I grew up in Titusville. My dad worked for NASA. Most of my friend's dad’s worked for NASA. I watched the first launch when I was one. I watched launches from the river, from the beach, from my front yard, from my bedroom window. It was a normal part of my childhood. So this last launch was particularly special. Sebastian loves all things space and Paul had never seen a launch from Titusville so we decided to join the masses and make the trek out to watch Atlantis make history.
It was only a 30% chance for the launch, but we woke up and headed over anyways. I figured we’d get parking along some back roads in downtown. Yeah….everything was full. We had to pay to park in a big grassy lot about 2 blocks from my preschool when I was a kid, but it was a straight shot to Space View Park.
The boys had a ball running around and loved wearing those space suits. =)
As we made our way to the causeway, we saw lots of cars full of blankets and pillows, tents and this cool contraption. Our parking lot attendant/scalper told us that almost everything was packed by 7 am. Guess we were lucky to get a spot showing up at 9!
We had heard the bridge had closed to traffic about an hour earlier and this is what we saw…wow! It was insane. We heard that towards the other end of the bridge there was plenty of space so we plowed through with our massive double stroller to join the crowds. (Not my photo, BTW.)
We found ourselves a spot with plenty of room and settled down to some snacks, drinks and pretend play with our space shuttles and rockets. We met some of our neighbors, one of them driving through the night from Tennessee to get here to watch the launch. Thank goodness it was overcast until about 15 minutes before the launch or we would have melted!
We were somewhere around here…..
Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux
About 10 minutes before launch we stood up and took our spots. Matteo really wanted to fall asleep, but we didn’t want him to miss it! Sebastian was super excited!
Ready for lift off!
The it goes! What a moment. There were tears…. It was short view, but won’t ever be forgotten.
Afterwards with the smoke plume. It was too difficult to get a picture of us with the shuttle in the background. Not enough hands or time to enjoy the moment too!
Space Shuttle Atlantis, picture from NASA.
The last Space Shuttle crew.
I am so proud that I was a part of the Space Shuttle era, proud that my Dad was a part of it, and honored that I had such special opportunities to be close to the shuttle. And I am blessed that my boys will have been a part of it too. Onward to (hopefully) bigger, better and more adventurous space exploration!
1 comment:
Wow, I so wish I could have been there! It was a normal part of my childhood too, it's hard to imagine a Titusville without the shuttle. I'm glad you got to go, and were able to enjoy it. Those pictures of all the people are amazing!
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