I can hardly wait! It's a night launch, and they say those are the most unbelievable. Although it seems like we might have to stand in line even longer than I did when I saw Prince and Tamar, I am in shape, baby! Bring it on!

I have two friends going up on this flight, and tons of our buddies are going for this launch. I kind of messed up and didn't invite my kids to this one, but there were reasons that were good at the time.

My daughter has a new boyfriend, and it's the son of STS-126's commander, Chris Ferguson (he's one of my two friends on this flight). But so far, she's cool with not going.

Go America!

My brother was stationed @ Cape Canaveral Air Force Station for several yrs
( 2 different tours ) and we were able to see a couple different lifts

Good experience for sure

Night launches are amazing to watch.

Bless them on their journey.

Hey RS that sounds HELLA cool!!!

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UNBELIEVABLE!

Words cannot express how cool that was. But I'll try.

We were on an area known as the Causeway. The launch pad was directly across the lake from us, six miles away. They had it lit with the strongest lights I've ever seen. I wish I'd thought to bring binoculars, but we could still see what we needed to see.

They bussed us out from the Kennedy Space Center. Our viewing location was the second-closest you could get. The closest was three miles away, which was where the families and VIPs sat.

We were spread out on the bank of the lake. I guess there were about 30 buses of us, so that's about 1,500+ people. We had plenty of room, and there were hamburgers, soft drinks and portable restrooms. There was no countdown clock, but there were speakers, so you could hear the conversation between KSC's Mission Control and the shuttle. It was cool hearing Chris Ferguson, the Space Shuttle Commander, going about his business. As I said, Chris is a friend of mine (and the father of my daughter's boyfriend), and another astronaut on the mission, Shane Kimbrough, is also a friend and was the astronaut that invited us.

We got to KSC at noon, not knowing exactly what the day was going hold for us. We got our launch tickets, and then took a tour of the Apollo building. I have to tell you - the Kennedy Space Center is one incredible tourist destination.

The facilities are unbelievable. They have so much space history there. The Apollo building held a Saturn rocket, and the exact Mission Control room from the Apollo missions. They showed a video in the Mission Control room that took you through a countdown and launch of a Saturn rocket.

The people that put the first Americans into space, and on the moon, were simply brilliant. People - they put a man on the moon using SLIDE RULERS. I cannot express how impressive our space program is, and how proud everyone should be of it.

Anyway, back to the launch. We bussed over at 5:00 for a 7:55 launch. Between the line for the buses and the trip to the site, we ended up getting there at about 6:00.

We took in the lay of the land, set up our chairs, and I listened to the conversation between control and the shuttle. At the 11 minute hold, a problem was discovered. Someone had not pinned closed a door in the spaceway between the tower and the shuttle. This was in the path the astronauts used to board the shuttle. It wasn't on the shuttle itself, but if it flapped around on launch, would it hit the shuttle and cause a problem?

I was transfixed by the conversation between Chris and Mission Control. The lives of 7 astronauts could be at risk if they decided to launch, and the door caused a problem.

It was too late to send someone up to pin the door. The shuttle had been fueled and temperatures were not bearable on the tower. So, they looked at it from every angle, and decided that while the door would indeed flap around on take-off, it would not hit the shuttle. There was a handrail that should stop the door from causing a problem.

Should.

Mission control said they recommended a "go" for launch, and Chris said, "If you say it's OK, then it's OK." Coolest guy EVER. The amount of trust was just awesome.

So the 2-minute countdown began right on schedule. It was a beautiful, cloudless night. And, this was to be the last night launch ever.

The excitement as the countdown reached the 30-second mark was indescribable. I called my son and held up my cell phone so he could hear it.

With 5 seconds to go, we saw a bright orange flash as the fuel was ignited. Then, at 0 seconds, it happened.

I have never seen such a huge bright light appear so fast.

The entire horizon was bright orange. As the shuttle lifted off, I couldn't help myself. I just kept saying, "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" over and over. I was watching a space ship blast off!

In complete silence.

It wasn't until the shuttle was about 1,000 feet in the air that the sound reached us. That took about 10 seconds.

It was the sweetest, most awesome sound I have ever heard.

I can only describe it as folds of power. Deep, rumbling folds - waves of pure thrust. You could feel it in your chest for a few seconds.

At six miles away, it was hard to grasp the speed of the orbiter as it cleared the tower and made its way into the sky. But as it got higher - maybe at 5,000 feet or so - its speed became noticeable. The shuttle went up, and then away from us and to the right, and you could tell how fast it was moving away. I have never seen anything move like that!

About 36 seconds into the flight, the first separation occurred. You could see the flash of light, so you knew what happened. And then, about 30 seconds later, the shuttle disappeared into some high clouds, and our view was over.

We loaded up and returned to the KSC. It was a great, great experience. Anyone can go, and believe me - you don't have to be close to understand the greatness of the launch. Heck, you could watch from a restaurant or bar in Cocoa Beach, and you would not believe what you're seeing.

If you get a chance to watch on the NASA channel, do so. This is the stuff that makes our country great!

I knew you would love it


good experience huh ?

envious I am...

If you turn on the TV to the NASA channel right now, you can see my buddy Shane Kimbrough about to make his first space walk! And no, he had nothing to do with yesterday's mishap.

My other buddy is the commander, Chris Ferguson. He's the guy in the red shirt and blue pants, holding the clipboard and going through the procedure list.

Name dropper

Mach said:

LOL, but I have so few names I can drop that I have to drop when the dropping's good!

RodeoSchro said:

Yesterday we got a call from our buddy Shane Kimbrough on the International Space Station.

We're sitting there in Bible study and my friend Mark's cell phone rings. The caller ID didn't say "Outer Space" but that's where the call came from!

The reception was perfect and there was almost no delay. Technology rocks! He said everything was going great. As a matter of fact, he is walking in space as I type these very words.

It's a shame that most people only know about Lisa Nowak when it comes to astronauts. These people are real, true American heroes.

Anyway, I thought some of y'all might get a kick out of knowing that in space, you really can "phone home"!

RodeoSchro said:

That is INSANELY cool!!

I had the privilege of seeing the first shuttle go up after the Challenger disaster. It is an AMAZING experience!!

I also was in Orlando, FL when a shuttle launched and you can actually see it in Orlando. Just mind blowing!!

RodeoSchro said:

So... any way we could get that kind of service down here on Terra Firma?

really cool story tho'... keep us posted!

That's pretty cool!! I'm jealous because I was in school over the summer near Cape Canaveral and they scrubbed a launch that was supposed to be a go while I was there...

...but now, I can live vicariously through you....

I watched Thanksgiving in outer space today on the NASA channel. I cannot believe how hooked on this I am now. Wow.

They just had their separation ceremony, where they transferred one astronaut for a six month tour on the ISS, and are bringing back one that served six months already.

Tomorrow (Friday) morning, at 8:30 AM CST the shuttle is going to separate from the space station. I will not miss that!