STS-119: A dream realized.
Yesterday we all woke up around 9, 930 got moving and finally got on the highway around 11. By 3 o'clock we were cruising through Titusville looking for some where to eat lunch as well as scoping out locations to sit and watch the launch later. After a quick and delicious lunch at place called Rounders and a drive around The Zombie Mall we finally parked and climbed on top of our cars to wait for 7:43.46 EST.
Tim, Bianca, Alan, Emily, and Lucy all showed up to join us for this, and I'm glad they were there to share it because the launch was absolutely beautiful and amazing. Right as the sun set behind us we watched the smoke billow out around the launchpad and then that just unbelievable long and bright flare of the engines seemed to literally reach up in to the sky. As it ascended a brief patch of the exhaust caught the last rays of the sun which had already dipped past the horizon to us. This cast an orange swath over a small bit of the trail and seemed to make the experience really unique. After watching the boosters break away and plummet like falling stars we watched the shuttle dwindle into the great cosmic distance and we were satisfied.
Of course MY camera died right as I tried to take the first picture, but three other people got some excellent shots so I will definitely throw a few of those up on here when I get a hold of them.
Tim, Bianca, Alan, Emily, and Lucy all showed up to join us for this, and I'm glad they were there to share it because the launch was absolutely beautiful and amazing. Right as the sun set behind us we watched the smoke billow out around the launchpad and then that just unbelievable long and bright flare of the engines seemed to literally reach up in to the sky. As it ascended a brief patch of the exhaust caught the last rays of the sun which had already dipped past the horizon to us. This cast an orange swath over a small bit of the trail and seemed to make the experience really unique. After watching the boosters break away and plummet like falling stars we watched the shuttle dwindle into the great cosmic distance and we were satisfied.
Of course MY camera died right as I tried to take the first picture, but three other people got some excellent shots so I will definitely throw a few of those up on here when I get a hold of them.