The past w
eek was amazing. My travel to the Kennedy Space Center, the launch of Atlantis.This was my view of the Atlantis Launch, July 2011.
This wasn't just "any" shuttle launch. It was the last launch for the Space Shuttle program that had been busy for the past 30 years building the Int'l Space Station, servicing the Hubble Telescope, and reminding us how dangerous space travel can be.
It was also the first time, I got to witness the launch, in person, up close from the media area which is about as close as you can get, at 3 miles away from the launch pad.
It's not that I hadn't tried to view the launch before, many many times I had been there and the launch had been delayed.
Not that "This" launch wasn't threatened by a delay. Early forecasts gave only a "30%" chance for acceptable weather for an 'on time' departure. Friday, July 8th, 2011 11:26am EDT.But for me, and the group of "Tweeters" that numbered almost 200 strong, coming from around the world to witness history, we would not be denied. There was so much "positive" energy leading up to the launch. You can look at how I reported it on twitter via my account Toddon3.
The adventure started with travel 2 days before the launch. Memphis to Jacksonville, FL via ATL and thanks to Airtran. A quick nap at my folks house, and then an early morning start (4:20am) for the ride down the coast to the Kennedy Space Center.
I arrived right at 7am for credentialing, and then it was a quick trip to the media site. NASA arranged for astronauts and other dignitaries to share their knowledge and experience with us. Mike Massimino, Doug Wheelock, Bob Crippen, among those sharing with the frenzied crowd their experiences in Space. Many of which you will have never read about in the paper or "on-line." We felt privledged to have this "behind the scenes" look at crew members.
Thursday morning, (day before the launch) It rained "buckets," but did NOT dampen our spirit for the chances of a lift-off the next day. The rain ended by noon, allowing us to grab a bite to eat at the NASA cafeteria, and then take a bus ride to see Atlantis, and the "rotating service structure" retract. That is the "clam shell" like device that covers the shuttle until before the launch.
Took about a half hour to watch Atlantis reveal to the crowd of excited on lookers. If you look carefully, I'm in the back, in a red shirt, lined up with Atlantis. We then made a trip to the VAB (Vehicle Assembly building) which was eerily quiet and empty, as there are no more launches ahead, and then to tour the Saturn V museum, looking back on the Apollo program and the space craft that took us to the moon in the late 60's and early 70's.
Unfortunately, I was not able to be in this shot, I was reporting live back to the station in Memphis (WREG-TV 3) at the time. This was Friday morning, excitement high as the weather continued to improve, with the likelyhood of a launch. Remember, all along, we'd been told, only a 30 percent chance for "Go." But they fueled up overnight, suited up the astronauts, and drove them off to be strapped in.
This is our group "cheering on" the 4 astronauts as they paused briefly at the Vehicle Assembly building before heading off to the Atlantis.As we got closer to launch time, anticipation grew. We wandered out on to the lawn, (the same one you see in the photo above by the "countdown clock") to get ready for the launch. Our hearts sank when the clock stopped at T-minus 31 seconds, there was a last moment glitch on the pad that needed to be cleared, and the countdown resumed with in a couple of minutes.
Atlantis, crew of 4, 12 day mission to ISS to deliver supplies comes to a close July 20 (or 21st) and Shuttle Atlantis will be de-commissioned and available for visits at the Kennedy Space Center, while NASA works to the future of manned space flight.
Learn more about us Tweeters at this Twitter site.
Right next door to "our Tweet-up" tent was Boeing, showing us the new "Apollo looking" capsule that they are building to ferry astronauts "to and from" the Space Station. Next door, Orion with a mock-up of a capsule designed for longer duration flights, such as to Mars or asteroids.
A goodbye from the "close out crew" for Atlantis.
