Launchin'

 Yesterday we drove about 100 miles down the coast to Titusville to watch the last launch of DISCOVERY. There will be 2 more shuttle launches later this summer. I guess this is always a big deal as far as spectators are concerned and this was a close as we could reasonably get. Parked in a boat yard so missed the crush. Sat around in the shade for 4 hours with people asking us in what direction to look. We were pretty close although I have to say it was not launched from that grove of trees but about 5 miles away. Really an amazing sight the pictures cannot really show. A local guy in St Augustine told us that it could be seen from the beach just outside our condo but this was way better.

We could follow it all the way to the separation of the solid fuel boosters as it flew due west heading for orbit. Interestingly, we anchored island of Sal in the Cape Verdes where there is a huge runway that was the shuttle bail out point if it failed to reach orbit. We couldn't see Sal from Titusville.

Interestingly, the only thing that diminished the very long line to the ladie's room was the launch itself. There must be a link.