Failure to Launch was Still a BLAST!

By this time on February 11,2009 this was NOT the site I had expected to see. Discovery on launchpad 39A at Cape Canaveral, Florida. What I had envisioned was that shortly after sunrise today, I would be awestruck by the thunderous roar of STS 119 as it came to life and raced toward the heavens (actually the International Space Station) leaving behind a massive cloud as the brightly glowing dot in the sky got further and further away. Unfortunately, just a few days before I left on this adventure, there was a small blip in the newspaper reporting that the shuttle launch would be delayed due to a dysfunctional fuel valve, and later a problem with the gaseous hydrogen venting system. My LTT ticket would have guaranteed me the best spot that someone not affiliated with NASA or an "in" with the feds or any foreign dignitaries could get. 5 miles away, unobstructed view. Sigh. STS 119 did eventually leave on March 15th with its cargo of the S6 truss and last set of solar arrays to give more juice to the space station. My ticket was still good, however, I off vacation by then and back in Michigan with my nose to the grindstone. Too bad Florida's not closer, at least in the wintertime & when NASA sends rockets up!

I'm now at the viewing gantry and a little bit closer to the launch pad. The Revolving Service Structure is encasing the shuttle and opens like a door extending to the left of the tower. That happens less than a day before liftoff. At that time, the top of the shuttle would be facing me and I would be able to see the rest of the orange fuel tank and both solid rocket boosters. Here I can only see the tip of one of the boosters and the top of the orange tank. Hopefully someday before they discontinue the program I can view a launch in person.

Would you guess that this building is the 3rd largest building in the US?? It doesn't look it, but the Vehicle Assembly Building is 525 feet tall, covers 8 acres and has an inside volume of 3.6 MILLION cubic meters! Apparently it has been known to create its own weather and in high humidity it "rains" inside the building. Kind of weird! Anyway, its inside this huge building that the orbiter is mated to the external fuel tank and solid rocket booster on the mobile launch pad before its rolled out to the launch site. Also, the Saturn Rocket and other rockets launched into space get assembled here too. Gee whiz, I would hate to be the person responsible for operating the crane and sling that the orbiter is cradled in as it is carefully and precisely joined to the other components! No pressure there!

Here's a look into the Space Station Processing Facility on the grounds of Kennedy Space Center. There was no one working at the time (?lunch break?) but saw lots of equipment and some wrapped components with a Japanese Flag on it. Apparently stuff from Japan that will be headed to the International Space Station on a future mission.

I really truly enjoyed all of the displays, movies and commentary at KSC and found it all to be quite fascinating! Perhaps, it was best to get a grasp on the complexity of space travel and have a deeper appreciation of it before the grand finale of a launch instead of the other way around. I also had a lot of cool unexpected wildlife sightings! An alligator, an armadillo (he was soooo cute!),

Boat-Tailed Grackles, 2 Osprey in a nest!, and lots of herons and turkey vultures too! I did see 1 bird take off that day though! As we were getting ready to tour a replica of the orbiter, I noticed a Red-Shouldered Hawk on the tail wing of the shuttle. After a few minutes of searching for what I presume was dinner, he left is perch and swooped above me in search of his meal! I was lucky to get such a shot!

Perhaps I can coordinate my next trip to Florida to coincide with a shuttle (or even a rocket) launch and be lucky enough that it goes up as scheduled!