I knew this day was rapidly approaching; the day the shuttle program would come to a close. This journey began almost exactly 5 years ago. I’m going to do a number of posts to chronicle the journey because one just isn’t enough. That or one would be way too long. So, here’s how it all started.
From the beginning
I was doing some laundry one day and I picked up a shirt my mother had given me as a gift. It was a black t-shirt with a screen print of a night launch on it. The words NASA were faded in the background. I looked at the shirt for a minute and it hit me: I want to see this. In an instant, my infatuation was born. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always been a fan of space exploration and science. This was different, like a light-bulb lit up.
I stopped everything (sorry, laundry!) and went straight to my computer. I did a search for anything to do with launches and to my utter amazement, Discovery (STS-121) was set to go up in only a few days. I had no idea what I was in store for! I told my wife we were going to Florida to see a launch with about 3 days notice. She never turned down the idea of a spontaneous road trip. Though she was surprised I suggested it since that’s usually not my style. On top of that, I had no idea where I was going, when to get there, where to look or anything.
The day, Saturday, July 2nd, arrives and the launch is slated for mid afternoon, I think a bit before 4pm. I figured we’d leave at 8am and 8 hours of driving would be plenty fine. Wrong! The drive was uneventful until we reached Orlando and then it all hit the fan. I kept wondering why the hell all of these people were in the road, on the road, on overpasses. What were they all looking for? It was the ultimate “duh!” moment. They were all here for the launch. Even from this far out people had begun to line up for it. I had no idea it was that popular!
We listened in on the local radio station and with minutes to spare, the launch was scrubbed due to the weather. Not a bad thing because we were still stuck in traffic, 25 miles out and with overcast skies. I doubt we’d have seen anything and certainly wouldn’t have heard it. The drive down was long but the drive back was longer. We had left around 8am and after nonstop driving we arrived home shortly after 1AM on Sunday morning. I had been defeated but I chalked it up to learning and a little road trip never hurt.
The Rocket’s Red Glare
The following Monday, July 4th, I called my mom up and told her they were about to launch Discovery. We chatted on the phone through a good chunk of the countdown. The entire time I’m getting more and more nervous. Why was I getting nervous? It was the most bizarre thing. As the countdown passed into 9 minutes and counting I started pacing. You’d have thought I had personal stock in this thing going up. It’s understandable though when you think about it. You’re watching humans go into space. They’re sitting atop a machine thats filled to the brim with explosive propellants. Margin for error: close to 0. Anything goes wrong and it’s likely that you bought the farm. Ok, so maybe our nerves were justified. Also this was only the second flight post Columbia.
As the minutes passed I settled down a little and I remember going into the final 60 seconds. This tunnel vision came over me. I was just staring at the screen watching intently. The whole time I’m still jabbering with my mom. We were making jokes because we both seemed to be jittery.
T-31 and GLS (ground launch sequencer) was go for auto sequence start. This is the point where the shuttle takes over and everything runs internally. Seconds seemed to stretch out and yet they flew by in a blur. Before I knew it the engines roared to life. Seconds later the solid rockets lit and it was off the pad. All I could think was “GO!”. I didn’t speak a word for several seconds until the throttle up call, to which we always held our breath (It was after throttle up that Challenger exploded). I think our conversation consisted of a few “wow”s and “go”s. It was a picture perfect launch. I knew the next big event was solid rocket jettison and once it occurred I started to breathe again.
I contently watched the entire ascent. It was beautiful. To see man and machine working together so harmoniously was poetry in motion. I’ll also note that seeing a launch on the 4th of July made it that much better. How could any other fireworks compare to the greatest show on Earth?
The next thing I thought was “I really gotta see this!”
In the next post, I’ll talk about just how hard it is to see a launch in person.