All systems were GO (STS-123)

Although some of you here already heard through other means, I was recently reminded that I had not posted here regarding my trip to the Kennedy Space Center that coincided with launch of the space shuttle Endeavor (STS-123) on march the 11th. So here is my story...

I was booked to go to a conference in Orlando, and only checked about two weeks before going to see if I lucked out and if a launch was scheduled. I was happy to see that there was one scheduled, but tried not to get too excited as the chances of launch delays of late have been notorious. It was really only when there was only a day or two left and the launch was still a "Go" that I started to believe that I may really see it.

It was a 2:28am launch but they said that once the Kennedy Space Center was filled to capacity, they wouldn't allow anyone else to enter. So as soon as my conference was over that afternoon at 5pm, I zipped down the highway from Orlando and arrived at the KCSC before 6pm. This left me with only 8.5 hours to 'kill' there. The good news was that the KSC center stayed open all night because of the late launch. But even so, buses going to all the launch pads, the EVB, the crawler and the Saturn 5 were filled so I could not see those. Had it been a 'regular' day I would have been able to see those too, and I really would have loved that.

But there were plenty of other things to see and do during that time and I loved every minute. The wait until the wee hours was exciting especially as the launch got closer and closer. When it finally did go off, for a few precious seconds it was a fantastic spectacle literally lighting up the sky. Unfortunately that night was a complete cloud covered night so as soon as it entered the clouds, it was never to be seen again other than leaving a complete bright orange cloud cover for a minute or so. And then, it was over.

The not so unexpected surprise came driving back to Orlando along with the rest of the thousands of cars vying for progress on the same single lane highways along the route. The 50 minute drive to the KSC was almost a 4 hour crawl back. But I would do it again in a second.

I was a life long dream of mine to see a launch, and yes I was lucky to have had to opportunity at least once. Hopefully I will see another again someday. Not necessarily a shuttle, but anything will do.

~Lazarus~