Ad Astra!

Atlantis awaits rollout in the VAB - 4/19/10
Ben Cooper, Launch Photography

When I was very young, being an astronaut when I grew up was a foregone conclusion.  Well, after I got over my dinosaur paleontologist kick, at least.  I jumped into science, physics, astronomy, and loved it.  As I grew up, my interests shifted a bit, but I still stayed with the theme.  Astrophysics, as I studied in college and grad school, was everything about space except actually getting there.  (Some day I'll be rich enough for one of those private trips above the atmosphere.)  Still, I watched every launch I could on TV and later on the internet.

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.

Atlantis rolls out to launch pad 39A - 4/21/10
Ben Cooper, Launch Photography