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'Where-To' Guide for Shuttle Launch?
jacobcaz asks: "Hello! I will be heading to Florida this week and I'm hoping to get a chance to see the shuttle launch. I'm curious what tips you all might have for out-of-towners to get a chance to see the launch? How close to try to get, places to go where we won't be stuck in traffic for 24 hours, how early to leave, and so forth. Thanks!"
Bring a portable pocket TV and hope it is being aired on some station. Last time I heard, security and other requirements keep spectators back far from the launch site. Even if you do get something arranged where you are going to get real close, if it turns out that things fall apart or you were given bad information, you can at least look at that little TV when you are stuck in the middle of nowhere or stuck in traffic or lost.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
I used to live down there and could see it out of my backyard in Oldsmar (west of Tampa) so you can see it from just about anywhere.
It really depends on what kind of view you want. There's a long road that drives by the launch platform on the way to NASA that people typically just pull off to the side and park there.
If you show up an hour ahead of launch you can probably get a pretty good spot.
Brian
Don't look into the sky and drive. Look into the road ahead.
How close to try to get, places to go where we won't be stuck in traffic for 24 hours, how early to leave, and so forth.
Why not just ask for a secluded spot with good escape links from which to launch your shoulder/vehicle fired missile(s)?
My advice? Radio controlled launch site with you on a boat just off the coast.
Those alligators can look rather fetching (only if you're armed with a hunting rifle)
Anywhere south of Canaveral Should be good.. I live in Melbourne (south about 30 mins) and it looks great anywhere on the beach. In reality, you pretty much have an unobstructive view anywhere east of the barrier islands. Closer to the cape you will have nightmare traffice but its not all that bad. We still don't have many hotels that are open south of Cocoa (Indian Harbor, Melbourne, Indialantic, etc..) as far as I know, the Hilton, Holiday Inn, and Quality Suites are still closed because of last years hurricanes..
Gravity!... It's not just a good idea... It's the Law!
If you are on the north side of the launch site, look to the south.
If you are on the south side of the launch site, look to the north.
Can't miss it.
Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.
- W. Wriston, former Citibank CEO
When we went several years back, we ended up watching from a state park about 5 miles NW from the lauch pad. You could see both launch pads from where we were, and had a great view of the entire launch. We got there about 6 hours before the afternoon launch, and got great spots right on the waters edge. (It's actually in Titusville, just past Sand Point Park, if I recall correctly.)
Parking is available too if you get there early enough.
Of course, all of this could have changed since the last time I was down there about 4 years ago!
"Tomorrow's forecast: a few sprinkles of genius with a chance of doom!" - Stewie Griffin
The Merit island cause way is not bad.
Any beach in the county will give you a pretty good view. I am over 100 miles to the south and will walk out of my office and see it. Shuttle launches are not localized events.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
I've been lucky enough to see two shuttle launches. The first was from the NASA Causeway (one of the northern entrance roads crossing the, er, sound or whatever the body of water is). Unfortunately, they don't open that to the public any longer. However, if you have any contacts on the cape I'd check with them -- it might be open for employees and guests... (dunno).
The second time was a night launch. We'd gotten a nice waterfront table at a fantastic place in Port Canaveral, but I've no idea what it was called. [wait...google maps...tada! Grills Seafood Deck & Tiki Bar - www.visitgrills.com] We got a nice table on the deck near the water, watched the boats come and go (we were in town for a friend's wedding and watched them head out on their honeymoon cruise). Somehow, the four of us managed to hang onto the table for hours (having endless amounts of crabs, shrimp, and assorted drinks). Not long after it got dark, the band played the Star Spangled Banner, and about a minute after that, the shuttle launched.
-sniff- it still brings tears to my eyes.
Anyway, it wasn't nearly as cool as when we were on the causeway (you're actually several miles away, if I recall correctly). But, well....crabs, shrimp, and beer!
I would say you would want to be well outside the radius of an explosion and falling debris...
Seriously, I would think Cocoa Beach would probably be a decent place to view the launch from, unless you were wanting to get even closer.
If you really want to see the wave of the future go out into the desert near Mojave, CA and watch SpaceShipOne taking off.
I've hit Karma 50 and gotten a Score:5, Troll... I win!
You can't get a base pass at this late date. The river is closed past the causeway, and flight restrictions are in place. The closest you can get is six miles or so, and lots of people are trying to crowd in on that six mile line.
Bring beer, and don't be in a hurry to leave.
Bring a telescope and find a high spot a few miles away.
-Adam
If the point of your trip is to see it take off--i.e., watch it sit on the ground, then lift off--then you have little choice but to go all the way out there and sit in traffic and/or sit around for hours waiting for traffic to clear. (I once spent about 3 hours coming home from a 1am launch and it's usually an hour trip.)
l
If I were to try to see tomorrow's launch from anywhere close, I'd probably leave Orlando at noon, sit in traffic the whole time, then get home at 8. And remember two things: 1) there might be so much traffic that you wind up just pulling over to see it, and 2) if the launch doesn't happen, you've gotta sit through all that traffic for nothing.
OTOH, if you just happen to be in the state at the time of launch and are happy to see it go up from anywhere, you can see it from miles away. I live in Orlando (~50 miles away) and if you're anywhere in town with a clear view of the eastern sky you can spend a solid minute or more watching this bright flare come into view and then disappear. (It's not like looking at a planet or comet--you won't miss it, even in the middle of the day.) You won't see the vehicle but you'll see a very bright spot in the sky and it'll show up fine in pics on or video.
Summary: unless you're really, really into this and willing to dedicate a day to it, just look in the direction of KSC at the time of launch.
http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/main/index.htm
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The closet you can get is about 6 miles away. Any way form Orlando get on SR 50, Coloinal Drive follow it, till it dead ends park some were walk to A-1A Cross the road climb over the sea wall stand there with the other 100,000+ people and be in awe! Come at least 4 or 5 hours early maby more these type of launches get crowed alot of people camp out on that strech of road.
Short of a cape pass best seat in the house.
Linux modi 2.6.26-2-parisc
I was there at a shuttle launch once (inadvertently, actually). It was 3-4 years ago and I was with my family at DW, just as the comedian was coming on to warm up the audience for the big show on the water (can't remember now what it's called). Anyway, in the middle of his act, the shuttle launches behind him beautifully right around sunset, and everyone stops listening and just stares. He drops the act long enough for the shuttle to launch, then resumes. Sometimes you have to know when you're beat.
Six score characters.
Brevity being wit's soul
I have enough space.
The "Maximum Access" ticket is separate from the tour which takes you to the shuttle observation area. For that, you need to buy an additional ticket for the "Up Close" tour.
~Philly
I watched a launch across the river from the launchpad when I was a kid. It was beautiful to see both the launch, and the reflection of the launch on the river. You can get plenty of additional information about the launch from Visitor Center's, local residents, and local radio stations.
e w_shuttle.html
Recommended viewing areas per NASA:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/view/vi
/^([Ss]ame [Bb]at (time, |channel.)){2}$/
Wow, I can't believe someone hasn't posted this yet, it was posted in a NASA article less than a week ago...
Ozzie's Space Launch Viewing FAQ.
It has lots of info, including places to watch, radio and TV stations that will cover the launch, and scanner frequencies to listen to NASA, plus photography tips. He recommends Space Launch Park in Titusville, btw. Read his site for more info.
It's address is easy to remember, too: space.launch.info/faq.html
There's a great site that documents in great detail the Vandenberg Air Force Base launches. Since they launch smaller vehicles, any information about "how far you can see" should be useful in helping you predict a launch at Kennedy. The obvious difference is that in CA you can get up in the hills, but I don't think that this makes a huge amount of difference once the booster makes it more than a couple of thousand feet off the ground. You might want to contact the webmaster to see if he/she knows of a similar site for Kennedy.
If you don't want crime to pay, let the government run it.
According to various sources, NASA has cancelled today's planned Space Shuttle launch, apparently due to a faulty fuel-tank sensor.
http://news.yahoo.com/fc/science/space_shuttle
No word on when the next launch date might be.
Unfortunately NASA just announced the launch was postphoned, due to a faulty fuel tank sensor.
:
Article here
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4680687.stm/
Let's hope they can launch it next week, perhaps sooner.
I was flying down to Orlando once, and we were passing Canaveral at launch. Way cool to see the column of smoke start low and rise to above the plane.
Let me share my experience. I had a ticket to watch the launch yesterday from inside the KSC Visitor Complex, which cost me about $50 and had to be quickly purchased a few months ago when the original May launch date was announced.
I flew to Orlando from Philadelphia in the morning and picked up a rental car. I got on the road at about 11:30am, about 4.5 hours before launch. They stagger guest arrival times to prevent total gridlock in the area, and my ticket said to show up no earlier than 1pm.
There was a LOT of traffic getting on Route 528, one of the main east-west routes in central FL. So much that they were just waving traffic through one of the toll plazas instead of collecting money. After that, it was just fine until about 8 miles from the Visitor Complex. I sat in traffic for about 45 minutes or so on Route 50, from a little ways east of Route 1 up to the 'official business check-in' building, where there was a security checkpoint in the road. Ticketed visitors like me with dashboard placards were waved through to proceed to the Visitor Complex. The other cars were turned away.
Once I got into the parking lot at about 1:10pm, they directed me to a spot. I was VERY far from the entrance because I arrived so late. I looked at the placards in other cars right by the entrance, and they had different times on them-- the earliest I saw said 9:30am.
Now, through security. I had a collapsible chair with me, binoculars, my camera and an external battery pack for it, two cellphones (work and personal), wallet and car keys. Carrying all this stuff was awkward because on launch days backpacks are absolutely verboten for security reasons. I had just been to KSC in May, and backpacks were fine then-- the security people check everything you have in them anyway.( If I go to KSC for a launch again, I'm going to be carrying my stuff in one of these-- they can't possibly object to that, can they?)
First it was through the metal detector with my pockets emptied, and then over to a table where another guy checked all my stuff. I had to turn on my camera and phones to show him they were functional, explain my camera's battery pack, and hold up my binocs so he could see through them. Satisfied, he let me pass. Oddly, he didn't even glance at the collapsible chair in the sleeve slung over my shoulder, where I could have been smuggling damned near anything 3' long and cylindrical.
Finally, I get out into the complex proper, and head over to the northeast corner of the complex. I chose a nice spot in the shade provided by the left SRB of the external tank and booster exhibit, and settled in to wait. You can't see the launch pad from the complex, due to a line of trees on the other side of the road, but the shuttle is only airborne for a few seconds before it clears them. Not ten minutes later, the launch was scrubbed. D'oh!
I hung out for a while and waited for everyone else to clear out before heading back to Orlando to catch my 8:30 flight home. Between the ticket, airfare and rental car, it was about a $400 day. I was disappointed, but I knew my chances when I decided to make the trip.
If they get it up before the end of July, I won't be there to see it. I'm rooting for this fuel sensor problem to be a real ballbuster so the launch is pushed back to September, and then maybe I'll take another crack at witnessing it. I don't know if I'm going to do it from KSC, though. It was a LOT of hassle with all the friggin' security. Also, the single-day round trip was a little rough. I had work on Thursday, and I had been very nervous about missing my flight home (th
I drove out to see the launch from Utah because I suspected it might be delayed and I can always sleep in the back of my van right? It took me 4 days to drive, I got there 3 days early so I could spend 2 days at the Visitors center, and Astronaut hall of fame, then get a great spot a day early. I found one a great spot about a block north of the Macdonalds in Titusville.
the view at night was great... the shuttle was all lit up, and you could see it sitting on the pad realy well. If the launch had happened I think I would have had a great view of the shuttle rising beween 2 palm trees.
I'm still hoping this thing happens and I'm going to stick around in FL till I find out for certain If it's gonna fly or not.
-John Fenley