Bob went to Florida for the last launching of the Space Shuttle. He shares the experience with us on Bailey's Buddy. jcs
Space Shuttle STS-133 blasted off in the late afternoon sun at the Kennedy Space Center on Thursday, February 24, 2011 at 4:50 PM. It had been many months in the making originally scheduled for a November, 2010 launch, but was delayed because of equipment related problems that NASA officials were meticulous about fixing so all would be perfect!
It was loud, wonderful, and all I hoped it would be. I was in a special VIP viewing site along a causeway just a mile or so east of the Kennedy Space Center. I was still six miles away from the launch on pad 39A, but I reached out as much as I could with my big lens, and while it does not look like the stills you see in newspapers, that are shot from remotely controlled cameras, so close that no one can be near them….these are my shots that I saw, and as such are special to me, and hopefully to you as well. I was surprised most by the extreme orange brightness of the flames coming from the solid rocket boosters. The delay for the roar of the engines was fun to hear as by the time we heard it six miles away the Shuttle was thousands of feet into the air.
 |
| Ready |
 |
| Cap Retracted |
 |
| Ignition |
 |
| Through The Steam |
 |
| Clearing the Tower |
 |
| Got Boosters |
 |
| Roll Over |
 |
| Ascent Vertical |
 |
Ascent Horizontal
|
 |
| Throttle Up |
 |
| Booster Separation |
 |
| Exhaust Trail |
 |
| Shuttle Tracking |
It is already hot and humid in Florida by mid afternoon, and on Wednesday when I flew into this area it was 80 degrees, with humidity to match, under a full sun. The day was about the most totally perfect weather day you could ever imagine, with temps in the mid 70s, full sun, soft breeze coming from the Atlantic and the Banana River, low humidity…superlative! There were about 5000 space fans at my viewing site all aching to see one of our finest achievements prove itself once again. Estimates are that as many as 200,000 people will be viewing the launch here in various viewing locating around the Kennedy Space Center and elsewhere.
 |
| Six Mile Lens |
 |
| Big Glass |
 |
| Some of my 5000 Causeway Friends |
We were picked up by a NASA bus in a parking lot at 7 AM, driven to the Kennedy Space Center where we and our "stuff" we brought along, all had to get off the bus. We were free to visit sights at the Space Center, but we had to take our stuff with us. Mine was my checked suitcase I used to fly out here, now emptied of everything and holding the roller camera bag, with big lens, other lenses, batteries, and things like that. The suitcase also held my tripod and a special Wimberely head to hold the big lens and make it more steady and responsive.
It took two hours for us to depart and get out of our area, back into the public roadways and out to our parking lot where we met, and then it took me driving for two more hours to finally reach the hostel. It seemed many of the 200,000 people were in front of me as we crawled slowly back down Cheney Highway to where my hotel is located.
I rushed home and downloaded my photos making the images look the best I could, and have shared a few of them with you here. If you want to know more about this mission just Google STS-133 (STS stands for Space Transportation System)…duh!, and this is the 133rd shuttle flight. This particular flight it to be the final flight for the Shuttle Discovery, as it is to retire proudly and at some point be displayed properly so others can visit it up close and personal. This mission is one of re-supply of equipment on the International Space Station, and also the installation of the last USA modules to be attached to the Space Station. This module among other things includes a humanoid looking robot who will be able to perform functions on the station remotely, as I understand it.
That leaves only two shuttles that are still flying and that would be the Atlantis, and Endeavor. Endeavor is to launch sometime in mid March, under the hand of Captain Kelly!! His wife was the congresswoman who got shot in Tucson, Arizona a month or so ago, and hopefully she is going to be here for the launch. Atlantis at this point is available if a problem with Endeavor would occur, then it would be capable of being launched. I believe it may have a mission of its own if it is not needed as a backup, sometime later in 2011. Of course if Congress re-evaluates NASA funding, things could still change and perhaps other flights added.
Shuttle Discovery is the oldest surviving member of the fleet as has some momentous flights in its history. It was the the first shuttle to dock with the Russian Mir space craft in orbit. It was the first flight back into space after the tragic accident of the Challenger, and then again late the Colombia shuttles. In October, 1998 it took, 77 year old John Glen back into space for a memorable shuttle experience.
Friday will be a free day to see some other NASA exhibits I missed, and to walk along the Canaveral National Seashore, soaking up the surf and sun. Meanwhile Iowa is to get 1-3 inches of snow this weekend, so that may be what I am coming home to a few days from now. For the moment I am honored to be in this place, to see and share this momentous event. It is one I will enjoy describing to my incredible sweet and vibrant grandsons, Charlie and Quinn, and doing so several times as they grow older and want to know more. Thanks for listening….
Jay here- I watched the launch on TV and it was more exciting knowing Bob was there. I found this on YouTube.
3 comments:
I grew up with the manned space program. I watched every launch I could on TV. I was brought to tears by the first launch of the shuttle, and again by the first landing. I always wanted to watch a launch. My career in the avionics and aerospace industry made me REALLY want to watch a launch. And, I must admit that the inborn pyromaniac residing inside most men (and boys) didn't lessen that desire.
About 18 years ago, I had my chance. The family and I were in Florida for a family vacation visiting Mickey Mouse and the other Castle inhabiting rodents.
The shuttle was scheduled to launch the morning after we arrived. Since we planned to visit the space center during the trip, we decided to make it that day so we could see the launch.
So we were up early, drove across Florida with the other thousands of similarly inclined, fought the lack of attendants at the toll booths, forcing traffic to back up for miles, and got to a suitable site about 30 minutes before launch. OK, before SCHEDULED launch. There was some last minute leak. (Of fluids, not information. I knew at the time what it was but have since forgotten.) The launch was scrubbed a couple minutes prior to scheduled launch. So we now got to visit the space center with an exceptionally large crowd of disappointed tourists, making really long lines for all of the exhibits. Of course, since there was a lot of activity on the actual pad, along with a recently fueled shuttle (solid boosters were obviously still fueled), we couldn't visit that part. But I had been there before, and the kids saw all they wanted to, so were returned to Orlando and Mickey Mouse, realizing that our chance was lost.
But not so darned fast. Repairs were finished faster than anticipated. Launch was rescheduled for the day we were leaving Florida. So, up we got, fought the traffic again, fought the same lack of toll booth attendants, found the same good site, and waited. 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,Main Engine Ignition, 3,2, ABORT!!! . No solid booster ignition! Main engines OFF! No lauch! So, back to Orlando, back to the airport, back to Iowa, and no pictures, either mental or on film, of an actual launch. No memories of heart stopping noise, no immense and growing plume of smoke, no brilliant flame. Just trees and cars, and people, and cameras.
I have been to Florida since, but never when a launch was scheduled. And odds are prety darned high that I won't be there for one of the final launches. But one time, I got to see the shuttle NOT LAUNCH twice in a singleweek. @#$%^&$%^$%^&
As always, thanks for sharing.
I am reminded of a quote by an unknown pilot: "I have slipped the surly bonds of earth."
The fact that humans can slip the surly bonds of earth shall never fail to amaze me. The human mind is an incredible thing. I can hardly imagine what it is like to be up there, but I have seen photos and it is a siren call of sorts. Beautiful.
I feel a bit of sadness for the end of Discovery's missions, but perhaps we can upgrade the vehicles' computers to more modern ones now- imagine the possibilities!
An incredible series of pix!!
Post a Comment