifted off and we felt the sound as it vibrated through our bodies. We breathed a sigh of relief as the solid rocket boosters separated from Endeavour and when we were told that the crew of the STS-127 was safely in orbit. We cried, we hugged Tim’s mom, siblings and friends and we celebrated the fact that Tim was finally where he wanted to be. He was fulfilling his life-long dream. That is something not many of us get to do. That evening there was a big celebration of the astronauts’ families and friends where we all swapped stories and felt great pride that the STS-127 crewmembers were on their way to the ISS. The next day, it was time to get on the road and make the 20-hour trek back to Lakeway.
It was bittersweet to leave “The Cape” after such a special summer vacation but we had to quickly get home in time to watch Tim do his very first EVA on flight day four. In the weeks that have followed, we have received several calls & emails from Tim. We have been assured that “Life is very good on Space Station”. Tim explains in an email to our son, “We’re working pretty hard and have long days, but all six of us feel very privileged to be here. Everyday, we have a full schedule, conducting maintenance, setting up science experiments, working out, taking photos, and lots of other tasks.’ Based on the calls from the ISS and these emails, we know that all is well over 225 miles above the earth.
Recently our family had the opportunity to attend the live video-conference between Tim and the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum where some Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) and other Austin students were able to ask him some questions. We were honored to meet a few more astronauts (by now we have met over a dozen since we were in Cape Canaveral so long) and to meet Tim’s second grade teacher, Ann Glass!
STS-128 Shuttle Discovery launched on Aug. 28. Discovery will bring another piece of the ISS to assemble, more experiments and Expedition 20/21 crewmember Nicole Stott to replace Tim. If all goes according to plan, Tim and the STS-128 crew will land on Sept. 10. This would mean that Tim will have spent 57 days in space, 53 of them aboard the ISS. We have spent nine years asking Tim pre-flight questions. We can’t wait to now spend some quality time with our dear friend, looking at his photos and finding out what it was really like to be one of the few people who have lived on the International Space Station.
Submitted by MARLA HILLER
(Editor’s note: It is rare that we run an article in “first person,” but in this instance, we feel this is a story told best that way.)