Happy and Sad
I'm happy to watch Endeavour launch for the final time this morning. I went to sleep at about 3am, and set my alarm to wake me at 7, 7:15, and 7:30, just to make sure I'd wake up before launch at 7:56am. Thankfully, I woke up as soon as my first alarm went off - it's set to play the Lady Gaga station on Pandora, which generally gets me with a Gaga song as the wake up music. This works well, since my body can't stand NOT moving to the beat. That's the musician and dancer in me.
Anyways, I once again watched everything from the operations to get the shuttle and crew ready, thought the go/no go calls, the launch, and the post-insertion phase. I will always love the view of the main engines be sparked and ignite 2 seconds before launch. (Anyone remember 3,2,1 Contact? If I remember correctly, the main engine start was part of their opening credits.) This is my new wallpaper on my computer:
This is the best view of the launch, since there was a decent cloud deck that obscured part of the ascent.
I'm so glad they finally got off the ground. I know everyone was glad that Endeavour finally left. They're bringing a science experiment to the Space Station, and other miscellaneous stuff. They're also going to perform the last 4 space walks EVER for a shuttle crew. There is only a launch for Atlantis in June left for the whole space shuttle missions.
Watching the launch left me verklempt. I was thinking about it, and realized that I probably watched about 80 of these launches - out of the 134 done - live on TV. I'm so glad I live in Houston and have NASA TV as one of my channels, so I can watch all of these last launches live.
As a kid, I wanted to work at NASA. Not as an astronaut like most kids, but as the meteorologist that calls the go/no go for launch weather conditions. Part of me still wishes that Texas A&M hadn't been assholes and had accepted me into their program so that I could have possibly achieved that goal. If only. *sigh*
I wished the astronauts well on Twitter, and I pray that they will have a great and nominal - as the NASA lingo goes - flight, and pray that they come home safe and sound a couple of weeks from now.
ETA: At the press conference they're having about the launch, a reporter just described the launch as "beautiful" while getting a little teary and choked up. I understand how he feels completely.
Anyways, I once again watched everything from the operations to get the shuttle and crew ready, thought the go/no go calls, the launch, and the post-insertion phase. I will always love the view of the main engines be sparked and ignite 2 seconds before launch. (Anyone remember 3,2,1 Contact? If I remember correctly, the main engine start was part of their opening credits.) This is my new wallpaper on my computer:
This is the best view of the launch, since there was a decent cloud deck that obscured part of the ascent.
I'm so glad they finally got off the ground. I know everyone was glad that Endeavour finally left. They're bringing a science experiment to the Space Station, and other miscellaneous stuff. They're also going to perform the last 4 space walks EVER for a shuttle crew. There is only a launch for Atlantis in June left for the whole space shuttle missions.
Watching the launch left me verklempt. I was thinking about it, and realized that I probably watched about 80 of these launches - out of the 134 done - live on TV. I'm so glad I live in Houston and have NASA TV as one of my channels, so I can watch all of these last launches live.
As a kid, I wanted to work at NASA. Not as an astronaut like most kids, but as the meteorologist that calls the go/no go for launch weather conditions. Part of me still wishes that Texas A&M hadn't been assholes and had accepted me into their program so that I could have possibly achieved that goal. If only. *sigh*
I wished the astronauts well on Twitter, and I pray that they will have a great and nominal - as the NASA lingo goes - flight, and pray that they come home safe and sound a couple of weeks from now.
ETA: At the press conference they're having about the launch, a reporter just described the launch as "beautiful" while getting a little teary and choked up. I understand how he feels completely.