Launch Day

After rising at 2am, we made our way to catch the bus from Orlando to Kennedy Space Center to see the launch of STS-135 Atlantis on its mission to the International Space Station. The bus ride took a little over an hour and then by about 5:30 we had staked out our seats near the Rocket Garden.

Pre-dawn at the Rocket Garden
MWilkinson

It is all "so amazing" as Alexandra said. A day full of emotion. Anticipation of the launch, the excitement and awesome power as the shuttle lifts off. Uncertainty with the weather, which while comfortable for us human types, with a slight breeze and reasonable temps. But there are some dense clouds in the area that could prevent the launch. We are waiting to hear the report from the weather briefing at about 7:30am.

There is a constant buzz of energy in the crowd as people pass the time visiting, eating, sleeping, watching NASA tv, playing games, tweeting, taking photos. There is a beautiful shot of Atlantis on the jumbo tv screen. Clouds rolling in from all different directions and heights. Patches of blue directly overhead. It's all up to Kathy Winters (NASA meteorologist) and her team now.

The crew is suiting up now. We shall see what happens next.

@mwilkinson3, 7/8/11 3:13 AM

Michael Wilkinson (@mwilkinson3) 7/8/11 3:13 AM Half asleep but on our bus for KSCVC to hopefully see #STS135 launch. #svptweetup remote crew. http://t.co/lf1t8ku

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.

L-3 Days! Travel - 2 Days!

Talk about being excited! It's torture waiting! I find myself being so distracted, thinking about the trip when I need to focus on other things. We've started packing, with a "staging area" set up on the living room rug. The pile of cameras, chargers, and everything else we think we are going to need. Trying to weed out everything that is extra and that we don't really need to have along. I find myself constantly checking Twitter to see what the other people coming to the launch are doing and thinking, looking for bits of helpful advice. Constantly looking at the weather forecasts...

The fact that we are really going to go to the Cape to see the launch is starting to feel real.

Launch Tickets to KSC Visitors Complex

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.

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!

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.