The Launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis

Our schedule has changed yet again. We’ve postponed our trip to Orlando to see Kim’s parents and to go to one of the theme parks (we still don’t know which one), but we did go up yesterday to see the launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis.

When we used to live in Florida, there was an older condo complex that we would go to to see the launch. It was directly across the Indian River (Intracoastal Waterway) from the launch pad, so it was a great place to watch the shuttle blast-off. Of course, that was ten years ago, so I wasn’t sure if the condo complex even existed anymore, let alone if we could get in there to watch the launch.

As we drove north on U.S. 1, I was amazed at how many people had come out to see the launch. All of the parks along the river from Port St. John to Titusville were packed and cars were parked all over the place. In fact, capitalism was in full bloom along U.S. 1 as people were charging $10-$15 to park in their yards and entrepreneurs along the route were charging top dollar for t-shirts and bottled water. Shuttle launches are a cottage industry along the Space Coast of Florida.

When we saw all of the people already in place almost two hours before the scheduled launch, we decided to grab some food and then go stake out a location. Kentucky Fried Chicken was the first place we came to after making the decision, so we ducked in and grabbed a bucket of chicken for lunch. It was a good decision. The folks at KFC said we could park in their parking lot while we watched the shuttle launch.

We then walked directly across the road to a large vacant lot on the river that is owned by the city of Titusville. As it turned out, the vacant lot is right next door to the condo complex we used to go to.

As we were crossing the street to get to the vacant lot, a police officer on a motorcycle stopped us. I thought he was stopping us because we had crossed the street on a “do-not-walk” sign. However, he just wanted to give the kids a sticker with the Titusville Police Department badge logo on it. I thought that was really nice (and I was relieved not to get a ticket).

I had read earlier that the space shuttle mission STS-122 had a crew of Americans and Europeans on board. In addition to six Americans, the crew also consists of an astronaut from Germany as well as France. The mission of Atlantis is to take the European Space Agency’s Columbus laboratory to the International Space Station.

About 45 minutes before the launch, a thunderstorm moved into the area northwest of Cape Canaveral. The launch sequence continued to countdown, but it was placed in a “red status,” meaning the launch would not proceed if the weather didn’t clear. Thankfully, with about 20 minutes to go, the storm moved off and the countdown continued.

At t-minus nine minutes, NASA has their last chance to hold the launch sequence (barring an emergency). I expected them to hold at nine minutes (I still thought they were going to scrub the launch), but the countdown continued and it looked like Atlantis was going to blast off.

As the countdown moved below five minutes, the anticipation started to build. I’ve attended probably 6-8 other launches (including a couple of night launches), so I didn’t think I would get too excited. I was wrong. The closer the countdown got to launch, the more my anticipation grew. The same thing was happening to the kids. The lower the countdown got, the more they talked and the more questions they asked. Shelby had attended one launch when she was really young, but she doesn’t remember it. So this was like the first launch for both kids.

At about t-minus 90 seconds, everyone around us stood up to get a better look. The sky was partly cloudy, but the ceiling was high, so we knew we’d have a good view, at least for a short time. When everyone stood up, the kids got even more excited.

Right on time, the shuttle’s engines roared to life. The bright flames lit up the Cape and reflected off the waters of the Indian River. The crowd around us oohed and aahed. Some people started to clap.

As Atlantis cleared the tower and zoomed into space, it left a plume of smoke in its wake. From the Cape, Atlantis headed north up the Eastern seaboard. We lost sight of the shuttle for just a second as it went behind a large cloud. When it re-emerged, people started clapping again. We could still see the bright flames up in the sky right up until Atlantis dropped her external fuel tanks. I was disappointed that we couldn’t see the fuel tanks as they fell toward the ocean, but I guess you can’t have everything.

As Atlantis disappeared from sight, the crowd once again began to clap. This time, I joined in. Even after seeing several shuttle launches in the past, the sight is still awe-inspiring.

The kids were equally as inspired, although they have a slightly different way of showing it. Shelby kept looking up at the sky long after the shuttle had disappeared from sight. I don’t think she wanted to miss seeing the shuttle again just in case it reappeared. Lou was standing in front of me during the launch and was holding both of my hands. When Atlantis disappeared from sight, he turned to me and said, “That was really cool.” High praise indeed.