Third time lucky!
Again, this is a short version, the full one will be posted once I return to Israel.
Tuesday, July 4th 2006 saw the launch of Shuttle Discovery - and I saw it all :)
It was INCREDIBLE !
I was doing the astronaut training today, so I was on the roof of a building.
Farther than I would have been had it launched on Saturday, but with a better view I think, and we also had the company of an astronaut who was with us for the training.
The shuttle itself was tiny, just a little triangle on the horizon (about 15 kms away, I think)
There was an billowing cloud of white smoke in the center and then a pillar of smoke with a bright peak erupted upwards. About a minute later, as the shuttle was still rising, there was a breath of wind and a loud rumble... the ground really shook!
We saw the shuttle/bright stuff for about two minutes and then there was just the pillar of smoke (very biblical) which slowly dissipated.
Wooo hooo!
I got some nice pictures of the pillar and of the crowd and water in the foreground of the shuttle launching area, but a friend of mine had a much longer zoom lens and we'll swap pictures when we get back. (she's from Australia)
The whole thing put a goofy smile on my face.
I had a good time at historical/quaint Cocoa village yesterday too... I think I got a bit sun burnt at the (famous?) Cocoa Beach. It's supposed to be one of the bets in Florida, and thus in the states. It's a very nice beach, sort of what I remember Israeli beaches to be like before the buildings took over the beaches and without the black tar. Wide sandy beaches, lovely waves.
I was expecting the Atlantic to be less salty than the Mediterranean, but *shrug* I guess I was wrong.
Pictures will have to wait till I get back to Israel, because I can't connect the camera to this computer.
Robert
Tuesday, July 4th 2006 saw the launch of Shuttle Discovery - and I saw it all :)
It was INCREDIBLE !
I was doing the astronaut training today, so I was on the roof of a building.
Farther than I would have been had it launched on Saturday, but with a better view I think, and we also had the company of an astronaut who was with us for the training.
The shuttle itself was tiny, just a little triangle on the horizon (about 15 kms away, I think)
There was an billowing cloud of white smoke in the center and then a pillar of smoke with a bright peak erupted upwards. About a minute later, as the shuttle was still rising, there was a breath of wind and a loud rumble... the ground really shook!
We saw the shuttle/bright stuff for about two minutes and then there was just the pillar of smoke (very biblical) which slowly dissipated.
Wooo hooo!
I got some nice pictures of the pillar and of the crowd and water in the foreground of the shuttle launching area, but a friend of mine had a much longer zoom lens and we'll swap pictures when we get back. (she's from Australia)
The whole thing put a goofy smile on my face.
I had a good time at historical/quaint Cocoa village yesterday too... I think I got a bit sun burnt at the (famous?) Cocoa Beach. It's supposed to be one of the bets in Florida, and thus in the states. It's a very nice beach, sort of what I remember Israeli beaches to be like before the buildings took over the beaches and without the black tar. Wide sandy beaches, lovely waves.
I was expecting the Atlantic to be less salty than the Mediterranean, but *shrug* I guess I was wrong.
Pictures will have to wait till I get back to Israel, because I can't connect the camera to this computer.
Robert