zeitgeist57 Posted July 2, 2006 Report Share Posted July 2, 2006 Friday, 6/30/2006 7:00PM - Leave Naples, FL for Orlando 11:30PM - Arrive at hotel. Crash in bed. Saturday, 7/1/2006 8:00AM - Leave hotel. Drive east to Cape Canaveral. 9:45AM - Arrive at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Debark on a morning of IMAX movies, bus tours, simulations and other fun stuff I haven't done in over 15 years. 2:00PM - Sit in VIP seating for launch of STS-121. Sky is getting cloudy, but no storms are in the area. Wait through astronaut interviews and mission updates. Ate some freeze-dried ice cream as a late lunch. 3:35PM - Mission scrubbed until tomorrow. Head for parking lot. Leave amidst heavy traffic. 5:45PM - Orlando. Stop at Houlihan's for dinner. Decide on going back to Naples instead of waiting all day tomorrow for 3:26PM launch window that may be scrubbed again because of same weather pattern in the area, or mechanical glitch. 11:00PM - Arrive back in Naples. Tired. I was really hoping to see a shuttle launch, and I greatly appreciate the steps NASA conducts to ensure safety. However, I'm bummed that it didn't happen during my planned and purchased visit. It MAY go up tomorrow, but I'm counting on the missing being delayed for another day or so. We'll see. On a side note, anyone that hasn't gone to KSC in the last decade really should check it out if you're in the Orlando/Daytona Beach area. Really nicely updated and plenty of interesting things to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rally Pat Posted July 2, 2006 Report Share Posted July 2, 2006 Oh So Solly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion Posted July 2, 2006 Report Share Posted July 2, 2006 anyone that hasn't gone to KSC in the last decade really should check it out if you're in the Orlando/Daytona Beach area. thats like COSI, right? <grin> btw,clay, your sig makes me lol every time i see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeitgeist57 Posted July 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2006 I know. It's stupid, but I laugh everytime I watch it through it's cycle. Shuttle didn't launch today either, so I don't feel as bad. Plus I played a great 18 holes of golf instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trouble Maker Posted July 3, 2006 Report Share Posted July 3, 2006 I haven't been there in forever. Maybe I'll have to visit it next time I'm down visiting family. I have family around Daytona Beach and Orlando, but stay in Daytona Beach. We've barely missed a few launches. Been there days they were supposed to launch be postponed. Two different times I can think of we forgot they were launching, then heard the thing (mind you this is in Dayton Beach!). Obviously by the time we hear it we look up and it's only the trail form the rockets, the space ships already gone. Sucks you missed it, that would be pretty cool to see one that close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloodRed Posted July 3, 2006 Report Share Posted July 3, 2006 I was at KSC last year and loved it. The Saturn 5 area is very cool. Sounds like they won't be making another attempt to fly till Tuesday. If it goes up then, it will be the first July 4th launch. I am hopeing to make it down to the KSC to see the shuttle go up before it is put out of commission in a few years. Then I can't wait to see the new rockets go up. The crew rocket is said to be just about the same size of the Saturn 5's and the cargo rocket is to be almost double the size of a Saturn 5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mowgli1647545497 Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 Not entirely true. The Saturn V was/is the largest rocket ever successfully launched. It stood at ~363ft in Apollo configuration (a little shorter in Skylab configs). Many of the EELV-derived and Shuttle-derived cargo launch system variants clocked in under 300ft. The crew lifters were much smaller. Just recently the winners for each got picked, and NASA issued names for them: the crew launcher would be names Ares I and the cargo launcher Ares V in a tribute to the Saturn I and V's. The Ares V, while nowhere near double the size of the Saturn V, is still no slouch. It stands at just under 360ft (almost eye to eye with the Saturn V) and, since it too is a staged vehicle like the Saturn (inline staged infact, which is my pet favorite config, but thats just me), it can loft an impressive 286,000lbs to low earth orbit (LEO). The crew lifter Ares I can lift 55,000lbs to LEO, about what the shuttle does now, however the Ares I is also a staged rocket like the Ares V and Saturn V and unlike the Shuttle. The Saturn V could launch ~260,000lbs to LEO back in 1968. So it only took us 40 years to get back to where we stood in terms of a heavy lift system. http://wm.nasa-global.edgestreams.net/wm.nasa-global/ARES/Areslogo768K_Stream.wmv As you can guess I'm not shedding many tears over the Space Shuttle's retirement. It was a 30 year detour. ---------- EDIT: Sorry you didn't get to see the launch in person zeitgeist. Since my mom passed away I've been trying to get my dad down to Canaveral with me to see at least one shuttle launch before they retire it. Because despite my personal feelings over the program's direction in the last 40 years, the shuttle itself is worth watching. Well any launch is really. You can bet your dollar I'll be there for an Ares V launch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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