My First and Last Shuttle Launch

It happened. It actually happened despite only a 30% chance of success due to weather.  The final space shuttle mission ever began with a successful launch of Atlantis earlier today.

Thirty-six hours ago I never thought I would have the opportunity to witness this historic launch live, but after a sequence of events, a lot of help from my wife, my boys and I made an unexpected trip to watch the STS 135 launch.

Having never seen a shuttle in person before I had no idea what to expect. The day started out rough with a 2:45 am alarm sounding after only two hours of sleep.  This was followed by a freezing cold, three hour bus ride from Orlando to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.  The trip took three times longer than normal because of the obnoxious amount of traffic flowing into Kennedy.

Despite such a difficult start, my boys (ages six and ten) and I arrived at the Visitor Complex in high spirits. Without a moment’s hesitation we were wandering through the rocket garden, playing with the various displays, and watching the Hubble 3D movie at the IMAX theatre.  Even with all this to entertain us, we still had plenty of time for spending money in the gift shops.

Finally the time approached for the shuttle launch. Throughout the morning there seemed to be a weird feeling of trepidation floating throughout the air. In the days and even hours preceding the launch, news out of NASA was that everything was going as planned, except for the weather.  The forecast for today called for rain and possible thunderstorms.  The launch was only given a 30% chance of occurring as planned because of the weather.

All morning long clouds hung around, but no rain, no wind, and most importantly no lightning. Nevertheless, the weather could turn at any moment. So as we had our fun playing around at the Visitor Complex, there was always a worry about the launch being scrubbed.

Surprisingly the hour leading into the scheduled launch time flew by. Before we knew it the clock read 11:20, just a few minutes short of the 11:26 am launch time. From our viewing point, we couldn’t see the launch pad directly but there was a large, outdoor screen from which we could watch closeup views of what was occurring.  The moment the engines fired up, the crowd erupted in cheers. It was such a great feeling, not unlike being at a major sporting event and witnessing a record being broken. Admittedly it brought a tear to my eye because I was able to share this moment with my boys.

Within seconds the shuttle came into view as it rose above the trees that blocked our view of the launch pad. I’ve watched plenty of shuttle launches televised online and on television before, but being there live, I noticed a few things:

• Even though we were situated over seven miles away, the glowing red hot exhaust was clearly visible.
• The speed of sound is noticeably much slower than the speed of light.  It took many seconds between watching the shuttle launch and hearing the distinctly loud rumble of liftoff.
• It took very little time for the shuttle to reach an appreciable altitude. Of course, with the low lying clouds this observation is slightly skewed, but in comparing how long it takes an airplane to ascend, the shuttle took very little time to reach those clouds and to disappear high into the sky.

Seeing the shuttle successfully launch … Correct that … Seeing the last ever space shuttle launch today will be a memory I will always carry with me. More importantly, my boys enjoyed today’s events. Time will only tell if they also feel the same way as I do.

An Unexpected Trip to Watch the STS 135 Launch

It all started earlier today with a text message from my wife,

U should put the kids in the car and go see the shuttle launch.

My reply,

I’ve thought about that.

I don’t think I can get tickets though.

Being an astronomer and just a general nut about science I’ve always wanted to see a shuttle launch in person. Now that we’re at the last launch EVER, I thought I had missed my opportunity.

After receiving my wife’s initial text I admittedly searched the internet trying to find out what it took to get tickets to view a shuttle launch. According to the site Space Shuttle Launch Viewing, it seems that it takes a lot of foresight and some luck (or a lot of money). Fortunately luck was on our side.

A short time after exchanging those texts messages with my wife I got a call from her, she had found tickets through the Florida Dolphin Tours, an authorized viewing tour operator. The shortcoming was that the tickets, were for viewing the launch from the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex where the launch pad is not directly viewable. From the visitor complex the shuttle can be see shortly after liftoff and it’s close enough (at 7.4 miles form the launch pad) to experience the sound of the liftoff.  The visitor complex does have the advantage of entertainment for the kids (six and ten years old in our case) while we wait for the launch.

That was at 10:00 am today.  We live 480 miles from Orlando, where the Florida Dolphin Tours needs to pick us up.  This would mean a nine hour  that afternoon into the evening.  In a rash no brainer decision we decided to go.

We showered, packed, and were on the road in less than 90 minutes.  Sadly my wife was not able to accompany us because of work, nor did we have someone to watch the dog.  This road trip was going to be a father and sons adventure.

A short (it actually did feel short) nine hour drive later we find ourselves in an Orlando hotel. Although we have just a few hours to sleep—we have to be at the bus pickup at 4:00 am—we’re hardly able to sleep. Everyone is excited for tomorrow.