<
On April 24, 1990, I had the incredible privilege of being on the grounds of
the Kennedy Space Center when the shuttle Discovery was launched carrying
the Hubble Space Telescope to begin an amazing journey. This was
a momentous experience for someone who grew up in the pioneer
days of space exploration.
In elementary school we got to listen and thrill to Telstar
and the flights of Alan Shepard and John Glenn. The original astronauts were
our heroes and received ticker tape parades. When I was in high school time
stopped as the whole world watched the lunar landings. Later I followed the shuttle
programs and watched the launches and landings whenever possible. When living in Nokomis Florida we could sometimes see the launches from the right spot and a couple of times I went outside at night and saw the space shuttle gliding down to a landing.
NASA had a program where people could write and get a pass to a shuttle
launch or landing, free of charge. I was on the waiting list for a
couple of years and and eventually I got a 'car pass' for STS-31 which turned out to be the Hubble launch, arguably one of the most significant missions ever. There were
lots of instructions on rules and emergency prodedures, and how to get
onto the property. So I rounded up my two best friends and we drove
over there in the middle of the night a few days before April 20 only
to have a last second scrub. On the night of April 24 we set out again for the 5 hour trip. The gates were supposed to open at 4:30 I believe, and we were waved onto the property and herded to our parking spots.
It was dark of course, and Discovery was brilliantly lit up, a few miles away. Also within view was Columbia due for launch a couple of weeks later. Mission Control was on the P.A. system so we heard everything and the crowd was pretty quiet. Gradually the sun came up and we were treated to the view of both orbiters. Listening to the engineers and astronauts talk was fascinating and of course everyone was hoping we would get through the preprogrammed holds without complications.
Then the moment of truth. We heard the familiar but still heart-stopping
countdown. When they announced 'ignition' the launch pad was obscured by
immense swirls of exhaust, not unlike the orange squiggle above. After a
moment we could see the shuttle inching it's way, seemingly in slow motion,
up and away from the launch pad. You could almost feel the energy of
the crowd, helping to 'push'. Slowly Discovery gathered speed and then
leapt off the earth. The flames she left behind were glowing and so
dazzling that you had to squint to see them. At that point the earth
shuddered briefly, and reminded me of a small earthquake. Then suddenly
the sound arrived and we were totally embedded in it, a solid roar that you
could almost feel. I literally could only experience sight and sound at
that moment. That lasted for a short time and then we could once again hear
the P.A. system. I held my breath when the command came 'go at throttle up'
but this glorious ship kept on surging skyward. Gradually the shuttle shrank
and the contrail got longer and dispersed until it eventually disappeared.
I realized at some point that there were tears streaming down my face.
We didn't just see the launch, we experienced it and it still ranks as
one of the most exhilerating moments of my life. We waited for awhile
before going back to the car, just drinking in the moment. On the ride
back there really was very little conversation because there were no words
to express what we'd just been through but I remember just smiling all day.
The no-nothings have it all wrong; we need the space program. It inspired
a whole generation and united this country. It brought many scientific
advances and the Hubble Space Telescope has dramatically increased our
knowledge. You can no longer see a shuttle launch but I encourage anyone
who can to visit Kennedy Space Center and the other facilities. They have
rockets, and IMAX presentations of the NASA missions and discoveries. I got to stand
inside the actual room where the Apollo launches were directed and listen
to the play by play. At that time, my Tandy 1000SX with its TWO floppy disk drives had more computing power than NASA had for the moon mission.
Go and get inspired and revisit the glories of the Final Frontier!
5:34 PM PT: sorry that the spacing is a bit squirrely. I wrote and copied this among 3 computers and posted it from work.