Gaffney Native Makes Impressive “Endeavour”
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By Chris Cato
Anchor / Reporter
Published: November 18, 2008
With the launch of space shuttle Endeavour on Friday, Charlene Blackwell-Thompson became NASA’s first female test director.
Blackwell-Thompson is a native of Gaffney, graduating from Gaffney High School in 1983 and from Clemson University in 1988 with a degree in computer engineering. She went to work for NASA in 2004 after working as a NASA contractor for Boeing.
Her parents, Johnny and Judy Blackwell, still live in Gaffney and were there at Kennedy Space Center on Friday for their only child’s historic moment.
The test director is responsible for checking all systems prior to launch and then officially initiating blast-off by pressing the launch button. As Johnny put it, “she’s the person who mashes the button that lights the biggest candle in the world!“
To hear her proud parents describe the nervous moments leading up the launch and the joyous moments after, click on the “play” icon on the video tab above.
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Posted by ( Clemsontigergrl04 ) on November 18, 2008 at 7:19 pm
I was glad to hear that everything went great during the shuttle launch. My kids and I watched it live on the NASA website. I am sure the parents are very proud of their daughter.
I am sure Charlene was glad to have her family (Joey, Nancy, Trey & Margaret) by her side also. They are from Gaffney and made the trip to spend time with Charlene and to experience the first “lady” to ever launch a space shuttle. Nancy talked about making this trip for months. She was very excited for Charlene and her family!!
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