our japan correspondent roland burke is there. roland? >> the grind was actually lowered by the earthquake. it means that at high tide, the sea can come in here, and fish where hopes and businesses once stood. it's one of the huge problems that the people here face. for the scavengers along japan's coast, these last few months have brought a bounty. the cleanup is now under way, but there's much work to be done. boats are still stranded inland where they were tossed by the tsunami. the -- for rebuilding to begin, they have to be moved. they're putting it on a trailer. 96 wheels are needed to support the huge weight. and they built a special roadway ice of steel, a pathway to the sea. salvaging just this one boat is taking four days and 24r are three oh's just over there. up and down the coast, there are many more in devastated towns. this is what was the main shopping district of this town. before the tsunami swept through, smashing everything that people had. this area was absolutely full of debris. it's pretty much all been cleared away

roland burke is in miagi prefecture. >> it looks as if this tsunami could have happened yesterday, not four months ago. the land was pushed down by the earthquake. it is lower than before. at every high tide, the secana n come in. now fish are swimming around. this is one of the many problems people in this town face. for the scavengers along japan's coast, the last few months have brought a bounty. the cleanup is now underway, but there is much work to be done. boats are stranded in a land where they were tossed by the tsunami. the rebuilding to begin, they have to be moved. -- for rebuilding to begin. they are putting it on a trailer. 96 wheels are needed to support the weight. they built a special way out of steel, a pathway to the sea. salvaging just this one boat is taking four days. there are three others over there. of course, up and down the coast, there are many more in devastated towns. well, this is what was the main shopping district of this town. swept this in ae tsunami through. this area was full of debris. has been cleared away. amazing that it has been done so quickly.

roland burke, bbc news in southern japan. >> all eyes on the skies in florida for the final launch of the space shuttle. >> that's absolutely right. fingers crossed as this chapter of nasa's history draws to a close. for many who work at the kennedy space center, it's a bittersweet moment. in this first person report we hear from one veteran of the space program who reveled in his decades of duty. >> my name is paul sharp. i just retired after 45 years from working at the kennedy space center. >> and the shuttle has cleared the tower. >> all the launches that i've seen have just been always exciting. and it's a magnificent flying machine. you sit there in awe even though you've worked on them and seen them for so many years. it's still an amazing machine. when i first went out there, i worked in the environmental control system that supplied the controled air for the apollo spacecraft. >> three, two, one -- >> it was very exciting. and everybody worked there was excited to be out there. just pioneering everything we did. >> drift into the right a little. >> i was lucky enough to be ch