Tweeting, Woman Wins Trip to Watch Space Shuttle Atlantis Take Off

Whoever thought the world of Twitter would get you the dream of a lifetime? For a woman in Jeffersonville, Georgia, Twitter made her dreams a reality.

Patty Cleveland follows NASA’s ‘Tweetup’ on Twitter. By following ‘Tweetup’, and then filling out an application, Cleveland beat out more than 5,000 fellow tweeters to watch the shuttle Atlantis embark on what could be its final mission. 150 people from around the world were randomly selected to take part in being able to watch the mission, and get a behind the scenes tour of Kennedy Space Center. 

“I really didn’t think I had a chance. Because they said there’s 5,500 people that applied, I thought there’s no way,” Cleveland said.

Cleveland’s fascination with NASA began in high school. Her 9th grade science teacher brought in a telescope to class, and as the saying goes, the rest is history.

“He got us really involved in following NASA and learning about the shuttle program and the different space stations….I’ve just followed it ever since,” Cleveland says.

Now, Mrs. Cleveland is a teacher in Twiggs County, Georgia. Her students convinced her to start tweeting so they could stay in touch. She thought it was just ‘another fad the kids were going through.’

But now, tweeting about NASA, will put her as close as a person can get to the shuttle without being one of the astronauts inside.

“We’ll go, they’ll put us on a bus, they’ll take us out to the press site, and we’ll get to watch the launch with all of the media from all over the world that will be there for the last launch.”

And what will Cleveland be doing while down at the Kennedy Space Center? Of course, she’ll be tweeting all about it.