Our launch tickets arrived!
Now that adds to the excitement! We now have tickets in hand for the bus from Orlando to Kennedy Space Center for launch day and our tickets to the Visitor's Complex. We plan to watch the launch from the Rocket Garden.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Firsts and Lasts
I'm struck by the extreme contrasts in this mission. For me, it is the first launch that I will be attending and the first launch that I will be documenting personally and directly. For thousands of NASA employees, each milestone brings another, "this is the last time we will..." Every day, they complete tasks in preparation for the launch of STS-135 Atlantis that will never be done again. It's sad to think that so many of these highly skilled and dedicated people will be out of a job after this mission. It all makes this mission very important. This mission honors everyone who ever worked on any aspect of the US space program. All the way from Goddard and Von Braun to everyone involved in STS-135. That's something to celebrate this Independence Day weekend! So while my first launch is going to be the last launch, I am hopeful that NASA will continue to boldly go where no one has gone before.
This isn't the end of human spaceflight, the ISS is fully operational and doing some really great science and sending inspiring tweets and photos daily. This weekend, the ISS orbit and clear skies over New York have made some absolutely beautiful fly-overs. When I took the kids out Thursday night, it reminded me of when I was about their age and I went out to watch for the Apollo-Soyuz flyovers one summer. That dot of light was the sign if six human lives flying 230 miles above earth at 17500 mph!
This isn't the end of human spaceflight, the ISS is fully operational and doing some really great science and sending inspiring tweets and photos daily. This weekend, the ISS orbit and clear skies over New York have made some absolutely beautiful fly-overs. When I took the kids out Thursday night, it reminded me of when I was about their age and I went out to watch for the Apollo-Soyuz flyovers one summer. That dot of light was the sign if six human lives flying 230 miles above earth at 17500 mph!
Friday, July 1, 2011
L-7 Days
One week to launch!
The STS-135 Crew moves into quarantine this weekend. Mission specialist Sandy Magnus tweeted Friday night that she was trying to figure out where she wanted to go out to eat on her last night before quarantine. The quarantine period is to prevent the astronauts from getting exposed to something that could make them sick during their mission.
Personally, I am in the midst of preparations for my own launch experience. It is really hard to describe all that I am feeling about getting the chance to witness the shuttle launch in person. I have been a follower of the space program since the Apollo days and the missions to moon. Later I followed Skylab, and then of course the beginning of the Shuttle program. Getting the chance to see the shuttle launched into space in person is truly a lifelong dream. Being able to share that with my family adds a whole other layer of emotions. And, through this blog, I can also share it with all of you.
This blog has mainly been used so far to share information about the Shuttle missions and ISS Expeditions. I will continue to share some of that with you, but I hope you will also indulge me as I share more personal thoughts.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Closing Payload Bay Doors
 STS-135 Updates (@STS_135)6/29/11 11:07 AM Teams at Launch Pad 39A are getting ready to close the Payload Bay Doors of Atlantis in about 2 hours. #sts135 |
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Flight Readiness Review
L-9 Days
NASA managers met today for the Flight Readiness Review. In this meeting, all systems were evaluated to determine if everrything is ready to support the launch of Shuttle Atlantis. Managers voted unanimously to proceed toward launch of STS-135. The launch was officially set for Friday July 8 at 11:25 a.m. from Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center.
NASA managers met today for the Flight Readiness Review. In this meeting, all systems were evaluated to determine if everrything is ready to support the launch of Shuttle Atlantis. Managers voted unanimously to proceed toward launch of STS-135. The launch was officially set for Friday July 8 at 11:25 a.m. from Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Getting Ready for Launch (L-10 Days!)
STS-135 Crew is finishing their final training and preparation at Johnson Space Center (JSC), Houston. They will soon be entering quarantine and will fly back to Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida for the launch. Ground crews are finishing work preparing Shuttle Atlantis for launch. A leaky fuel pump was replaced on engine #3, final testing is underway.
Here in NY, we are preparing ourselves. Figuring out all the logistics, packing, travel times, all the various details as we get ready to head to KSC to view the launch! While I didn't get the NASATweetup tickets, I was able to get tickets for the whole family to watch from the visitors center! As we count down the days, then the hours, and those final 2 minutes, I will be sharing the experience on this blog.
On Saturday night, despite clouds, we were able to catch a couple glimpses of the International Space Station (ISS) as it flew over the northern sky. There is another flyover tonight (Monday) at 10:34 pm. The forecast isn't great, but if it clears enough, I will be back out there. It should be a great view tonight, very bright and almost directly overhead, just a bit to the north.
Meanwhile, we spent the weekend finishing this family Lego project... The cargo by contains a Canada arm and a satellite. Looks like Atlantis sitting on Launch Pad 39A don't you think?
Here in NY, we are preparing ourselves. Figuring out all the logistics, packing, travel times, all the various details as we get ready to head to KSC to view the launch! While I didn't get the NASATweetup tickets, I was able to get tickets for the whole family to watch from the visitors center! As we count down the days, then the hours, and those final 2 minutes, I will be sharing the experience on this blog.
On Saturday night, despite clouds, we were able to catch a couple glimpses of the International Space Station (ISS) as it flew over the northern sky. There is another flyover tonight (Monday) at 10:34 pm. The forecast isn't great, but if it clears enough, I will be back out there. It should be a great view tonight, very bright and almost directly overhead, just a bit to the north.
Meanwhile, we spent the weekend finishing this family Lego project... The cargo by contains a Canada arm and a satellite. Looks like Atlantis sitting on Launch Pad 39A don't you think?
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Forwarding Tweet by @nextlaunch
June 21, 1438 UTC (10:38am EDT) Soyuz-U carrying Progress M-11M (43P). Webcast: http://bit.ly/mgSFqM , ( nasa.gov/ntv ) #launch #soyuz
Read it online: http://twitter.com/nextlaunch/status/83141171567796224
Sent via TweetDeck (http://tweetdeck.com)
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