Shuttle Launch
From a very young age space arrests my imagination and I have always wanted to be an explorer of its enigmatic and infinite mysteries. For a long time I aspired to become an astronaut until I realized that today it seems like being thrown in the air within nothing but a big steel bucket as a ship when compared to “tomorrow’s” exploring of M-Class planets and massive neutrino nebulae as a maverick captain of a faster-than-light-starship called the “Enterprise”. Sure it’s only science fiction (and the second geekish reference to Star Trek), but that is what I imagine and long for every time I look up into the starry void.
In my travels around Florida I was very fortunate to see a space shuttle launch. We drove from Orlando to Cape Canaveral by bus before dawn and prepared for the event. The viewing of a launch is not as close to the launch pad as one would think; in fact the distance deemed safe for citizens is 6 miles or just under 10 km. That is awfully far and the shuttle seems so miniscule on the launch pad that I wished I had a telescope handy. A launch countdown doesn’t start 10 seconds before the fact, but instead days before becoming more verbal as the call for ignition approaches. When the countdown was concluded and rocket fuel ignited if felt like the earth shook and rumbled like lightning. I was surprised by how loud and intense it was from that distance, but what I really didn’t expect was how bright the exhaust flames would be as the shuttle rises up in the sky. It was like looking straight at the bright element of a light bulb from a close distance, something you won’t pick up in photos or videos of a launch. Even though the space shuttle is almost more than 30 years old and have had a few terrible accidents, experiencing the launch of one is quite humbling and made me ponder the potential of human achievement.
November 23rd, 2005 at 3:08 pm
Shodan - you describe the event beautifully! It felt like I was THERE! I am adding to my list of things that needs to happen before i die … “see a space shuttle being launched”.
Live long and prosper!
October 25th, 2007 at 4:03 am
my mom is 72 yrs old. She has seen pics nd news reels of every launch, the good and the sad she told me tonight that this pic took her breath away and that she wants a print of it. Is that something I can make happen for her? As a life time res of Houston and very proud of NASA I would very much like to know that this is possible.
October 25th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
s chirtos, I wish I remember where I found this picture. As far as I know, and I could be wrong here, this picture was taken by NASA and therefore should be in the public domain. You can look for a larger version of this image in the public archives on NASA’s site, drop it on a memory stick and take it to a modern photo processing shop to give you prints of the images you like. Here is a NASA link you can try. You could even use the image in this post to take to the print shop depending on the size of the prints you are looking for. I hope this helps!
March 19th, 2008 at 2:05 am
Can I obtain a high quality copy of your STS123 launch? I was there and want to goive a copy to my children.