Space Shuttle Trainer for The Associated Press

While attending the Eddie Adams Workshop, my outstanding Team Turquoise leaders awarded me with an assignment with The Associated Press. I cashed it in this past weekend with an afternoon spent photographing the one and only NASA Space Shuttle Trainer at Seattle's Museum of Flight. Pretty amazing experience; every astronaut that ever left the Earth's atmosphere for the great beyond had trained in the cramped, stuffy cockpit that I photographed in that morning. The big, wooden replica now sits in a permanent exhibit in south Seattle. Do yourself a favor and go feast your eyeballs on a slice of retired space history. Thanks to Santiago Lyon, Emilio Morenatti, Natan Dvir, Ted Warren and Elaine Thompson for the chance and help at the assignment. Enjoy a couple of little moments from my time with the trainer.

Layne Benofsky, 40, checks his email on his phone while inside the NASA Space Shuttle Trainer, Saturday, Nov. 10, 2012, in the Charles Simonyi Space Gallery at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. An employee of the Museum of Flight, Benofsky took on the role of mascot for the day's events. The trainer, which was built in the 1970s and used to train every space shuttle astronaut over three decades, opened to the public Saturday and will remain a part of the museum's permanent exhibits. (AP Photo/Jordan Stead)

A mock astronaut, right, greets children with free posters at the moment of opening the NASA Space Shuttle Trainer exhibit for public access, Saturday, Nov. 10, 2012, in the Simonyi Space Gallery at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. The trainer, which was built in the 1970s and used to train every space shuttle astronaut over three decades, opened to the public Saturday and will remain a part of the museum's permanent exhibits. (AP Photo/Jordan Stead)

Wilmer Dursteler, left, squeezes his way out of a flight simulator at the foot of the NASA Space Shuttle
Trainer, Saturday, Nov. 10, 2012, in the Charles Simonyi Space Gallery at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. Dursteler had come from southern California to view the trainer. The trainer, which was built in the 1970s and used to train every space shuttle astronaut over three decades, opened to the public Saturday and will remain a part of the museum's permanent exhibits. (AP Photo/Jordan Stead)

Trinity Johansen, 9, pauses to tie her shoe beneath a timeline of human space travel at the NASA Space Shuttle Trainer exhibit, Saturday, Nov. 10, 2012, in the Charles Simonyi Space Gallery at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. The trainer, which was built in the 1970s and used to train every space shuttle astronaut over three decades, opened to the public Saturday and will remain a part of the museum's permanent exhibits. (AP Photo/Jordan Stead)

Ron Donaglia, center, formerly of the U.S. Air Force, climbs from the NASA Space Shuttle Trainer, Saturday, Nov. 10, 2012, in the Charles Simonyi Space Gallery at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. The trainer, which was built in the 1970s and used to train every space shuttle astronaut over three decades, opened to the public Saturday and will remain a part of the museum's permanent exhibits. (AP Photo/Jordan Stead)

Amanda Plemmons shows off her custom-made space shawl while exploring the NASA Space Shuttle Trainer exhibit, Saturday, Nov. 10, 2012, in the Charles Simonyi Space Gallery at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. "Standing inside the trainer and looking up; it's almost as good as being there," Plemmons said. The trainer, which was built in the 1970s and used to train every space shuttle astronaut over three decades, opened to the public Saturday and will remain a part of the museum's permanent exhibits. (AP Photo/Jordan Stead)