Been There, Done That !

STS-130
Space Shuttle Endeavour
Launch time: Feb 9th at 4:14AM
Kennedy Space Center
Launch Pad 39

Martha and Joe were there early... 8 hours prior to launch... In Titusville, Florida. There were 5 million people viewing the last launch. They were forecasting a bigger crowd for this launch since it was the last night launch scheduled.

Titusville is about 8-9 miles across the bay from Pad 39.

8 Hours prior to launch the best viewing spots that we found were pretty crowded. There were a lot of RV's parked on the grass next to the bay.

There was quite a crowd. People were very friendly. Everyone always asked where are you from and is this your first launch. It was a first launch for most people. They were from everywhere. They had driven for days, flown for hours... this was a big deal to them... and to me. We met teachers from New York, Firemen from Wisconsin. A family from Mexico with leather jackets with huge American flags on them. Germany, Ireland... England... on and on. Everybody talked to each other.

The low was forecast to be 41 degrees and it was breezy... so we headed to the car to read our books by book light. We slept and the windows fogged up... we slept... there were people everywhere sleeping in their cars. The Lexus next to us was from Ontario, and there were some old geezers in there sleeping too. It was hard to sleep because there were people walking around all night long. We felt very safe. There was an F-150 on the other side of us with a family... two little girls were sleeping in the bed of the truck. We heard laughing all around us... lots of happy people. We came to see the Space Shuttle rocketing to the stars, but the people were the stars for all but 10 minutes of the 2 days. We felt like we had found the America we used to know! I cannot understate those feelings!!

I had to laugh when I helped a 90+ year old lady get her walker over a curb so she could get to the restroom... at 3 AM... that had to be a bucket list thing... her bucket list probably didn't include using a unheated, well ventilated bathroom without toilet paper or butt gaskets... at 3 AM... at 41 degrees.

At launch time we had all huddled around trying not to block each others view... we were ready... 9 minutes prior to launch someone muttered... they scrubbed the launch for winds. I was feeling pretty dejected after traveling 1100 miles to see the launch and failing... then I heard a guy speaking German in his cell phone... felt a lot better. Cars started moving and there was instant gridlock. We anticipated that so we went back to the car and slept for 2 hours... solid. God helped a little by sending an ambulance to the condo's over to our left... put everything into perspective.

We went back to our hotel and slept some more. Had a big dinner at 3PM. Watched the Super Bowl. Checked NASA.gov... next launch attempt at 4:14 am... 60% chance of a go.



So we are a go. We are back in Titusville 4 hours prior to launch. The crowd was much thinner (due to the Super Bowl and work for some?) We found a premiere parking spot when Paul's Smokehouse opened it's parking lot at 1 am. We parked our car facing the bay. We were able to put our $11 Target folding chairs on the edge of the bay, right in front of our car. We slept. Paul's opened up on each hour so people could use the restrooms. Nice place. We found an AM radio station with launch information.

15 minutes prior to launch we bundle up (it was 41 degrees again) and sat in our chairs. The launch had been a "no-go", off and on during the night... T - 9 minutes is a big thing to NASA... time for the guys that make the big bucks to make the decision. Tonight it is a "GO".




I was not planning on taking photos... I didn't want to watch it trough a viewfinder. At the last minute I pulled out my little "Flip" video camera and held it in my lap, there is no zoom and I tried not to watch it and to make sure it is recording right... I sound very corny, but that is normal... The brightness was amazing. The sound took almost a minute to get to us... around 9 miles... People started cheering again when the sound got there. I think many people were speechless. We could see the solid fuel booster rockets separate and fall away from the Shuttle. About two and a half minutes after launch the Shuttle looked like a very bright star.

Check one off the bucket list... but... hey... I haven't seen a day Shuttle launch...

Here is a link (you will have to copy and paste to you address line) to a HD video of the launch:
http://anon.nasa-global.edgesuite.net/qt.nasa-global/ksc/ksc_020810_sts130_launch_720p.mov



I thought it would be appropriate to celebrate with one of these after the launch. Yeah, I know they weren't going to the moon... but they don't make a "space station pie"...



The next launch is:
Date: March 18 +
Mission: STS-131
Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Discovery
Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center - Launch Pad 39A
Launch Time: 1:34 p.m. EDT