Watching Space Shuttle Discovery Launch from Jetty Park

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T-Minus 49 Hours 30 Minutes

The launch for Space Shuttle Discovery was scrubbed and rescheduled for Thursday night. If Thursday shouldn’t work, Friday night is on hold for the last launch opportunity until October.

I’ve always wanted to watch a shuttle launch at night. I saw a daytime launch back in 2007 and was impressed (see the photo above). But a night time launch… everyone says those are even better. Space Shuttle Discovery’s planned launch is significant because this is the last scheduled night launch ever. The shuttle program is quickly nearing an end.

For selfish reasons, I’m hoping the launch is delayed.

T-Minus 33 Hours 52 Minutes

Discovery is postponed one more time until Friday, August 28th, 2009 at 11:59 P.M. I made plans with some friends to leave tomorrow night, first thing after work. Watching a shuttle launch is thought to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It is also one event that requires lots of time and patience. I’m willing to accept both.

To be successful we needed to solidify a departure time, dinner plan and viewing location. Crowds are busy during any shuttle launch. I was anticipating an even bigger crowd since the launch was happening on a Friday night.

T-Minus 7 Hours

I watched the clock tick away until it was time to power down the work computer and leave the house. One of the benefits of working from home is I don’t have to worry about getting stuck in traffic during the commute home.

We left right on schedule and made our first trip to Publix. Publix makes the best subs. I always get the Italian on whole wheat bread with lots of oil and vinegar. I’m a creature of habit, thanks to my dad. I had packed some granola bars and pretzels and we bought some cookies too.

Traffic was surprisingly light for this time of day. We attributed it to the fact that most people were still commuting home from work and hadn’t hit the road for the coast yet. This came to our advantage since we couldn’t decide on a location to view the launch. In the past, I pulled off onto the side of the road on highway A1A and watched from the shore. The two other suggested viewing locations are Space View Park and Jetty Park.

T-Minus 5 Hours

We arrived at Jetty Park and ate dinner in the car due to a rain shower. When the rain stopped we spread out the blanket, opened the lounge chairs and waited. With the remaining daylight we walked along the pier. Families were camped out, people were fishing and surfers were surfing on the nearby beach. You can see some of the photos from the day at my Flickr site.

T-Minus 3 Hours

T-Minus 1 Hour

At one hour to launch I set-up my tripod and camera and took some test shots. This is one of those photo opportunities that will happen quick. Blink, and you’ll miss it. There are several schools of thought about taking launch photography. One side of the aisle says that it is too difficult to do without the right equipment that it’s not worth the effort. The other side says, you won’t know unless you try. That’s the approach I took. What approach would you take?

Here’s a test photo of Port Canaveral. The shuttle will lift off directly behind the cranes and lamp posts.

Lift-Off

The crowd at Jetty Park grew heavy the closer we got to launch time. We were one of the first groups there, so we had front row seats. For the few minutes before the launch the crowds were on their phones checking the weather (which was clear), getting up-to-the-minute news on the status of the launch and watching the countdown clock.

Everything was a go for launch as scheduled. 11:59 P.M.

At liftoff the dark night sky lit up like a sunrise. It was spectacular. And as the shuttle accelerated into the atmosphere, it quickly went back to dark, except for the speck of light that was the shuttle. It was quiet at first, but then the rumble of the engines slowly started to approach the crowd at the park. Very cool.

I was able to take a few photos. I honestly wasn’t impressed with any of them. The shuttle moved too quickly for me to aim, focus and shoot. Here was my best.

It is truly amazing to think that people, real people were careening on that ball of light. What an adventure! In only 8 minutes they have left the atmosphere of Earth and are in space. Unbelievable.

We quickly hopped in the car and left as quickly as possible. Traffic going home is always a nightmare.

T-Plus 2 Hours 30 Minutes

I finally made it home to bed. What usually takes 45 minutes took nearly 2 hours. But it was well worth this never to see again moment in history. I can cross it off my list with no regrets.

Now

If watching a shuttle launch is on your list, what are you waiting for? What are you going to do to make this dream a reality. For starters, check out Nasa’s Launch Schedule. There’s not much time left. Will you let this experience pass you by? You better not.

What’s the best tip you’ve ever received for watching a shuttle launch? Add your comment below.

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