That last attempt was in 2007. A lot happened in that year. Our youngest son was born in August and I got a new job in November. For the time being I was grounded as far as launch attempts go. They are expensive and mostly time consuming. Time is what I didn’t have a lot of.
Launches would come and go and each time I’d ruminate as to whether I should attempt one. These wouldn’t be planned out attempts. They would be midnight runs so to speak. Driving down, watching and driving right back. I’d been there before and that just didn’t sound too appealing. The ever so present threat of coming up empty handed put that thought to rest each time.
I didn’t miss a single launch, be it television or webcast. I take that back. I did miss the initial lift-off of a 4am launch. Seriously, can you blame me? I woke up right as the throttle up call was made. Oops! I watched it go into orbit and then passed out.
The End of an Era
We all knew this year was coming. It was mandated by President George W. Bush to retire the shuttle. This isn’t something I disagreed with, actually. The timing was off and politics as usual don’t help. Change is hard but it’s harder when there is nothing to change to. Constellation was in trouble from the get go. So, instead of having a system in the test phase, we’re left with one seemingly meaningless test of the Ares I-X in 2009. All things said, a rocket is a rocket and I enjoyed every second of that test. I would like to note that just a couple of days ago NASA released it’s heavy lift plans. I’ll post about that another time.
Three launches were set for this year. Each flight would be that vehicle’s last.
Discovery was first up, followed by Endeavour and finally Atlantis. As each one landed it would never see space flight again, save for the dreams of those who wished to touch the night sky in such a beautiful machine.
The February launch of Discovery was out of the question. My job has me tied up for the first two months of the year. It would have been a nightmare. Discovery would go up without me at the Cape.
The Endeavour launch was especially tempting as it was a late spring launch. A gut feeling had me reconsider. I don’t believe in superstitions but I decided I would not attempt this one and watch, once more, via web. My decision paid off. The initial launch was delayed. A woman that works at my same company actually attemped that launch. I know that feeling all too well. I believe that one was pushed back more than two weeks. Again, this one went up with me watching from a tiny computer screen.
Atlantis
The gravity of the situation really hit me after Endeavour made it’s final “wheel stop” on the shuttle runway. There was just one final launch of the shuttle; ever. It was at that point I knew it was launch or nothing. I was going to have to pull all the stops. I can safely safe I knew I wasn’t alone in my mission.
For the better part of June I spent hours researching, planning, debating, and otherwise pulling my hair out trying to assure this attempt would succeed. The pressure was intense and I wasn’t even one of the astronauts! The 4.5 million pound gorilla in the room was Atlantis itself. Even the best planned trip would be nothing if it didn’t go up. I couldn’t think about what might not happen. I had to think about what I wanted to happen.
This was all we needed:
- A place to stay
- Tickets to KSC
It sounds easy enough. Tickets weren’t a big deal. I got KSC tickets with little problem though they were expensive. I didn’t make in the lottery of initial cheaper tickets. There are tour companies that are given tickets also and I ended up paying premium prices for them. Honestly, it was a one time deal. It was all or nothing. So, tickets? Check!
A place to stay was a different story. Every single hotel, motel, tent, cave, hut, box or habitable structure was rented out for 30 miles all around Titusville. Keep in mind, Titusville isn’t a tourist Mecca. It’s a small town that just happens to be across the water from Kennedy Space Center (KSC). I scoured rental sites. I scoured craigslist and even put up a wanted ad for a place. It would be my mother, son and myself. I emailed condo owners and even considered renting a place for the entire MONTH just for an event that would last minutes. I kept coming up empty and it looked like Orlando would be our only bet. Not terribly far but far for driving in at 3:00AM. I made my reservations and settled for Orlando
A couple of days later I got an email from one of the condo owners that she had a guest house she’d be willing to rent. The best part? It was just a few miles from KSC. The rocket gods smiled upon for once during this ordeal. The price was right. The location was right. To top it all off, I bought a parking placard so we could park at Kennedy, rather than take a bus in.
We were all set to go. Or were we? In the next post I’ll talk about how it all nearly fell apart from something I would have never suspected.