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#360
by
LSenus
on 23 Apr, 2009 13:59
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The wife (LMSenus) & I have Grey-Line Causeway LTT's for the launch itself, whenever that turns out to be now. I was looking for good pre-launch sites to get some day-time and night shots of the orbiters.
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#361
by
Bubbinski
on 23 Apr, 2009 17:31
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Well, looks like they won't have to worry about standing down on 5/14 for Delta, apparently the GOES launch has been moved back to late June as per the unmanned US launch vehicle threads. So no "two-fer". But also there's more flexibility for STS-125 if it encounters issues on 5/11 or 5/12.
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#362
by
Rocket Guy
on 23 Apr, 2009 17:38
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I do not think that the standdown was for the Delta (MSDB has been showing that delayed for about three days now). Bill Harwood's story says it is for a military operation.
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#363
by
Bubbinski
on 23 Apr, 2009 17:46
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A military operation.....I checked the US launch schedule thread and it looks like there are a couple of DOD launches scheduled for this summer (X-37 and STSS). Has one of them been moved up? Or is this something else, like a missile test?
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#364
by
psloss
on 23 Apr, 2009 18:04
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A military operation.....I checked the US launch schedule thread and it looks like there are a couple of DOD launches scheduled for this summer (X-37 and STSS). Has one of them been moved up? Or is this something else, like a missile test?
Not sure, but even before the latest news on the Delta 4, the Shuttle program showed the range as "unavailable" from May 14 through May 19 and the Delta had reserved the range for the 20th and 21st.
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#365
by
rdale
on 23 Apr, 2009 18:13
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Either way, the range availability or military vs. non-military launch won't affect where you can watch the shuttle from.
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#366
by
Bubbinski
on 24 Apr, 2009 04:15
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Understood. Since I will be in the area till the 16th, it'll be interesting to see if the DoD operation will be another launch visible from Titusville. But this is drifting off topic...
Back on topic (ish) - does the local cable carry NASA TV? Or are there any "sports bar" type places that have NASA TV going during shuttle flights? After all, I am going to want to keep up with that during my stay, to watch the rendezvous and grapple with HST along with the first couple of EVA's - and I won't have a laptop, only my Blackberry Storm, which I'm not sure I could get NASA TV on yet.
Edit: As I recall when I went to the STS-117 launch my motel didn't have NASA TV on its channel list. When I went to the STS-104 launch in 2001 I did get to see NASA TV from my room.
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#367
by
Bubbinski
on 24 Apr, 2009 19:09
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It's official as just reported by Chris. May 11. 2:01 pm Eastern was the time I saw earlier on this site.
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#368
by
orbiterfan
on 24 Apr, 2009 19:16
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Hello everyone! I'm new to the forum and appreciate all the good info. here.
We have the Congressional VIP tickets to the launch of STS-125. We usually watch launches from my yard in Fort Lauderdale, but this will be the first launch we see from the space center. My family is extraordinarily excited to attend!
My children are ages 11 and 12 and I want the experience to be as memorable as possible for them. Is there anything I should do while we are there? Any good movies to watch to help them prepare for the experience?
Any advice is greatly appreciated!
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#369
by
rhubarb5
on 24 Apr, 2009 19:22
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Hi Orbiterfan,
This will be my first launch too and I'm very excited. I will be watching from a kayak to the north of the pad. Probably not exciting enough to hold the kids attention but I plan to join L2 and download the flight deck launch/re-entry videos to watch on the plane ride down from Boston. I'm sure the IMAX movies at KSC will be fun for them. Enjoy!
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#370
by
orbiterfan
on 24 Apr, 2009 19:55
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That sounds like a great idea. We did go outside on Wednesday night and watch the Hubble telescope fly over my house at 9:17 pm. It's really amazing that you can see something that is 300 miles up in space.
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#371
by
orbiterfan
on 24 Apr, 2009 20:14
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I had made reservations for the Nasa Up Close tour on the 11th at 1:40 which I'm sure is now cancelled because of the launch date change.
Reading this thread, I'm wondering if it's worth rescheduling the tour. We went to the space center last year and did that tour, but there were no shuttles within sight. The tour was fascinating and the guide told us that you could take the tour up until the day before a launch and see the shuttle on the pad. Now, I'm a bit confused...does the tour change because there are shuttles on the pad?
I kept my brochures from last year. The free tour stops at LC-39 observation gantry, but the Up Close tour goes beyond that to a closer lookout point. Do you still go to the lookout point or is that omitted?
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#372
by
Ford Mustang
on 24 Apr, 2009 20:18
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Larry from Max-Q went KSC and they verified they will not go to Pad B until Endeavour is moved to Pad A.
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#373
by
orbiterfan
on 24 Apr, 2009 20:43
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Yep. I just called KSC to discuss my reservation and the agent also told me that you can only get as close as the LC-39 observation gantry(the free tour).
Oh well, that will still be an awesome sight to see!
Another question I have - When do they bring in the recovered booster rockets? It sounds like an interesting thing to watch. I'm assuming the best place to see this is Jetty Park?
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#374
by
floron
on 24 Apr, 2009 20:56
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just called up KSC booking and they had no problem shifting the Up-Close tour that i'd booked for the 11th up to the preceding day. phew.
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#375
by
jeff2space
on 24 Apr, 2009 21:18
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Another question I have - When do they bring in the recovered booster rockets? It sounds like an interesting thing to watch. I'm assuming the best place to see this is Jetty Park?
SRBs come through Port Canaveral about 2-3 days after launch but it's very hard to determine exactly when. Best place to see them is when they go through the Canaveral Lock. See this thread:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=15007.0
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#376
by
orbiterfan
on 24 Apr, 2009 21:39
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Jeff2space,
Those pictures are wonderful!
Now I know we can plan a camping trip to Jetty Park for 1-3 days AFTER a launch and watch to see when the NASA ship with the boosters comes in (I've got to keep the kids entertained at the beach). We can drive over to the locks for a close up!
It's hard to get a camping spot before a launch, but after might be easier. In fact, we are camping at Fort Wilderness campground inside Disney World for the STS 125 launch.
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#377
by
contra
on 25 Apr, 2009 10:09
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Hi,
I was lucky to get one LTT (thx Jason) but I have no placard. Any recommendations on how to get to the VC on launch day. Can I get a replacement card?
thanks,
Stefan
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#378
by
dlukas
on 26 Apr, 2009 18:40
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Hi, I search 2 LTT causaway tickets with car placard for the STS-125 launch. If someone wishes to sell his, please send pm.
thank you
daniel
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#379
by
DirtyDeeds
on 28 Apr, 2009 15:03
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Just found out I can get off work for the launch, so me and a buddy from school are loading up the Kia and heading down the Atlantic Coast to pay homage to Hubble and see a hell of a show, woohoo!
I'm not sure if I've completely followed or not... if I was able to get some NASA Up Close tickets for say the 9th, would they drive up to the pad? Also, is the NASA Up Close tour the one that brings you to the Saturn V Center, or is that included with standard admission? We want to see everything we can possibly see, as we both live for space.