Shuttle Launch May 31

[gulfcat]

Some CEG members are planning to go together to view the May 31 (Saturday) Shuttle launch from a pier in Titusville. It's scheduled for 5:02 pm, so there's plenty of time to get there & meet up beforehand.

Here's the CEG thread (http://www.contour.org/ceg-vb/showthread.php?t=30784).

I couldn't find a hotel under $99 in Titusville, so I've started looking for one either towards Orlando or West Palm, thinking maybe stay over Saturday night & drive back home on Sunday...

[gulfcat]

Clear sky, except for 1 cloud that hid the shuttle for a moment, and the shuttle looked beautiful going up. Also, the sound, even as far away as Rt 1, is thrilling. There was a big, appreciative crowd out to watch it. (And I think I held my breath waiting for Discovery to come out from behind that cloud... I clearly remember seeing Challenger's lift off & explosion (on TV - I was in MA), and I can't watch a shuttle without a little fear.)

We left home more like 2 hours than 1 hour after I planned, and we were stuck at a crawl the whole time we were on Rt 528 (took us an hour & a half to go about 20 miles), and then there was NO parking along Rt 1. About 4:55 I pulled into a gas station just south of the pier Brent (CEG) mapped to, pumped gas, then just left the car while I went across the street to watch. Really worth all the hassle, and I think I'm going to take time off to go to another launch - I figure a week day will have a much smaller crowd.

[jaged]

i watched it on tv. i cant even imagine the noise that it makes when it takes off. did you get any good pics of it?

[gulfcat]

No, I had only a crappy little camcorder that really got nothing but sky!! It actually meant I spent more time watching reality, tho' so there was a benefit (I guess....)

I am really planning on getting a new camcorder before Fest!!

[wjwolf79]

It's crappy video (taken from my cell phone), but I got a bit of the launch

I was at Cocoa beach

YouTube - Shuttle Launch 5/31/2008 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54paUMtfEIw)