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| Atlantis awaits rollout in the VAB - 4/19/10 Ben Cooper, Launch Photography |
There's something so exhilarating about watching a rocket or a shuttle lift off into the sky. The power, the rumbling, the fire, the grace, the beauty, and finally the awe. It's unlike any other man-made marvel and reaches right down into us, tapping that sense of wonder and exploration. Suddenly we're all back with our space helmets and pillow-fort starships, and everything is possible.
I've never seen it in person.
In all my years, and all my trips down to Orlando, I've never been able to line anything up with a launch. I've been stuck running to a TV, or watching the NASA coverage on their web site. Sometimes, though I'll never admit in person, I watch just the launch scene from the movie Apollo 13. Sometimes I watch it twice.
With the shuttle fleet retiring this year, I came to the startling realization that I may never see a launch if I didn't act quickly. So I checked the schedule, cleared a couple days from work, and bought plane tickets for Lynn and I to head down for the launch of STS-132, the final flight of the shuttle Atlantis.
Since then, I've been following the shuttle's progress from the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) to the Vehical Assembly Building (VAB), and finally out to the launch pad. NASA's shuttle page has great coverage of the details, but I've been really enjoying Ben Cooper's Launch Photography site. Ben is a NASA photographer and has amazing access to the shuttle for pictures. Here's a whole series on Atlantis being lifted up and rotated in the VAB so they can attach the fuel tank and rocket boosters. These are rare, and awesome, pictures.
Today, Atlantis is sitting at launch pad 39A, where in two weeks' time it will lift off on its final mission. And I'll be there to see it in person. With my space helmet. Everything is possible.
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| Atlantis rolls out to launch pad 39A - 4/21/10 Ben Cooper, Launch Photography |
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3 comments:
woooooow! Awesome. I'm aiming for September now. The thesis is really in the way for this one. We tried to get tickets though, but never even left the waiting room (if we had managed to get causeway tickets, I might have prioritized differently). From where will you watch? Please report on the experience!! :)
I tried for causeway tix, and almost had them, but on the final confirmation it said they were already sold out. So we're at the KSC Visitor's Center, which is still close but doesn't have the same great view of the actual lift-off from the pad. (They do have giant screens with feeds from right on the pad, though.)
Will definitely report back!
And good luck on the thesis!
Glad you got to go!
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