For years I've noticed guys on this forum are often going to Florida and want to know what to do. Ive been a Florida Resident for nearly thirty years. I'm almost embarrased to say I'd not gotten "close" for a NASA Launch till last night.







The Kennedy Space Center is competition to Disney and the other tourist Florida parks and it offers a very entertaining, very educational visit for the buck all sprinkled with a big dose of USA's history and making history. Mom the kids and you are not left out. You could spend three days there without even getting into the extra time of seeing a launch, seeing a launch is in itself is a full day long adventure. Unfortunately while NASA is on the frontline of technology the KSC Customer No Service for visitors and On-Line stuff is nearly in the stone age so you have to dig and check what is available and plan a bit.



Back in the early 80s I visited and was surprised that the nations vintage retired space fleet was literally rotting in unmowed fields of tall grass, thankfully they woke up and figured people would like to see the "right stuff" that puts man into space. There are everything from synthesized launch experiences, IMAX films, interactive displays and tours etc etc. Getting there on non-special days lets you go faster through everything. Personally being a motor head looking at a massive rocket engines exquisite fabrication, and the massive piping to rapidly deliver literally tons of liquid gases and fuel propellents is my favorite and the fact that it's 7,000F exhaust is discharged through combustion chambers and nozzles that are cooled by liquid O2 @ -450F run through the sandwiched metals. There are Saturn V rockets that are just a few feet from you and in the case of the Shuttle even one you walk through.



Here's the scoop: Getting "up close" to a launch is tricky. While in line to go to our launch viewing site we met a guy from Mass who'd spent the night before at his Cousins (everything on the Gov't tab'd) "Going into Space Diner Party" with 250 friends and familly of his cousin it whom it turned out was a crewmeber of last nights launch. That's how this guy got his "up close pass", for us the Ms got on the phone at a stated time and called and called till she got through to buy them. I understand the closest mortals like you and I can get is about 5-6 miles while those with the



"right" connections like politicians and ___?__ can get up to 3 miles away. We were warned repeatedly there is a slight chance of a malfunction, the possibility of getting gassed with acid fumes or hit by debris and given directions how to best save your ass should something go wrong.



However last night we hit the Jackpot with what was one of the best launches from a viewers perspective .(1st of all night launches are way cooler then day fights) As the full moon crept up the nearly crystal clear sky a warm strong breeze blew in off the ocean and we sat in chairs bracing our binoculars, we witnessed all five engines fire and light the night, a few monents later the Shuttle lift off through the exhaust cloud that envelopes it, after about five-ten seconds I skipped the binoculars and just staired in awe, after about 15-20 seconds the roar, shock waves and trembling of the ground hit like a fuel drag car and I'd swear I felt radiant heat - like facing the sun on a sunny day. Man there are Hot Rods and there are HOT-RODS!. Guys you all know there's a list we should all have of gotta-see's in our lifetimes. Seeing a launch close up should be right up there. You guys all know the sound of a Hot FE, NASCAR start, Top Fuel but the Shuttle after you are fortunate to get close simple dwarfs anything in motorsports.



The only thing that ticks me off is climbing under the Saturn V (roughly twice the size of the shuttle) viewing the rocket engines/nozzles end up close and imagining the noise and thrill those babies made as the shoved off for the moon



Start at:







NASA.GOV

Couple of good friends of mine went down to FL about 6 or 7 years ago hoping to catch a shuttle launch. Luck was with them, it went off on time. They say it is truly impressive.

I spent 14 years working with Sundstrand Aerospace working on many of the shuttle units. I was invited to 6 launches and 5 recoveries by the Quality Group and was in the QA1 area for many launches.

Some thing happens inside you when that big bird goes up. Call it pride or what ever, it just sends thrills thru you from toes to head. The after launch parties that the NASA guys throw are pretty impressive also. Almost as good as RWJ's BBQ.

Hope you get to see a few more before they shut down the program.


dedom

I saw it go up from a friend of mines house off of the 528 Causway in Coco back in the 80's. Even from that distance it was hard to look at it directly for long (like looking at the sun). And when the sound finally hit us the ground trembeled.

We get allot of very clear nights out in the country here in North Central Florida and star gazing is great. Here is a web site where you can see if the International Space Station & Shuttle are visible in your area. They are very easy to see and even better with a set of binoculars. I highly recommend it especially if you have kids. The viewing times will be either the early morning or evening. Sometimes you see both the shuttle and ISS close together when the shuttle is either catching or moving away from the ISS.

I watched the launch on NASA TV last night and I think they mentioned the shuttle has something like 38 Million Horsepower?

ww

http://spaceflight1.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/

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Yep, I got a buddy who lives in that 'hood, just south of the hwy leading up to the bridge- great view from the lawn chairs in his back yard

Another place many might not know about visiting is the Edison home and lab in

Florida

Roger

Nice read, thanks for sharing. I love that kinda stuff. I still remember where I was when we set foot on the moon. Summernationals Brainard, Mn. first drag race, 12 years old. Ya know bb when ya witness stuff like that, for a few moments, everything in the world seems right.

...you sure it isn't all faked, to make people think we really landed on the moon?