Still on my way off Jetty Park. Major traffic jam west bound.
Saw the same -- Beachline headed west towards Orlando was still bad three hours after liftoff. SR 3 backed up headed in that direction, probably took 45 minutes to get through. Looks like some of the traffic turned around and went A1A through Canaveral and Cocoa Beach, because that's busier tonight.
Thanks to the expert guidance from forum members at the meetup I choose the Jetty Park location. And it lived up to its billing. Especially the synchronized return of the two boosters, right in front of me, was an unforgettable experience.
It took me 3 hours 40 min to return to my hotel along the A1A due to an enormous traffic jam in the Port Canaveral area all the way up to & including N Atlantic Ave. But hey, I was there, saw it all and that's what will be remembered.
Took almost 4 hours to get back to Cocoa Beach from Playalinda. Sight and sound of the launch from Playalinda was spectacular. Saw the reentry and landing burns for the side boosters.
Edit: all of the parking lots were open. We were allowed to watch from just South of the Lot 1 boardwalk.
Agree on all counts. Whoever suggested section C for seeing the landings between the buildings, THANK YOU. that was incredible.
Thank you from me too landing view was perfect.
Shout out to sprocket who was sitting in the row behind me.
Panorama of launch viewing site at Port Canaveral.
Edit- Adding video format. It might even run backward for you without asking it to like it does for me
Max Brewer bridge was terrific viewing. My first time there. It is up nice and high, so we could see the pad well, and also the landings in the distance.
It was the closest spot I could think of that also had food, drinks, and bathrooms (Crackerjacks Tiki Bar is A+ in my book after this trip). Made all the difference with all the delays and two little girls in tow.
I was amazed to clearly see the separation, boostback, and attitude thruster plumes the entire way back. The blowback, in particular, was stunning to see with the naked eye on such a clear day.
It took me 4 hours as well to get my car from one side of the bridge to the other. Titusville police were absent from any sort of traffic control at the intersection of Rt. 1, plus some dumb*ss got into a wreck that closed it to one lane right there.
It took me 4 hours as well to get my car from one side of the bridge to the other. Titusville police were absent from any sort of traffic control at the intersection of Rt. 1, plus some dumb*ss got into a wreck that closed it to one lane right there.
After two hours of trying to even reach the Max Brewer bridge from Playalinda I finally turned around and we took the road North through the Canaveral Seashore and eventually got over to 95, that wasn't quite as bad.
Zoom in to see the 2 boosters doing there landing burn.
Sight from Jetty Park.
I loved the atmosphere and wildlife there and it was a treat to have the company of a McGregor insider.
He made some videos of ascent and decent that were pretty awesome. I will post as soon as a receive them.
Today I visited KSC and ended up on the wrong side of the bus. Guide said it did not matter, as it turns around, but it doesn’t for pad 39A. So my tip: sit on the left side to have the best unobstructed view of 39A.
Unfortunately no open doors or parked cores, and guide did not know if core is inside.
It was great to meet everyone at Fishlips on Monday night and those I saw at the Saturn Center Tuesday. What a day! I was amazed at how many people traveled from other countries to view the launch. I think I met NSF members from at least 5 or 6 countries. The launch was spectacular from our location. I'm rarely speechless but that really took my breath away. Lots of high-fives in the stands afterwards. Rockets really do bring people together. A big shout-out to Chris for organizing the Monday meet-up and for all the folks from NSF who contribiute and maintain this great website for all of us space geeks to hang out on.
Took almost 4 hours to get back to Cocoa Beach from Playalinda. Sight and sound of the launch from Playalinda was spectacular. Saw the reentry and landing burns for the side boosters.
Edit: all of the parking lots were open. We were allowed to watch from just South of the Lot 1 boardwalk.
I was in Lot 3 which is maybe .2-.3 miles further down, there is a very long stretch of the boardwalk that leads to the beach that has a great view of the pad. It was a great spot to watch it from, with no random palm trees obscuring the view. And the bathroom is a very short walk from the boardwalk. I waited about an hour to leave and then sat in that traffic for about an hour an a half getting over the Max Brewer after. For future trips when the beach is open, I'd plan to pull off on the side of the road just before the lit info board just before you enter Merritt Island after crossing the Max Brewer, then you can go in as soon as they start letting cars through at six am. I spent the day at KSC yesterday before I headed back to SC. Saw the door open to the SpaceX hanger on 39A and what looked like a Falcon 9 parked in there, but was hard to get a good view of it on the bus. Made it back to SC at about 5am after a 500 mile drive back. There are a lot of deer on the side of the road between in Georgia at that hour!
What an awesome international crowd, where I was there was a Japanese TV crew, met a Dutch couple, and folks from all over the country, and many of them had to leave the next day so they were quite lucky there was not a scrub.
It was great to meet a bunch of you at Fishlips the night before. We will have to do this all again soon, maybe for the first Crew Dragon launch carrying a crew?