Posted on 12/06/2014 3:42:36 PM PST by impactplayer
I got to witness the launch of Or1on EFT-1 (I know, it was a couple of days ago, but when you get up 2 days in a row at approx. 2 AM . . . ). We watched it from Space View Park. We met several folks who had paid to see it from "inside" the Cape, but they said this was a better view (and it was free, had restrooms, and was easy to exit after the launch).
First, I want to congratulate Lockheed Martin. They built every manned launch except the Space Shuttle, and it's good to have the REAL pros back in charge. It could not have gone better!
The really interesting part about being there was the folks - people really interested in space. They came from as far away as Alabama just for this launch! And then, there was Oz. Oz set up his computer, TV, and com center (next to an outlet) and was our center of information. (Even the local Fox reporter got her "information" from Oz). I just love to run into the "characters" of this world, and Oz certainly fits this description. (He's the one who got the area code for the Cape change to "321"). He kept us all informed as the holds of the first day came and went. (I found myself being interviewed on TV more than once - they really got desperate to fill the 3 minute updates which occurred every 15 minutes for nearly 4 hours).
The view was spectacular and the weather great. I hope you find a way to come to the Cape for at least one launch - you will not be disappointed!
I saw the second to last space shuttle launch from there. Very cool.
Why does the vessel’s name have an acronym reminiscent of “electronic funds transfer”? OFT-1 would have sufficed.
The original poster had a slip of the fingers.
/johnny
Is there an RV park right next to where you were? I watched the last shuttle servicing the Hubble Space telescope in 2009. We were in the "mission control" in Huston on the Friday before the Monday launch when the guide reminded us that it was gonna be on Monday!
We drove straight through like that female astronaut that wore depends to keep from stopping. She was involved in a love triangle with other astronauts, remember?
I watched it, here in my abode, on spaceflight.com, both on Thursday until it was scrubbed, and Friday, till it splashed won in the waters off Baja.
It is an important first step, again, and it worked!
I watched from a 50ft bridge about 30 miles north. The high clouds prevented us from seeing the first 15 secs or so of the launch. Once we saw it arc through the sky we watched all the way until separation. Fantastic to think that was a first step toward Mars.
The mood among the dozen or so there was very positive. Eagerly awaiting the manned version.
Lockhead Martin when it was just Martin Merietta built the space shuttle main fuel tank in Michoud Louisiana (east New Orleans).
WOW, We launched a rocket, it went around the earth twice, re entered and splashed down. Didn’t we do this with the Gemeni program about 50 some years ago?
Yeah but see, we had to put the blueprints of those rocket systems through the shredder and incinerate them (true fact). We did that because technical and security. It makes total sense from the right perspective.
So now we're starting over from scratch, because its just logical.
I watched Apollo 17's night launch, 42 years ago Sunday, so I guess there's some tangential connection. I can definitely relate, and I would have greatly enjoyed seeing a Delta IV Heavy flame up.
I had a sinking feeling, that December so long ago, knowing it was the last surface expedition to the Moon, that it was going to be a long, long, long time before we'd reach those heights, carrying a breathable atmosphere, but my life would have taken a different direction (so I tell myself) if I had known my gut was correct, that ultimately more than a half century would pass before humans returned to deep space.
Mercury and Gemini were from McDonnell, Apollo was from North American.
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