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#540
by
Andrewwski
on 20 May, 2009 19:01
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Hi,
When the shuttle is in for landing. Is it possible to see anything from the nasa space center tours ?
Best regards,
Mike
ps:When is it arriving ? Thu or friday ?
If it manages to land at KSC, one of the places you might see it at is from the viewing stand on the crawler way, Judging by the time for landing you might need to get there for the first bus out.
If it's a landing on 33, I would think the Apollo/Saturn V Center would give a great view - it's right at that end of the SLF. A landing on 15 wouldn't give you much though. I don't think it would give you much from the gantry either - which is further, but gives you the advantage of being elevated. A landing on 15 seems like Max Brewer Parkway, however far they let you go before it's closed, would be the best.
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#541
by
michellev
on 20 May, 2009 19:55
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Looks like I wasn't too far from some of you some of you on the causeway, based on the perspectives of launch pictures. (And a quick poll the night before launch at Spaceview Park turned up four people who read about the location here). Here are a couple of prelaunch shots (fighting the wind with my trusty Celestron Nexstar 5 - doesn't everybody travel with one?) and a launch shot (Canon DSLR, zoom at 300mm). I wandered from our bus a bit to be able to get Endeavour in the background if I zoomed out - the last attachment shows both at once.
Oh! i saw ur little green scope! i remember thinking thats a good idea! i used to have one way back but got rid of it before our move from CA to FL. Me and my friend we lined up in the back with the big lenses hahaha we were by all the folks who cleverly brought umbrellas.....
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#542
by
michellev
on 20 May, 2009 19:56
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Those are very good shots Michelle. Yeah, I know what you mean about the heat and humidity, that Florida sun beats down on you. I'm glad I chugged some water bottles down before the launch - as they say "don't wait, hydrate!"
ty!
I had alot of water that morning but that turned into potty runs during a tour LOL amazing how the brain is affected when u start overheating tho! I was glad they were selling water there but $2 a bottle?! yikessssss!
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#543
by
michellev
on 20 May, 2009 19:57
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i really like this shot, good idea getting the two in!
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#544
by
LSenus
on 20 May, 2009 22:07
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Sunday night's weather was a bit difficult, what with 20+ knot winds and haze in Titusville. Then, for the launch the over water haze from the causeway to the pads. Still, I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
Still processing over 700 shots from the week.
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#545
by
ChrisGebhardt
on 20 May, 2009 22:31
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Did anything ever launch from KSC during the downtime this past week?
It was DOD stuff off the coast of the Eastern seaboard that occupied the range. Military training exercises and stuff. It had nothing to do with launch operations.
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#546
by
vipermaster
on 21 May, 2009 00:50
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Hi,
Also was there, The temp was exhausting. But was abel to shoot a few nice pics.
A once in a lifetime experience for a guy from Belgium.
Greetings,
Mike
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#547
by
Bubbinski
on 21 May, 2009 01:24
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Nice shots Leo and Mike.
Yes they do get you coming and going on the concessions! Not just 2 bucks for water but they get you on the hot dogs and other stuff. When I was at the KSC VC in 2007 I had a thought..."so this is how they fund the space program!" when I saw how much the drinks and snacks were. (I know that's really not true, but still I chuckled to myself over the thought).
I've posted my shuttle shots from the STS-117 and STS-125 launches at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bubbinski
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#548
by
bkellysky
on 21 May, 2009 01:33
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Great photos everyone ! I'm amazed at the sharpness of many of these photos from so far away - way to go !
I can tell some of you were near me, by how far the the island in the photos is to the right of the launch pad! We were just upwind of a generator. (see my tiny avi movie I took with my Canon A40 at the STS-125, posted at
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=11982.msg403452#msg403452I kept humming something about "mad dogs and Englishmen" as the tropical midday sun was fierce. Lots of water helped, but I was glad just to be there. My sister had a better zoom camera (attached).
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#549
by
michellev
on 21 May, 2009 07:21
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i am just loving all the shots everyone took! its was great to see how many excellent lenses on the causeway haha it was like window shopping for us photographers
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#550
by
mikes
on 21 May, 2009 09:15
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Any news on the landing ground-track for tomorrow? Assuming the weather improves of course!
I have some friends staying in Orlando and want to know if it's worth suggesting they listen for the twin-boom. Would it be audible there?
thanks
Mike
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#551
by
contra
on 21 May, 2009 11:03
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Hi,
I am back in Germany after the STS-125 launch. I had a great time during the three day countdown.
I have put together some photos I would like to share with all of you.
You can find my photo page at
http://www.stefan-photopage.blogspot.com/
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#552
by
mikes
on 21 May, 2009 12:53
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#553
by
ngc3314
on 21 May, 2009 13:04
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Looks like it goes pretty close to Orlando. How far away can the booms be heard?
Pretty far - I've heard them (specifically listening from a rooftop) from central Alabama on return from an ISS mission when we were almost under the ground track. That should make them easy (and in fact hard to miss) from Orlando, except in noisy environments (like one of the theme parks).
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#554
by
Jim
on 21 May, 2009 13:09
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#555
by
astrobrian
on 21 May, 2009 13:48
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#556
by
mikes
on 21 May, 2009 16:02
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Excellent - thanks all!
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#557
by
ChrisC
on 21 May, 2009 20:54
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From over in the live thread:
Per the ground tracks - The track for the second opportunity would bring Atlantis almost directly over my hometown of San Angelo, which about three hours southeast of where I'm currently located. If the call is made to be "go" for landing on this rev, I'll be heading south very quickly to get some video.
What is everyone's experience with cross-track visibility? That is, how close do I have to be to the ground track line (perpendicular distance) to have a chance of seeing it fly by? I tried to spot it from 100 miles away once but had no success.
I'm sure atmospheric conditions play a role, but what about altitude? Does 40,000 feet vs 200,000 feet make any difference in visibility if you are way off to the side?
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#558
by
x24val2
on 21 May, 2009 22:04
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What is everyone's experience with cross-track visibility? That is, how close do I have to be to the ground track line (perpendicular distance) to have a chance of seeing it fly by? I tried to spot it from 100 miles away once but had no success.
I'm sure atmospheric conditions play a role, but what about altitude? Does 40,000 feet vs 200,000 feet make any difference in visibility if you are way off to the side?
I watched STS 109's nighttime reentry from 250 miles north of the track and taped 107's dawn reentry beginning when it was nearly 300 miles NW of me to 200 miles east. Closest approach was about 80 miles north. Here is that video...
http://www.chrisvalentines.com/sts107/reentrypage.html
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#559
by
atlantisfan
on 21 May, 2009 22:08
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Hi,
I am back in Germany after the STS-125 launch. I had a great time during the three day countdown.
I have put together some photos I would like to share with all of you.
You can find my photo page at http://www.stefan-photopage.blogspot.com/
Thanks, some very nice images there Stefan
