Space Shuttle Launch
 

Sorry for the OT post, but I just can't resist.

Yesterday, flying home (via EWR) from NAU on CO 698 I actually saw the space shuttle launch!

Pilot annouced before we left the gate that due to STS-129 launching at 2:28 Eastern, we would need to hang back at the gate and then take an inland route to EWR. He followed that by saying, "But the good news is, if this thing gets airborne, we will have one heck of a view."

Sure enough, the pilot was true to his word. Even dipped the wing so we could get a better view out the window! I can't believe I have scratched that one off the bucket list already!

Sorry, no pics. :( TV does not do it justice, though. That fireball is BRIGHT!

And in other news...miles have posted already for the outbound (which was on the 13th).^

"That is SO cool!"

Kind of like this?

EXACTLY like that! Funny, that flight was from NAU as well, although a couple of years ago. My POV was slightly better...just outside the window, so to speak, as opposed to that far behind the plane.

Wish I could find that certificate I once had from AC confirming that I had a booking on one of their first flights to the moon! Back when Armstrong did his moon walk -- later copied by one MJ -- most airlines actually took reservations for flights to the moon. Even issued certs to confirm the bookings. Like those square inches of the Yukon we used to get in Shredded Wheat boxes back in the 50s...

I went to Disneyland in August and while I was there I heard they were lauching the Space Shuttle. I was so excited! Then I found out they were launching at midnight so I was 10 times more excited. I've heard the night time launch was amazing so I couldn't wait.
I put my husband in the car and told him we were going for Ice Cream ( If I told him the REAL reason I was going to drive an hour in the middle of the night in a strange city, he wouldn't of came)

It was AMAZING! we went to a place called Titus and watched it launch at 11:59pm. I even filled with tears as I watched it soar into the sky. The sound of the fuel was amazing and I could feel the vibrations in my lungs. After a very short time the shuttle just looked like a star in the night sky. We got back in the car and drove back to Orlando with a big smile on my face the entire ride back.

AMAZING. I'm glad you got to see it as well.

Saw it from Leesburg - about 120 miles NW of launch. This is my second launch I've seen but the skies were much clearer then when I saw a launch earlier in the year from Disney.

Folks,

I've worked in the space program since 1976, a lot of that time being in the launch operations area. I NEVER get tired of launches. If you ever get a chance to watch a launch of any kind from the Cape or Vandenberg, it's something you won't forget.

I'll tell you, though, whenever I watch a Shuttle lift-off, I still count up in my head from 1-132. (132 is the number of seconds the solid rocket boosters burn.) As we all saw during the Challenger launch failure, the crew cannot escape while the solids are burning. Several years ago, I was talking to a senior NASA official I know fairly well who had a console position for Shuttle launches. When I told him I still counted to 132, he said, "Me, too."

Night launches are amazing. But to be picky,

Disneyworld, perhaps?

Titusville

This never gets old. I live in Mass and timed a few vacations around Shuttle launches.

I've had the pleasure of seeing two day time and two night time launches. I don't think you can ever get the full appreciation of this experience until you see it live and feel the thrust reverberating through the air. Exhilarating.

The stunning part is when you walk back to your car (once it's out of eye site < 5minutes) and turn on the NASA channel and find out the Shuttle 5k miles down range approaching the African Coast.

Amazing.

Way back in 1992, I drove out towards KSC to try to watch the morning launch of Atlantis flying STS-46. the road from Orlando to the KSC area was still a country highway then rather than the expressway that it was now. Slow traffic meant I got to see the shuttle after liftoff from the car still a few miles out.

Is there a radio station at the Cape that broadcasts the NASA audio feed? I'm asking because I think I'll be down there for a shuttle launch in March.

It's been a while, but I found it.

Local radio station WMMB provides launch coverage on AM 1240 and AM 1350.


http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/...w_shuttle.html

As a native Floridian, I never get tired of seeing launches. I've been fortunate to get as close as 2-3 miles from the pad (due to working as a member of the local media) to see a launch. Truely spectacular.

For anyone who hasn't seen a launch yet but wants to, you'll need to make plans within the next year as there's only 5 launches remaining if NASA doesn't get funding to extend the current program.

You can also hook up to the NASA TV streaming broadcast from a laptop. Another great website is Spaceflightnow.com. They have a running blog of the countdown as well as their own streaming video.

FYI, all of the launches are going to the ISS, which is at a 53 degree inclination. The Shuttles launch northeastward at about 53 degrees. So, if you hang out in Titusville, and watch it from across the river, it will fly from right to left during ascent, so you will see it for a longer time. If you're in Cocoa Beach or Cape Canaveral, it will fly away from you and you'll be looking up the business end of the solids watching smoke.

I watched a night launch from Daytona a few months ago. That was pretty amazing. I was shocked it went from right to left... I just assumed straight up. ;)

Great experience!

I am from México and I'd like to see it one day.

Congratulations. =)

I forgot to mention about a couple of other interesting aspects of a shuttle launch. The first happens on the pad at liftoff. The three main engines light at about T-8 seconds. Since the nozzles are at an angle, the thrust actually bends the vehicle in the direction of the thrust. This is called the "Shuttle Twang." The Shuttle is held down by four explosive bolts on each of the solid rocket boosters. If you can find a close-up launch video, you can see the twang clearly at the tip of the external tank. It deflects about 36". Ignition of the solids and liftoff is timed when the tip of the tank is coming back through vertical. Then, at liftoff, since the liquid engines are at an angle, they cause a slight horizontal trajectory of the vehicle. The best way to see this effect is to watch a launch video and compare the flight path of the vehicle and the fixed service structure (i.e.: "gantry"). You can clearly see the vehicle "walking" horizontally as it starts its ascent.

You won't see the twang and the walking from anywhere in the public areas. But, you can see the early stages of the ascent trajectory. For about 30 seconds, the Shuttle ascends vertically in lofted trajectory. This is designed to give the pilots enough altitude in order to do a early ascent abort (theoretically). It's also to allow the vehicle to be tracked by radars and to be seen by the command destruct transmitter antennas. After the loft is completed, the Shuttle does a roll maneuver and actually pitches down to gain airspeed. Then, the crew rides "heads down" into orbit.

...only 5 more times to watch all of this...

I wonder if NASA give out frequent flyer points? And are they a part of OneWorld or *A? :D

No, absolutely not. They doesn't usually the frequent fliers program. I would agreeable with you this. Maybe someday in the future if they are joins into the alliance.

Also, I would loves to be in the space. I want to leave from Earth. I want to be in orbit. I can see explorer more planet & the moon. Do you know how much costly is that? I want go on the space shuttle to leave from the Earth.

I know that the Russians will fly space tourists to the ISS via their Soyuz spacecraft. I believe the cost is about USD $50,000. You have to go through some level of training. The biggest constraint is that you can't be taller than about 5'6" and fit into a Soyuz spacecraft.

I'm 6' 0" tall and I tried to fit into a Soyuz mock-up at Energia Corporation in Russia several years ago. If my butt was in the seat, my feet were cramped against the instrument panel. If my feet were on the floor, I was about 18" out the hatch. So, I'm not a candidate for travel to the ISS.

If you're "vertically challenged" and have the bucks, I'm confident the Russians would be willing to talk to you.

Or $25,000,000.

SpaceShipOne (X Prize winner), or Virgin Galactic are aiming to bring a version (60+ miles) to tourists for under something in the 20K range.

When we lived in So. Cal the shuttle was coming in to Edwards over a holiday weekend. Memorial Day, I think. It came in over my left shoulder and we could hear them talking over the scanner. There were scads of people in the desert and one large RV had a God Bless America banner. At one end of the desert people started to sing God Bless America and it rolled right across the land. I still get goose bumps when I think about it. Absolutely amazing and I would love to see a launch one of these days.

Here's hoping they fund the program, we've gotten so many benefits from it already.

STS-129 video highlights as compiled by the SE&I imagery team here at JSC from all of the ground, air, ET and SRB assets.

http://www.vimeo.com/7852885

It doesn't necessarily have to be a Shuttle to be impressive. Several years ago I watched an Atlas rocket launch at 2 am from the parking lot of my hotel in Melbourne (FL). Even the smaller rocket lights up the sky like the dawn.

Then, a few years later, I was at a conference on Kiawah Island, SC. We had just commenced a "social hour" facing the beach, right at dusk. The sky was already deep blue in the east, and the minimal clouds were pink in the west. Then we saw a vertical cloud in the south, spotlit by the sun which had just set. And it (the cloud) was getting taller, fast. It was frankly a little disconcerting until I recalled having heard the news broadcast earlier in the day that had mentioned plans for a shuttle launch. Then it became one of those amazing moments of grandeur and beauty that you never forget.

As the shuttle climbed into the dark sky we could just make out a tiny flame at the top of the cloud. From our distant vantage point, we got a good impression of how quickly it starts to make its way across the Atlantic. It still amazes me how clear a view we had, nearly 300 miles away.