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VAB and launch pad off in the distance on launch day as we drive over the Indian River. |
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We are GO for launch! |
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This is the back of the astronaut memorial. |
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Launch briefing room for the public. |
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The launch briefer actually spoke at a pretty technical level which was cool. He didn't "dumb down" some of the information you usually see on the news channels at home. |
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This was a live feed that was in the briefing room. |
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Another camera shot looking at the shuttle from pad 39B. |
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This store was awesome. I wanted to buy one of everything in it. |
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The buses prepaired for transportation. |
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Heck yeah! We had orange tickets which made us very special. |
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Self portrait of us at lunch getting ready for launch. |
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Air conditioned buses with NASA logos on every TV. Could life be any better? |
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Waiting at the security checkpoint to get to the viewing site. |
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Condition: ALPHA. I don't know what that means, but it sounds cool. |
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0 days to launch! |
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There she is in all of her glory. I'd marry a space shuttle if I could. They are so awesome. |
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Get used to these pictures. I have a bunch. |
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Discovery sitting on the pad with the watertower nearby. |
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This guy right next to us ended up being from Cedar Rapids, IA. I didn't think it was possible, but he made me look like a mediocre space program fanatic with his shuttle tattoo. |
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The crowd wasn't too bad at the viewing site |
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Discovery |
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This is probably the most focused picture at 48x zoom (12x optical, 4x digital) that I got. |
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This was our view without zoom. I could actually see the shuttle better with my naked eye than this picture makes it seem like. |
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Discovery |
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Space Shuttle Discovery and I enjoying a warm July afternoon. |
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Space Shuttle Discovery and Michael enjoying a warm July afternoon. |
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Space Shuttle! |
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Shuttle |
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Looking to our left(west) |
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Looking to our right(east) |
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Air force launch facilities. |
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Space Shuttle |
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Dang! Clouds are building up off the coast that could foil our launch. |
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They seem off in the distance, but could pose a problem. |
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The weather is not looking good for a return to landing (RTL) if something went bad. This is a "no go" situation. |
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Space Shuttle |
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Huston, we may have a problem... |
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T-minus 9 minutes and holding |
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Boeing's launch complex. |
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More USAF facilities at Cape Canaveral |
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These clouds off to the west were a problem if the shuttle had to make an emergency landing. |
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We wait for the full length of the launch window to get the clouds out of here. |
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"No go" is the offical word. |
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Scrubbed! Everyone was in a funky mood afterword. This picture pretty much sums it up. |
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The scene was chaos back at the information booth at the visitor's center. |
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So there was endless traffic in front of us leaving.... |
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Endless traffic behind us leaving |
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More traffic trying to get out of there. |