Atlantis
CAPE CANAVERAL, FL — There are times in my life that can be pointed to as special moments, good or bad, pleasant or heart-wrenching: the birth of a my son, the love I feel for my wife and the recent death of a my mother-in-law. Of course there are many others, but now I have another fantastic experience that has been added to this very special list — the launch of Atlantis.
First was the smoke, great plumes of smoke billowing out. Then light, a light so fierce that one can only imagine it coming from the sun. Then sound, great waves of sound, a rumbling that pulsed through the air and the ground and through your body. Silence as Atlantis headed far into the atmosphere and then an eruption of cheers from the thousands watching on the grounds of the Kennedy Space Center. Wow!
I was at my in-law’s (between Orlando and Kissemmee) during the last launch, at just about dawn in April. Being that I never experienced one, freaking thing jolted me out of bed, as I thought it was some kind of freakish earthquake. With my father-in-law and mother-in-law laughing for a soundtrack (bastards), we went outside and could see the trail being created and then expanding. All this from that far away. I can’t imagine being there, as you are. Good for you!
I’m very jealous, nemski. What a great experience.
More on this all later. Need to sift through hundreds of photos. The twitter community was great and so was NASA. I’ve learned a lot about NASA mission and need to learn so much more. Just a cool experience to watch a rocket take off.
Only two more shuttle missions left.
Thank you for your great coverage. My kids have been besides themselves with excitement and it makes me ( a product of years of emulative Tang and those greasy chocolate sticks) very proud.
This is really amazing. Great job!
Is this the end of the renaissance, as far as the US is concerned ?
The whole space program is fantastic. Cassini is exploring Saturn, Hubble is out there sending back fatastic pictures (since 1990).. so many marvelous things to learn and to see…the whole program is
awe inspiring……too bad we are spending so much money on war
Congratulation on your making it to a launch. You described it very well.