OT....SpaceX!!!!

[treetop flier]

OMG.....got to see my first launch! Spent the day at The Kennedy Space Center and then watched the launch from the beach in Cape Canaveral. Probably no more than 5-6 mile away from where the side boosters landed. It was incredible. The reentry burns were straight above us. If you haven't seen one. Put it on your list.

 

[Crutcher1]

OMG.....got to see my first launch! Spent the day at The Kennedy Space Center and then watched the launch from the beach in Cape Canaveral. Probably no more than 5-6 mile away from where the side boosters landed. It was incredible. The reentry burns were straight above us. If you haven't seen one. Put it on your list.

I was there 5 or 6 years ago to watch a night tme launch on our last day of a Florida trip. Within 20 minutes of launch it It was scrubbed and we had to leave the next morning. Very Dissappointed!

 

[gamecockdad]

OMG.....got to see my first launch! Spent the day at The Kennedy Space Center and then watched the launch from the beach in Cape Canaveral. Probably no more than 5-6 mile away from where the side boosters landed. It was incredible. The reentry burns were straight above us. If you haven't seen one. Put it on your list.

Congrats, to SpaceX for sticking the landings. I’ll bet the sonic booms were loud from where you were. I’m 0-2 on launches. Last
time I had a primo location for a Delta lV heavy launch....scrubbed.
Before that I waited most of the day at the end of Jetty Park pier for a Falcon 9 launch...scrubbed.

 

[ShannonL]

I lived in Orlando during the shuttle era. Night launches were amazing... it was like watching the sun rise as everything brightened. Always loved the sonic boom as the shuttle flew overhead during landings too. Cool times! I’m glad SpaceX is keeping us moving forward!

 

[tidalcock]

OMG.....got to see my first launch! Spent the day at The Kennedy Space Center and then watched the launch from the beach in Cape Canaveral. Probably no more than 5-6 mile away from where the side boosters landed. It was incredible. The reentry burns were straight above us. If you haven't seen one. Put it on your list.

Got to see next to last shuttle launch with wife and kids at Kennedy Space Center some years ago. Very special!

 

[OldBluJacketJr]

In all seriousness, space exploration is possibly one of the coolest things humans can do. I hope SpaceX is successful.

 

[SCexpat38]

In all seriousness, space exploration is possibly one of the coolest things humans can do. I hope SpaceX is successful.

Me too. I was a kid when the moon landing happened. An amazing time. It would be good to recapture that sense of adventure and discovery.

 

[OldBluJacketJr]

It would be so cool to see humans on Mars in my lifetime.

 

[Carolina4]

Went to a few shuttle launches at KSC. You see it before you hear it...about 7-10 seconds before. And the above poster is correct...on night launches it literally lit up the sky as it if were morning. Probably the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen.

When we didn’t go to the launches, we could see the shuttle launches from my backyard in Tampa. They were amazing. Pretty much a ball of fire but we could see the solid rocket boosters separate...no joke.

Also, many don’t realize you can see the ISS with the naked eye. Check out NASA’s website so you can see the times when it is visible. Usually between 30 seconds and 4 minutes when it passes. Those 2-3 days of visibility would be the window for launches going to the ISS. The night after the launches we would watch the ISS go by, and you could see a spec behind it...the sun reflecting off the shuttle. Incredible.

 

[ClemDent]

I remember watching a night launch from Seabrook island, SC in the early-mid 90’s. Was amazing. Looked like a giant flare rising out of the ocean (there was something special about the flight path that allowed it to be visible from that location)

 

[DrMickey]

Went to a few shuttle launches at KSC. You see it before you hear it...about 7-10 seconds before. And the above poster is correct...on night launches it literally lit up the sky as it if were morning. Probably the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen.

When we didn’t go to the launches, we could see the shuttle launches from my backyard in Tampa. They were amazing. Pretty much a ball of fire but we could see the solid rocket boosters separate...no joke.

Also, many don’t realize you can see the ISS with the naked eye. Check out NASA’s website so you can see the times when it is visible. Usually between 30 seconds and 4 minutes when it passes. Those 2-3 days of visibility would be the window for launches going to the ISS. The night after the launches we would watch the ISS go by, and you could see a spec behind it...the sun reflecting off the shuttle. Incredible.

I recently drug my whole family into the yard to watch the ISS fly over on a crisp clear night. The app said where it would appear, and that it would disappear at about 70 degrees after passing over, and like clockwork it faded and disappeared. That’s some pretty impressive math right there.

As far as the shuttle goes, I never got a chance. I did see one of the Space X launches this summer on a trip to Kennedy. We didn’t make it in time all the way out (early morning) but it was beautiful from our Titusville hotel lot. They didn’t land the stages, though.

One more thing...on the tour of Kennedy, the Space shuttle was awesome and huge and cool to see...and then you see the Saturn V from the Apollo missions, and my jaw hit the floor. Holy cow, they put that giant skyscraper into space. My hats off to those 1960s scientists and engineers, and those crazy guys who sat on top of that thing. Wow.

 

[gamecockdad]

In May 1969 I went on a Florida trip with members of the Greenville county school district safety patrol. During a tour of KSC and the vehicle assembly building the tour guide told us when they built it they had all 4 doors open it actually clouded up and rained indoors. Years later I found pictures of our tour and standing right inside was Apollo 11. I guess when you’re 12 years old and had already walked the rocket garden what’s one more rocket.

 

[tidalcock]

In May 1969 I went on a Florida trip with members of the Greenville county school district safety patrol. During a tour of KSC and the vehicle assembly building the tour guide told us when they built it they had all 4 doors open it actually clouded up and rained indoors. Years later I found pictures of our tour and standing right inside was Apollo 11. I guess when you’re 12 years old and had already walked the rocket garden what’s one more rocket.

Took that tour as well, and yes I too recall them talking about rain in the assembly building.

 

[uscg1984]

It would be so cool to see humans on Mars in my lifetime.

I'm pretty sure OJ Simpson has already walked on Mars. It was filmed as part of a documentary called Capricorn One.

 

[ShannonL]

I'm pretty sure OJ Simpson has already walked on Mars. It was filmed as part of a documentary called Capricorn One.

Haha! I love that movie!

 

[bayrooster]

I recently drug my whole family into the yard to watch the ISS fly over on a crisp clear night. The app said where it would appear, and that it would disappear at about 70 degrees after passing over, and like clockwork it faded and disappeared. That’s some pretty impressive math right there.

As far as the shuttle goes, I never got a chance. I did see one of the Space X launches this summer on a trip to Kennedy. We didn’t make it in time all the way out (early morning) but it was beautiful from our Titusville hotel lot. They didn’t land the stages, though.

One more thing...on the tour of Kennedy, the Space shuttle was awesome and huge and cool to see...and then you see the Saturn V from the Apollo missions, and my jaw hit the floor. Holy cow, they put that giant skyscraper into space. My hats off to those 1960s scientists and engineers, and those crazy guys who sat on top of that thing. Wow.

Seeing the Saturn V launch vehicle in person at the KSC was amazing for me as well. Hard to believe we were barely 30 years removed from testing of the first liquid fuel rockets when we sent the first people to the Moon, but since then progress has slowed to a crawl. As a kid I expected we'd see a space station like the one depicted in 2001 A Space Odyssey by now... well clearly not in my lifetime!

 

[gamecockdad]

Seeing the Saturn V launch vehicle in person at the KSC was amazing for me as well. Hard to believe we were barely 30 years removed from testing of the first liquid fuel rockets when we sent the first people to the Moon, but since then progress has slowed to a crawl. As a kid I expected we'd see a space station like the one depicted in 2001 A Space Odyssey by now... well clearly not in my lifetime!

Having been a space geek for over 50 years my patience with NASA grew thin after the Ares fiasco. It’s refreshing to see SpaceX
and soon Blue Origin lighting a fire under them...literally. NASA learned decades ago that end of directorate means end of jobs. So they got real good at stonewalling, foot dragging, and setting unrealistic goals all the while wasting billions. I’d be in favor of keeping JPL for deep space robotics and turning the U.S. space industry over to the private sector. IMHO.

 

[uscg1984]

I don't know much about space exploration, but I think now that members of the private sector have entered space and are competing against each other, we're going to see amazing progress. If you want to stagnate something, make the federal government the sole provider in the sector.