Just got back from the Shuttle Launch!

[Coexist]

Wow! What a sight - did y'all know that there was only a five-minute window. Gee - the interesting stuff you learn.

Rode the 4G simulator. Cool stuff.

Felt the rumble sound as she lifted off. Too awesome for words. What a cheer went up from the crowd. It was beautiful.

Then got sunburned on Cocoa Beach where the waves were huge. What a day.

[Beaverhausen]

1. That's cool. Was it your first one?

4G simulator? man, what was that like? I'm getting dizzy just thinking about it.

[Coexist]

5. My first one in a decade or so!

the 4G simulator was like a simulated plane ride - the astronauts apparently deal with 12G!

I could feel my cheeks (on my face, people!) pulling back and my legs felt weird, but it was great.

[Webster Green]

2. That's so cool!

I'm jealous. I've been there for a couple of nite launches, and that was totally amazing.

[Al-CIAda]

10. I too have been to a night launch.

Completely awesome and overwhelming. The TV is but a pale representation. Much as it is a flying pork barrel, I must say it is inspirational in and of itself. Words escape, but the following does a good job of it-

RUSH

Countdown

Lit up with anticipation
We arrive at the launching site
The sky is still dark, nearing dawn
On the Florida coastline

Circling choppers slash the night
With roving searchlight beams
This magic day when super-science
Mingles with the bright stuff of dreams

Floodlit in the hazy distance
The star of this unearthly show
Venting vapours, like the breath
Of a sleeping white dragon

Crackling speakers, voices tense
Resume the final count
All systems check, T minus nine
As the sun and the drama start to mount

The air is charged
A humid, motionless mass
The crowds and the cameras,
The cars full of spectators pass
Excitement so thick you could cut it with a knife
Technology...high, on the leading edge of life

The earth beneath us starts to tremble
With the spreading of a low black cloud
A thunderous roar shakes the air
Like the whole world exploding

Scorching blast of golden fire
As it slowly leaves the ground
Tears away with a mighty force
The air is shattered by the awesome sound

Like a pillar of cloud
The smoke lingers high in the air
In fascination
With the eyes of the world
We stare...

[Coexist]

15. Wow.

There won't be any more night launches, though. How sad. But safety is important. They said no more at night (or in winter) because they need the light to photograph the shuttle to inspect the photos for damage like to Discovery. So they can fix it before re-entry.)

[Al-CIAda]

18. Understandable, but at 11pm, the sky lit up like high noon!

Amazing.

[Coexist]

19. I wish I could've seen one.

BTW - I love Rush. The Trees and Subdivision are two of my all-time faves.

[Al-CIAda]

20. You are obviously a person of discernment and taste!

My all time favorite band. There is no equal.

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. Neat :^) Got some noxema for that burn?

[Coexist]

7. Not a bad burn - reddish cheeks and nose

but I must've swallowed a gallon of seawater bodysurfing those waves. I saw a ray JUMP UP out of the water, it was silhouetted against the sky then, back into the ocean.

My son thought it was a kite! My hope was that it wasn't evading a predator.

[GreenPartyVoter]

12. Yikes.. glad you weren't this week's shark story!

[Xipe Totec]

4. I envy you

Never got a chance to see a launch from KSC.

[Coexist]

9. well, there's supposed to be a lot more in the coming years

they said that they had to finish the space project or Congress was cutting them off (some old deal that was made) and the deadline is approaching. So keep an eye out!

[Xipe Totec]

24. Someday...

I'll make it there.

I'll wear an STS-1 patch, and toast to the memory of Columbia And Challenger.

Res Gesta Par Exellentiam

[Bluebear]

6. I saw it launched while I was in an airplane once

One of the biggest thrills!

[Coexist]

8. Wow! What a view that must've been!

I am still in awe of the fact that we went back up.

[Redstone]

11. Gaw damn. I bet you had a good time. I've seen a night launch,

but never during the day.

Today's trivia question: When you see a Shuttle launch, you see a system that floods the pad with water, starting when they light up the engines.

It's NOT, as you might guess, to keep the launch pad from catching fire.

So tell me: What DOES it do? No cheating. no google. Tell me if you know, or take your best guess.

(It happens that I know this because my mother's cousin whas the guy who concieved of, and designed, the system.)

Redstone

[Coexist]

13. Oooh, no googling, huh.

Then I will have to guess. It is from a cooling system?

[Redstone]

22. Nope. It's an acoustic damper.

Starting with the Saturn 5 and continuing with the Shuttle, the rockets got so loud that the sound waves were actually pulverizing the concrete launch pads.

The water system damps the sound waves to prevent that.

My mother's cousin was one of those unsung geniuses. After he left NASA, he went to work for Green Mountain Power, the electric company in Vermont. You know how they're talking about distributing broadband Internet connectivity over the electric power lines sometime in the future? I remember him telling me about his idea to multiplex signals such as cable TV over the 60-Hz powerlines in 1969!

Too bad he didn't live longer, or he might have become well-known for his ideas.

Redstone

[tinfoilinfor2005]

14. I know I will sound like Debbie Downer

but I lived in the area and watched the Challenger explode in 1986. That cloud hung over the Florida sky for hours and hours since there was no breeze that day. I still can see it in my memory as clear as day. I've since moved south and I watched the liftoff today, but it still brings up bad memories.

[Coexist]

16. trust me - the Challenger was in everyone's mind today.

It was a big part of NASA today. The successful launch was a huge push (not the right word, but I am tired) of hope for them.

[niallmac]

17. I'll be so angry with myself if the first time I get to see a sight like

that is when I see a bunch of ICBMs lofting up from N Dakota etc.

[bklyncowgirl]

21. I saw one go up years ago.

It was totally spur of the moment. We were in Orlando on vacation and heard the shuttle was going up the next day.

We said "What the hell, we'll probably never get a chance to see this live again." We piled into the rental car and got into town in time to snag the last campsite in a park across from Cape Canaveral where everyone goes to watch the launch.

It was quite a sight. These were the days in the mid 90's when shuttle launches were no big deal but seeing it up close and in person was impressive as hell.

[cry baby]

23. Geez, I'm jealous!

What a wonderful day!

[Liberal_Dog]

25. I'm Jealous

I would love to see a launch someday.