Astronaut launches are returning to the U.S. For each, this family sends NASA roses

For every U.S. mission with NASA astronauts, a family from Texas has sent a bouquet of roses to NASA's Mission Control Center to show support to those who keep the astronauts safe.

Transcript

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NASA and the private rocket company SpaceX are set to send four astronauts to the International Space Station. They'll launch Sunday morning from the Kennedy Space Center. It is the fifth human launch from the U.S. since the end of the Space Shuttle program in 2011. And one Texas family is continuing a tradition of sending roses to NASA flight directors in Houston as a symbol of support. From member station WMFE, Brendan Byrne brings us the story of the mission control bouquet.

BRENDAN BYRNE, BYLINE: Mark Shelton isn't a part of NASA. He never worked for the agency, but he's a lifelong fan.

MARK SHELTON: I would love to be involved in the space program. I always wanted to be an astronaut.

BYRNE: He watched NASA from the beginning, from the first human space flights of the Mercury program to the Apollo missions to the Moon. He followed the shuttle program through 1986 and the launch of Challenger.

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RONALD REAGAN: Today is a day for mourning.

BYRNE: President Ronald Reagan addressed the nation the same day the shuttle exploded after liftoff, killing all seven on board.

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REAGAN: Nancy and I are pained to the core over the tragedy of the Shuttle Challenger. We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss.

BYRNE: NASA investigated the tragedy and resumed flying the shuttle 2 1/2 years later.

SHELTON: I wanted a personal way to let them know that the public is aware of what's going on and that they are appreciated.

BYRNE: Shelton, his then wife, Terry and daughter MacKenzie decided to send a bouquet of roses. Mark called a florist near NASA's Johnson Space Center and ordered six roses, five for each of the astronauts returning on Space Shuttle Discovery's mission - the first since the Challenger accident - and one white rose to represent the lives lost. He wasn't sure it would even get to mission control, let alone on time. He watched the landing while having lunch, then returned to work.

SHELTON: Phone rang on my desk.

BYRNE: It was a NASA flight controller.

SHELTON: And I was just - I was in shock. I couldn't believe it. I think, they're busy. They've got so much to do. How can they possibly be calling me?

BYRNE: The roses made it, and they wouldn't be the last. For 23 more years, Mark Shelton continued the tradition during the Space Shuttle program. Paul Dye was in mission control for that first bouquet and went on to be the longest-serving flight director in NASA history.

PAUL DYE: It meant that there were people out there who paid attention and that were interested not only in the flights and the vehicle and the crew and the mission, but that understood that there were a vast number of people on the ground supporting them and caring for them, and that affected us.

BYRNE: NASA's Mission Control Center is responsible for the safety of every mission and the astronauts on the International Space Station. It's a highly trained group. And Dye says while they're not superstitious, they come to rely on certain things like the roses from the Shelton family.

DYE: They kind of became a de facto distant members of the team.

BYRNE: The Sheltons sent over 100 bouquets to NASA's Mission Control Center, including 14 white roses for the last space shuttle flight, symbolizing the lives lost in both the 1986 Challenger explosion and the 2003 Columbia accident. Mark Shelton says they do this because there are people outside of NASA rooting for the flight directors.

SHELTON: If they were looking at those flowers, they were looking at the number of people that - whose lives were in their hands. That white rose is a pretty stark reminder that people have lost their lives in the space program.

BYRNE: He says every card that accompanies the flowers says something different, but it's always signed the same. Godspeed - Mark, Terry and MacKenzie.

For NPR news, I'm Brendan Byrne in Orlando.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.