When RDB and I started dating back in Raleigh, NC in 2009 we visited a street art festival where an artist had drawn with chalk a rocket launching into space. We took a selfie with that in the background and said that someday we'd make it a point to see a rocket a launch in person.
Today, we fulfilled that dream.
We drove over to Cape Canaveral to visit the Kennedy Space Center for the afternoon. We anticipated that it was going to be a busy day because of the rocket that was scheduled to lift off, carrying the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-T (GOES-T) atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket to provide advanced imagery and atmospheric measurements of Earth’s weather, oceans and environment. It will map lightning activity and improve monitoring of solar activity and space weather. (All that taken from the NASA site, it's way more complex than I would normally write!)
So we made the best of the crowds and ducked into some of the displays, talks, and tours that were happening. We sat in on the afternoon mission briefing, hosted by John, and learned a few cool tid-bits.
The International Space Station is nearly the length of a football field, and since its' completion in October of 2000 there hasn't been a single day in the past 22 years that at least one person has been on board. Also, if you use the website spotthestation.nasa.gov you can find out where the ISS is overhead and spot it with the naked eye in the night sky above.
After the mission briefing, we went over to the Rocket Garden and participated in a walking tour - lead by John, again! We heard his voice over the loud speakers and both looked at each other like "Didn't we just hear him at the briefing?" Sure enough, same guy! He was incredibly knowledgable, candid, and willing to answer any questions we could throw at him.
That's an F-1 Rocket Engine (built by Aerojet Rocketdyne - a client I used to visit and do financial planning with). There is so much cool technology that comes from the space program - there is a valve in that rocket that has been miniaturized and can be used in patience that have heart failure.
After the Rocket Garden tour, we walked over to the Heroes and Legends building that houses NASA's Astronaut Hall of Fame.
We kept our eyes on the time as the afternoon wore on, knowing that we wanted to be outsides and in a space where we had a clear view of the eastern sky when the launch window opened. The last launch RDB and I watched (also on a camping trip - the James Webb Telescope) we realized that they will launch as early as possible in the window, so we wanted to be ready. And the weather was absolutely beautiful for hanging out outside.
RDB and I grabbed a spot near the grass beside the Astronaut's Memorial Wall with the Atlas rocket in the foreground, and faced east, waiting, along with hundreds of others, for the moment to arrived.
And arrive it did!
Only a few photos, because I wanted to experience this moment in real time and not behind the screen of my phone. I was genuinely overwhelmed - brought to tears by the significance of having this life long dream fulfilled. From our vantage point we could see the flame from the booster, hear the roar of the engines, and feel the rumble of the incredible amount of power it takes to launch a vessel off the face of the earth and beyond the skies, into the dark beauty of space.
I'm sitting here tonight still in awe, that we've seen a rocket launch in person, with our bare eyes. It was worth the drive across to Florida just for this, even though I know there are so many more magical moments to come in the next two weeks!
No comments:
Post a Comment