Brevard County, Florida ping.Let me know if you want on or off this low volume ping list.
(not associated with the county government)
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.
Brevard County, Florida ping.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).
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.