The Spirit of 12 in Space

Discovery shuttle pilot & Seahawks fan Tony Antonelli; (Video) Tony on being a Seahawks fans and piloting the Discovery.


	Discovery liftoff; Tony Antonelli; the Discovery crew

The Seahawks Spirit of 12 has reached some lofty heights in recent times: the summits of Mt. Everest and Mt. Rainier immediately come to mind. But with the launch of the space shuttle Discovery (STS-119) on Sunday, March 15, the Spirit of 12 ascended beyond Earth itself. In orbit during its 12-day mission was shuttle pilot and Seahawks fan Tony Antonelli, who just happened to pack a Seahawks 12 flag along for the ride.

Antonelli (Commander, USN) became a Seahawks fan courtesy his wife, who is from Puyallup and is from a household of Seahawks fans. With the launch date approaching, Tony got in touch with the Seahawks Community Relations Dept. to see about taking something along for the ride, and the team gladly sent him the flag. Tony promises to get a photo of himself holding the 12 flag, and Seahawks fans can look forward to seeing it posted here on Spiritof12.com in the near future.

"I am fascinated with the whole Spirit of 12 thing," said Tony. "We here at NASA preach all the time that everything is a team effort. You hear about some of us and the work we do, but it’s really a giant team. I am excited about the concept of Spirit of 12."

The Seahawks 12 flag travelled 202 Earth orbits, which was 5,313,565 miles. The flag had a maximum altitude of 226 miles and a maximum speed of 17,685 miles per hour. The Discovery's total flight duration was 12 days, 19 hours, 29 minutes and 33 seconds.

"Thanks for sending the flag and participating," adds Tony. "It made the mission even that much more special."

August 2009: Tony and the 12 flag posing with a T-38 Talon at Elington Field in Houston, Texas.

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