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 06/08/2007 08:00:53 PM · #1
This is the best shot I could get from home tonight as the Shuttle lunched for its 2 week mission. This is the moment of 1st stage separation. The rest of the time I could see it from ground to just before this point, I was standing with my jaw on the ground watching it rise through the sky. I get chills every time I see it.


06/08/2007 08:02:19 PM · #2
WOW! I would love to watch that! How cool!
 06/08/2007 08:04:19 PM · #3
I had a friend who was watching when the Challenger blew up.... After that... Chills is the least of my emotions!
 06/08/2007 08:06:27 PM · #4
Originally posted by chesire:
I had a friend who was watching when the Challenger blew up.... After that... Chills is the least of my emotions!


I was watching that day too; with a group of friends. One of the saddest days I can remember.
06/08/2007 08:09:56 PM · #5
Very nice capture.

To all that can remember the first space shuttle flight do you remember the pride we shared when we seen it go into space and land precisely on the center line at Edwards AFB. Where did that pride go? Now most watch to see if it makes it safely, but other like idnic and I still have pride in our countries space efforts.

God bless the crew
SDW

Message edited by author 2007-06-08 20:10:34.
 06/08/2007 08:16:10 PM · #6
I know Mark .... marbo .... is visiting Florida right now and planned on attending the launch...hopefully he had his camera with him.
 06/08/2007 08:19:40 PM · #7


Here is what the launch looks like to the naked eye from Jacksonville - remember it launches from 150 miles south of here. Luckily, though, its initial arc is to the north. :) Once the first stage falls they begin to accellerate VERY fast - this was the second I couldn't see them any more.

I would LOVE a press pass to be in close & personal during a lunch, but till I get that lucky I think I should invest in a longer lens.

As Scott said, I'm imensely proud of our Space Program and the brave people who volunteer for that type of work. Besides diaper-lady; I think they are all amazing individuals. Ok, she even had a pretty extraordinary carrer before she went bonkers.

Please pardon the dust. :)

Message edited by author 2007-06-08 20:20:59.
 06/08/2007 08:24:15 PM · #8
Thanks Cindi. It was too cloudy to see it from here in LaBelle, S W Florida.
06/08/2007 08:55:44 PM · #9
Finished looking through the rest - that was the best I could do. Anyone else get a shot? Sam? Wayne? Anyone? :D
 06/08/2007 09:10:41 PM · #10


I just got back and this is the first one I processed.

The number one best thing about living in Florida:
YOU GET TO SEE THE SHUTTLE LAUNCH!!!!

OMG it was incredible!
 06/08/2007 09:12:15 PM · #11
Originally posted by jrtodd:


I just got back and this is the first one I processed.

The number one best thing about living in Florida:
YOU GET TO SEE THE SHUTTLE LAUNCH!!!!

OMG it was incredible!


Awesome!! That's breathtaking, John!

Message edited by author 2007-06-08 21:13:09.
 06/08/2007 09:21:42 PM · #12


After the launch

Thanks Cindi
 06/08/2007 09:46:12 PM · #13
Those are really nice.

This one is from my back yard. Kind of pathetic... You can just make out the separation. Do you guys get the sonic boom that rattles your home? My dogs always start barking. :)
I will never tire of seeing these launches. Its kind of emotional... and amazing!
 06/08/2007 09:55:36 PM · #14
Originally posted by robinssong:
Those are really nice.

This one is from my back yard. Kind of pathetic... You can just make out the separation. Do you guys get the sonic boom that rattles your home? My dogs always start barking. :)
I will never tire of seeing these launches. Its kind of emotional... and amazing!


Love the detail you caught in a separation, Robin. Its emotional for me too, I would watch every day if they launched that often.
06/08/2007 09:59:38 PM · #15
Amazing shots - thanks for sharing.

I have two strong space shuttle memories:
1) the SECOND launch - that was the history-making one, because no spacecraft had ever been used a second time. I had that launch on VHS tape for years.

2) The Challenger. It happened during college, and until just before then, I'd had serious interest in becoming an astronaut. I just never outgrew it. I realized, though, that with my eyesight I'd never be a pilot, and I probably wasn't going to pursue a science graduate degree (my BS is in Physics). But the dream was close enough to really knock me down when it happened. I sat in front of the TV for the entire day.

I remember it very, very clearly.

Here's hoping everyone returns safely and that our "peopled" space program gets back on its feet and stays there!
 06/08/2007 09:59:44 PM · #16
thanks everyone for sharing the photos I didn't even get to watch it on TV I got the times mixed up and totally spaced it. No Pun intended...

06/08/2007 10:21:26 PM · #17
Originally posted by idnic:
I would LOVE a press pass to be in close & personal during a lunch, but till I get that lucky I think I should invest in a longer lens.

I had a press pass my senior year of high school. I think it was the second flight after Challenger. We set up the video camera right next to CNN. You wouldn't believe how the ground shakes, even a mile from the launch pad.

Message edited by author 2007-06-08 22:21:56.
 06/08/2007 10:38:37 PM · #18


Last one, it's time to go unpack some boxes

Message edited by author 2007-06-08 22:39:09.
 06/08/2007 10:43:15 PM · #19
yeah, i'm scheduled to get my press pass from NYIP mid-august....hmm only thing in this area around that time....Football season! I might have to make my way down to florida sometime to see a launch first hand. Jersey can be so.... boring. Oh well, back to the beach and abundant supply of swimsuits.
 06/08/2007 10:48:54 PM · #20
Great shots!

I have a love affair with the space shuttle--

I was lucky enough to see the very first launch first hand from Ponce Inlet (southern dayton'ish)-- and a radio station WDIZ ouuta Orlando played "time for me to fly: from reo-- just as it launched, a memory I will never forget!!

I was also Unlucky enough to view the challenger explosion first hand, as a sophomore while in sky at Spruce Creek High School (port Orange)--

Again a memroy I'll never forget--

I will always follow the shuttle launches!
06/08/2007 10:56:30 PM · #21
Originally posted by robinssong:
Those are really nice.

This one is from my back yard. Kind of pathetic... You can just make out the separation. Do you guys get the sonic boom that rattles your home? My dogs always start barking. :)
I will never tire of seeing these launches. Its kind of emotional... and amazing!


Do you mean the boom when it returns? I've never heard of a boom being heard on the launch.
 06/08/2007 11:20:26 PM · #22
It was very quiet here in S W Fl, and I could hear/feel a vibration about 10 minutes after the launch. I have experienced the same thing when viewing night launches from here while out in the open country.
We hear the boom here about every time it returns.
I have some pics of STS1 going up, but I was about 12 miles from it or more, on the west side of the river. It was a just after dawn launch, so I was shooting about into the sunrise. It still made some great looking slide pics.
Thanks again everyone for posting the pics.
Tix to view launches link
If anyone who lives near by or is going to be there for a week when a launch is scheduled tickets may be available. You have to live nearby, or have time to wait out a launch scrub or delay. There are other good links there too. The countdown clock is delayed about 30 seconds or more though, if you try to use it to time being outside to see a launch, be aware of that.
06/09/2007 12:03:02 AM · #23
Originally posted by dahved:
Originally posted by robinssong:
Those are really nice.

This one is from my back yard. Kind of pathetic... You can just make out the separation. Do you guys get the sonic boom that rattles your home? My dogs always start barking. :)
I will never tire of seeing these launches. Its kind of emotional... and amazing!


Do you mean the boom when it returns? I've never heard of a boom being heard on the launch.


There is a deep whole-house rattle when it takes off. When it returns you hear the boom again. Sometimes that will take you by surprise. :)
 06/09/2007 12:12:23 AM · #24
Originally posted by MelonMusketeer:
It was very quiet here in S W Fl, and I could hear/feel a vibration about 10 minutes after the launch. I have experienced the same thing when viewing night launches from here while out in the open country.
We hear the boom here about every time it returns.
I have some pics of STS1 going up, but I was about 12 miles from it or more, on the west side of the river. It was a just after dawn launch, so I was shooting about into the sunrise. It still made some great looking slide pics.
Thanks again everyone for posting the pics.
Tix to view launches link
If anyone who lives near by or is going to be there for a week when a launch is scheduled tickets may be available. You have to live nearby, or have time to wait out a launch scrub or delay. There are other good links there too. The countdown clock is delayed about 30 seconds or more though, if you try to use it to time being outside to see a launch, be aware of that.


Thanks for posting the info. I once took and air boat ride near Cape Canaveral and saw the shuttle launch from the airboat in the swamp. It was truly awesome! To see all that nature then get to see the shuttle too! What a treat!
 06/09/2007 12:21:03 AM · #25
I worked at the Air Force's Rocket Propulsion Laboratory at Edwards Air Force base in the days when the shuttle landed there. We were across the dry lake bed on top of a ridge. I saw a lot of landings. The most amazing thing was once you saw the shuttle (you heard it first, then from experience knew where to look in the sky to see the dot), it would appear to simply drop out of the sky, pretty much straight down, until the pilot flared it ever so gracefully at the end. VERY different than what you'd have expected if you based that knowledge on watching airplanes land.

The other amazing thing was the crowd. The lakebed on the south side would be covered for miles, literally, with cars and people. Half a million people would drive to the middle of nowhere California and watch the shuttle land.

I also worked at Vandenberg in California with launches of other rockets, and had the privilege of going out to our sister site at Cape Canaveral the week of a shuttle launch. All launches are pretty darn spectacular - the shuttle especially so.

Great pics guys - brings back memories!
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