L-1

Twas the night before travel and all through the house tweeting, packing, and charging and "do we really need this?" was heard. Well somehow we've managed to get everything into the proper bags. All of our tech gear is charged. Various cables and chargers gathered. I'm going to try to get a few thoughts down here before bed.

I've been following the twitter feeds throughout the day, connecting with my fellow "spacetweeps" as we all share the excitement of the launch. People all over the country are going through the same preparations as we have. Some are already on the Space Coast. I have to agree with a comment Mike Leinbach (launch director) made during the press briefing Wednesday morning, "it's great to see all the interest in the shuttle... just wish it had come earlier in the program." the shuttle program quietly went about its business, building the space station, conducting science, and all for less than Americans spend annually on pet food. Now the powers that be have decided that less than one half of one percent of the Federal budget is too much for space exploration. Yes I believe we will continue a human space program, but it is going to take a considerable amount of time to get a new launch vehicle off the ground. Seems criminal that we are turning these beautiful space craft; Discovery, Endeavour, and Atlantis into museum artifacts when they are still such functional and space worthy vehicles. Seems like we should somehow be able to keep the shuttles flying while figuring out the next new thing.

Kathy Winters (meteorologist) gave her weather forecast for launch day. It's not a good one, 70% no-go for weather. A tropical wave is moving into Florida and may create conditions that would cause the launch to scrub. The last thing I want is an unsafe launch, but I sure do hope that the weather will ease up for the launch window. There are two more chances over the weekend and then they would have to wait until next Saturday for the next chance. Florida weather is highly variable, so here's to a different forecast tomorrow.