Shuttle Launch Experience

After last weeks encounter, with catching a man eating shark, I would like to switch gears and talk about the space shuttle. Last year I was privileged enough to catch two of the three shuttle launches. I say privileged because I witnessed both launches from the Turn Basin which is only 3 miles from the launch pad. This site is where the NASA swat team, fire department, and mission control are located. It’s the closest anyone can be to the shuttle at lift-off.

How do you get to be so privileged you ask? You must know someone who works at NASA. Of the 10,000 employees located there only 200 are given passes to Turn Basin. Each employee can then bring 3 visitors to watch the launch. The closest the public can view a shuttle launch is at the NASA visitors center but you’ll pay upwards of $70 for a ticket. The visitors complex is about 7 miles away from the launch pads. There are loads of public viewing sites anywhere from 10-15 miles away.

There are three things you need to be prepared for when planning to view the shuttle launches.

Sun - It’s Florida. It’s hot. Bring sun screen, an umbrella, and plenty of water.
Bugs - All public viewing is near the water, whether it’s the ocean or intracoastal waterways. Bring some repellent and you’ll be fine.
Traffic - For any given launch there could be 300,000 people coming to the area. Be prepared for traffic and lots of it. A good estimate is probably 2 hours both ways. Fill up the tank and drain your radiators.

We arrived at the Turn Basin about 2 hours early. A half hour before the launch the NASA swat team shows up. I’m not sure exactly what their roll is but they were not playing around. The NASA fire dept. was also representing. They are the first responders should anything go wrong on lift off. Pretty neat looking truck if you ask me.

As the mission timer counts down the crowd gets antsy. At main engine ignition the light emitted cannot be described, yet there is pure silence. Seconds later the huge billows of smoke engulf the launch pad as the shuttle begins lifting of the ground, still silence. Just as the shuttle clears the tree line the sound becomes deafening. The ground begins to tremble and your chest vibrates from the clapping like sound produced by the solid rocket boosters. Truly one of the most impressive things I’ve ever witnessed. I captured the following images with my Canon Rebel XT with a 200mm zoom lens.

The next 45 seconds is spent listening to mission control status the shuttles progress as it rockets up the eastern seaboard until its out of sight. 4 hours of traffic and 2 hours of waiting for the chance to witness a 4,000,000 lb space shuttle leave the atmosphere at nearly 17,500 mph!

What’s more incredible than that you ask? Doing it all over again but this time at night. Imagine pure darkness when you hear “Main Engine Ignition”. Then off in the distance you see a little beacon of light just over the treeline. Then as the shuttle lifts off the entire night sky is lit up. It’s truly remarkable the amount of energy that the space shuttle consumes and dissipates in a few short minutes.