My new friend from work has a condo out in Titusville, FL and was kind enough to invite me and whoever I wanted to bring (within a reasonable rate) out there to watch the Wednesday night launch of the shuttle, Discovery. Unfortunately, the launch was scrubbed due to a hydrogen leak and then rescheduled to Sunday at 7:43pm.
So, my dad drove Bob and myself over to the Intercoastal, about a 45 minute drive from downtown Orlando, and we were able to park within the condo complex, which was great because parking is a real chore. It was all three of our first times watching the shuttle launch from that close. My dad was quite excited since he’s lived in Orlando his entire life and can even remember the Saturn rockets chugging along to get off the ground.
My friend proved a good host with plenty of food and alcohol and an amazing view. We were 11 miles away from the launch pad and directly across from it. Can’t really ask for much more as the layman (except to go out in a boat and watch it from the Intercoastal instead of from across it, but my friend’s boat is still in the shop).
The launch went off without a hitch right at the end of sunset, causing quite a beautiful play of light on the smoke clouds that the shuttle left behind as well as a shadow of the shuttle (see photo). I couldn’t believe how quickly the shuttle got off the ground. If I had blinked I would’ve missed the whole take off the pad part. It took what seemed like a minute or so for the sound to reach us, just 11 miles away. I didn’t feel the shock wave though, it was a pretty windy evening. The wind caused a neat effect on the smoke clouds though, causing a corkscrew in the otherwise straight line (see photo).
Initially we were disappointed that we didn’t get to see a night launch (the original plan for Wednesday at 9:20pm), but the timing of this launch was actually quite compelling. It produces what’s called the “twilight phenomenon.” Basically what’s left in the vapor trail condenses, freezes, and expands in the less dense upper atmosphere and then reflects the sunlight, which isn’t necessarily visible at that part of the sky from the ground observer. As you can see in the photos, the sunlight is reflected and the clouds formed a corkscrew at a point.
After this we hung out for a little bit to wait out the traffic. Little did we know, you can’t wait out the traffic after an evening launch. Once we finally climbed back into my dad’s truck it was 8:50. Two hours later we had moved a whopping total of 3 miles. It took us 3 hours and 45 minutes to get back to downtown Orlando. We could’ve driven to Georgia in that amount of time!
Moral of the story: for evening launches, get a hotel room.
Twilight Phenomenon from Discovery. Photo by Terri Wilkinson
Discovery takes off from Kennedy Space Center. Photo by Kathy Walker
The booster rockets detach from the shuttle. Photo by Kathy Walker
Lift Off! Photo by Kathy Walker
Kennedy Space Center from across the Intercoastal. Photo by Kathy Walker
Twilight Phenomenon. Photo by Kathy Walker
Twilight Phenomenon, 10 minutes after launch. Photo by Kathy Walker
-toothpaste traveler
