YAY! After months of plotting and planning, I was finally able to see a space shuttle launch. The mission that went up today was STS-133.
I arrived at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) at approximately 8:00 in the morning, armed only with a parking pass, but no ticket to actually see the launch. Fortunately, I was able to get onto the grounds of the KSC using my annual pass (yes, I have an annual pass- if that makes me a nerd, so be it). I would have been perfectly content to watch the launch from the visitor center complex, but I managed to scam a bus ticket to the causeway directly across from the launch pad. This is the best place that a non-VIP like myself can view a launch, start to finish. If I had remained at the visitor center complex, I would not have been able to see the shuttle until it cleared the trees. The causeway tickets had been sold out for months so it was a miracle I was able to get one. I was on one of the very last buses out.
Buses and cars lined the causeway for miles.
NASA piped in the communication feed so the crowd could hear the countdown. It turned out to be pretty dramatic as there was one critical monitoring system that wasn't functioning. The countdown was put on hold for several minutes so the issue could be resolved. It was literally down to the last possible moment the launch could be delayed without being scrubbed for the day before the problem was solved and the launch was given the go-ahead. Phew. It was a real nail-biter.
Below are my pictures of the 4:53 p.m. launch. They aren't great photos since one would need a telephoto lens and a certain level of expertise that I don't have. But hey, at least the event is documented. And this is what it basically looked like from my vantage point since I didn't really use the zoom feature on my camera because it tends to blur the images.
It was an interesting experience watching a launch live- satisfying and thrilling, but very different from what you see on TV or video clips. It wasn't as loud as I expected and it went by very quickly. I was alternating between snapping pictures and taking in the view and didn't feel like I did justice to either activity. I'm already planning on attending the next shuttle launch in April so I can just take in the experience without the distraction of taking photos.
I had heard traffic getting out of the KSC was a nightmare, but didn't really catch the vision until I attempted to leave. Below is a picture of the bus returning us to the KSC. You can already see the cars lining up to exit the parking lot. I waited two hours after the launch before leaving and it still took me two hours just to drive a few miles north to Titusville where I wanted to eat at one of my favorite restaurants. I left Titusville at about 11:00 p.m. and traffic was still bad. I limped into Orlando at about 1:00 a.m.
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