i'm planning on going to cape canaveral around august 9th to view a shuttle launch. i've never been. has anyone else been before and do you have any tips?

6/4/2007 10:02:56 AM

bring shit to do, delays of over a couple hours are not uncommon

6/4/2007 10:07:15 AM

Get out there early. They also have speaker boxes around viewing area for the radio broadcast but you are better off picking up the radio broadcast with your car...make sure you get the frequency.

Also there are lots of mediocre, overrated restaurants in the Cape Canaveral area so be sure you get good tips from someone with good taste for a place to eat.

6/4/2007 10:07:48 AM

^the website says car passes are no longer being offered due to security issues.

[Edited on June 4, 2007 at 10:09 AM. Reason : ]

6/4/2007 10:09:02 AM

Well that sucks. It's been years since I went to one so might not be the most up to date info.

It will seem like you are out there forever, though, so keep yourself entertained and comfortable.

6/4/2007 10:11:17 AM

k so i will be packing the gameboy

6/4/2007 10:18:29 AM

Try and get on a flight near the shuttle.


Photo by a friend of mine--snatched off his website so it wouldn't kill hi bandwidth. He has an entire series starting from seeing the rockets on the ground all the way to seeing it drop the SRBs and going up into the atmosphere where you can only see the trail...

[Edited on June 4, 2007 at 5:52 PM. Reason : ]

6/4/2007 5:51:58 PM

well at least post a link so we can see the rest

6/4/2007 6:00:01 PM

Gah my wireless mouse just died. Got to tab through the links now...

http://evansnc.com/gallery/index.php?album=Travel/Atlantis_sts115/

Enjoy.

6/4/2007 6:01:37 PM

i lived in florida, close enough to see it every time. just have a fun day outside, and if you happen to see a shuttle launch, think of it as a treat. i promise you wont miss seeing it, or hearing it for that matter...even from 100 miles away

6/4/2007 6:13:53 PM

If you're lucky and the shuttle is going the right way you can see them launch from NC at night. You can't see it lifting off but you can see it going across the sky if the conditions are right.

6/4/2007 6:14:54 PM

we went for one of the launches a couple years ago and there are places with a pretty good line or sight off of 1A / 528 just west of port canaveral where you can pull off the road and set up some chairs. Or you could just go spend the day at the beach and keep an eye out for it.

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&om=1&ll=28.499471,-80.615616&spn=0.293874,0.63858&t=h&z=11

6/4/2007 6:32:36 PM

6/4/2007 7:57:09 PM

I've seen a night launch and a day launch.

The night launch ranks up there as one of the awesomest things I've ever seen.

6/4/2007 8:27:37 PM

if the conditions are right you can see the smoke trail from the beaches in wilmington

6/4/2007 8:37:16 PM

This kinda stuff makes me really proud to be starting work at NASA in a week.

6/4/2007 8:40:57 PM

BTTT for the shuttle launch!
I'm going to apply for a job at the Neutral Buoyancy Lab sometime soon--might get to dive in the tank with the astronauts...

6/8/2007 7:23:13 PM

FUCK YEAH!

6/8/2007 7:40:17 PM

Always love watching the launches. I hope the mission goes smoothly.

6/8/2007 8:08:39 PM

i was all the way to the south of Patrick AFB but i thought this pic was still pretty neat:

6/8/2007 9:19:21 PM

This is the view from 528:

6/9/2007 9:46:47 AM

i went by there once while i lived in florida cause we were goin to disney that weekend and decided to make a detour. we stopped on the side of the road cause people were parking along there. we assumed we had 10 minutes, so we turned on the radio and heard the countdown at 10 seconds. we panicked and hustled out of the car to get a good look, but were too hurried to get the cameras or anything. oh well, its not somethin you'll forget.

i guess my tips from this story would be to be prepared, just in case, and to try not to look desparately to find some awesome viewing spot, because you can pretty much see it well enough from anywhere.

[Edited on June 10, 2007 at 1:11 PM. Reason : .]

6/10/2007 1:09:28 PM

We went to the one last December and it was amazing. I was totally unprepared for how moving the experience was. As previously mentioned get there EARLY! Get your shopping/tours done and out of the way and get in line for the bus. It sounds dumb but it totally pays off. Plan to stay for a couple of days. The odds of a launch happening the first day are very remote. I was surprised as to how strict the weather restrictions are for launch. Also, try and see a night launch for your first one. It rocks. Bring a variety of clothing. Just because it is Florida doesn't make it nice and tropical all the time.

6/10/2007 4:16:29 PM

the launch is at 6:15pm, what time should we get there?

6/10/2007 9:19:49 PM

[Edited on June 10, 2007 at 9:27 PM. Reason : ]

6/10/2007 9:24:31 PM

i can post pictures of bad things happening to shuttles too...

6/10/2007 9:45:28 PM

Yeah this is all novel and everything until you're crossing the interstate and get stuck in traffic because every single driver wants to roll to a halt to watch the shuttle go up in the sky. The concept of aviation makes people get excited.

6/10/2007 10:42:43 PM

No, I think its more of the concept of watching an aircraft getting shot into space with people on it is what gets them excited. If it were just aviation, then this would happen every time someone in a car saw a plane, yet, it doesn't. Space is the key my friend.

Quote :

"Try and get on a flight near the shuttle."

I'm suprised they even allow a commercial airline anywhere near the shuttle when it is taking off.

[Edited on June 11, 2007 at 12:37 AM. Reason : .]

6/11/2007 12:35:26 AM

I still have stuff saved from Columbia--gif's of the radar trail of debris.

6/11/2007 12:46:32 AM

NASA.Space.Shuttle.Discovery.Launch.20061209.1080i.ts

6/11/2007 9:16:26 PM

One of my best friend's Danny lives in Florida and he was texting me all day when the shuttle was about to launch while he was at the launch area (whatever it's called) asking me for the countdown...heh

6/11/2007 9:29:37 PM

i work at JSC now, training astronauts to use the shuttle, and the behind the scenes stuff is really cool. Once i get assigned to a crew, (prob in a year or so) ill get to go to the cape to see all the prep and emergency escape trainings before they launch. I watched the launch at the johnson space center, im kind of a big deal

6/11/2007 11:41:39 PM

^ MOD?

6/12/2007 7:27:38 AM

I got to see challenger take off


before it blew up

6/12/2007 7:49:05 AM

^^yeah, i do shuttle systems

[Edited on June 12, 2007 at 6:53 PM. Reason : ]

6/12/2007 6:52:55 PM

If you want to take pictures, check your manual for any multiple-shot functions. Some cameras come with the capability of taking three or five frames right after the other when you hold the shutter button down, it might help. I don't know how fast the take-off is; if it is slower then it would be smart to just take the shots yourself so the camera doesn't have to pause to process the info while you're losing good shots.

6/13/2007 5:53:40 AM

Some cameras take pictures through telescopes and I don't just mean a telephoto lens. I will have to dig up the pics we got from last December.

6/13/2007 5:55:54 AM

That would be fantastic, I'm putting that on my list of things I will never be able to afford but will always wish I had.

6/13/2007 6:41:01 AM

Is the EWA tool still in use?

6/13/2007 7:24:19 AM

i wouldnt know

6/13/2007 7:41:36 PM

okey dokey, i now have tickets to the launch at the closest viewing location. yay!!

tickets went on sale this morning at 9am.

6/29/2007 9:05:29 AM

So MyCarSucks if you are working on shuttle systems now what are you gonna be doing in a few year when the space shuttle program is replaced by Project Constellation? Stuff with the Ares series I'm assuming?

6/29/2007 9:51:06 AM

Wow, a shitty immature post by OEP11, that's actually a surprise.

6/29/2007 9:56:31 AM

This is just a stab in the dark, but who ever asked about that plane up there...

That plane is a good ways away from the Launch. I'm taking a stab in the dark but it could be 50 to 100 miles away.


Also, my grandparents live on Amelia Island in Florida. (just north east of Jacksonville) and every time the shuttle goes off they can see it and hear/feel the rumble, and they are a good ways away. So I guess what I'm saying is, anywhere near the Cape, (viewing area of not) will be an amazing sight to see the shuttle go off.

7/1/2007 11:04:32 AM

Quote :

"So MyCarSucks if you are working on shuttle systems now what are you gonna be doing in a few year when the space shuttle program is replaced by Project Constellation? Stuff with the Ares series I'm assuming?"

right now the plan is to merge the instructors with the flight controlers. The senior instructors (not me) will continue to do only astronaut/flight controller training (which is what they do now) The new instructors (like me) will be doing training and be a flight controller.

This is what they are telling us now, but things could possibly change. For Example, the company i work for, USA, has the option of extending the shuttle program for 5 consecutive times in 1 year increments. Also, i beleive they will be doing most of the work on the new vehicle.

I like what im doing now so i hope i dont have to find a new job, but if i do have to find a new job, i can probably find one within the company i work for, or go to locckeed or boeing, since they co-own USA

7/1/2007 11:32:36 PM

alright, launch is next tuesday at 7:02pm as of right now. the sheet here says "no coolers, no backpacks, no outside food, no nothing". since they want you to be there 8 hours early and won't let you bring anything in, i'm assuming they'll be selling food and drinks out at the launch view site. anybody know about this?

there is no seating out there, and we'll be flying in so we're not bringing camp chairs and stuff...so we'll just bring a blanket i guess. you can't bring large bags so i don't know how we're going to carry our stuff in but i guess we'll figure that out when we get there.

7/30/2007 11:15:04 AM

are there any good suggestions of specific locations to go to watch the launch? i'm going to be on vacation in FL next week (nice timing), and I'd like to watch the launch. I'm not very familiar with the area around the cape, although i've heard about one or two beaches that are fairly close by? any suggestions would be welcome.

7/30/2007 7:42:58 PM

damn I want to go to a night launch now

7/31/2007 12:08:52 AM

That is one badass picture

7/31/2007 12:48:26 AM

^^^on nasa's site about viewing launches there is a section that lists good viewing places that aren't on the visitor's complex.

^^have you seen any high res version of that that could be used as a background? i looked and wasn't successful

[Edited on July 31, 2007 at 8:11 AM. Reason : ]

7/31/2007 8:10:43 AM