The Shuttle is away!!!

[cracker39]

My view in Lake Alfred was blocked by clouds and I saw nothing. But, I've had my share of close ups of launches from on the cape when I worked there in the 60s and 70s. I got off work the night of the first night launch of the Saturn 5 and stopped on the causeway leaving Merritt Island, about 4 miles from the pad. When that thing lifted off, you could read a newspaper from the light of the rocket flames. Watching them from the roof of the building where I worked, just 2 miles from the VAB and 3 miles from the pads was absolutely breathtaking. You have to be that close to know how it feels, literally, when the vibrations from those engines hit you like a shock wave. Sometime I'll tell you about my trip to the roof of the VAB at 3AM.

[asianflava]

Drops like a rock, eh?

Must be kin to a B-1B.

Those puppies come up over the side of the road about 10 minutes out of Abilene right around oh-dark-thirty a.m. and you KNOW you're in something's sights ... but daaayum, they are beautiful, beautiful big black birds.

Fast ... and loud ...

Yup both Rockwell projects.

[roadtrippin]

I'm just hoping it lands safely. Living on the west coast, it is horrifying to wake up to bad news like when the columbia broke up.

I have major concerns since, instead of listening to the safety officer who kept insisting they actually fix major flaws in the design of the boosters, they basically forced him out and launched anyway.

The cynical part of my says bush risked the lives of 7 of our bravest so he could get a short jump in the polls.

The kid in me still dreams of being an astronaut and flying in one myself.

[cracker39]

We may not have been able to see it go up, but we sure were aware of it's return. A few minutes ago, the whole house shook and the windows rattled from the sonic boom as it passed over us on it's approach to landing. We watch the landing on TV. Having the sound effects really makes it real for us.

[surveytech]

I heard it too!!! I thought something exploded in the shop.

I remember when it used to come in piggyback on that 747. Always saw the photographs but never the real thing.
Then one day I just happened to look up in the sky and there it was plane as day, on approach to Kennedy. It looked huge and wasnt moving very fast. I wondered what kept it up in the sky at that speed.

That made it very real for me as well.

Walter

[roadtrippin]

Thank the gods it came back safe. Now I hope they do a serious post-mortem to find out if there were any problems that COULD HAVE caused another catastrophe.