Watching a Space Shot?

Gramie2 asks: "I was toying with the idea of throwing my son in the car and driving for two days to watch the latest shuttle launch. I didn't, but it occurred to me that I don't know the logistics of going to watch a launch. Where is the best place to stay near the site? Where do you view from? I imagine that there are restrictions, so do you have to get tickets or make other arrangements ahead of time? How do you find out the launch schedule? What about smaller launches? How do they compare? Is there one time of year that is better than another? Does anyone have other recommendations for the whole experience?"

Comments

Get as close as you can

[NeverSignsIn]

I've been on the causeway for a shuttle launch. Thats about as close as anyone can get. It was amazing. Make that Freakin Amazing (TM). You see the flames and smoke in the distance and of course it takes some time for the sound waves to catch up. What really surprised me was that I watched the water vibrate as the shockwave sped towords me. Then it hit. The ground shook, my ears were filled with the roar and my internal organs rattled. My pregnant girlfriend was there and I have always wondered if we altered our son's development.

As a kid they used to let us out of our elementary school classes to watch the Saturn V's take off. Eighty miles away in Orlando we could still see the flames. In fact we used to sit in the living room at home and watch the shuttles through the window, while the TV showed us the close up. Thats how we watched the Challenger explode.

So anywhere you get within twenty miles is going to knock your socks off. Just be prepared for delays that may sending you home with dissappointment.

Re:Been there done that.

[rts008]

Hear! Hear!
You said it. Having a decent view of a live rocket ( of any size, but especially the shuttle) is an awesome experience! You can see it well, you can hear it really well, and what you CANNOT get from the TV is: you can FEEL it launch. Your best home media solution with massive subwoofers can't even com close to the rumble you can feel from the soles of your feet thru the top of your hair!
You can't fully appreciate the power these things unleash in controlled fury until you've actuall went and seen one.

To the parent LWATCDR replied to above: do all that is in your means/power to get your kid to see the launch.
Plan on spending a few days, the launch could get delayed 12-24 hours, if it goes on schedule, then there is a lot of NASA related stuff to do and see around the area- if your kid enjoys that type of thing, then it's a fairly fool-proof way to get "way cool Dad" and "hero" points from the kid, in return you get to give him/her an experience they will never forget!

My Dad worked for NASA both at Wallops Island,Va., and also at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. when I was groing up.
At Wallops Island it seemed there was a launch a week (I was in kindergarden and First grade there so I doubt it was even close to one a week! LOL! )But I probably saw over a hundred launches before I was in 5th grade- never got tired of them- all were exciting!
So, Pop....get on the stick get that kid out there for the launch- you may be influencing the next Veil Armstrong, or W. Braum!

Re:Been there done that.

[LWATCDR]

I would like to think that it goes past the sound and furry of the event. I grew up in South Florida you can see the shuttle go up from my house, the house I grew up in, the high school I attended, and now my office. When you are near KSC with everyone else watching and waiting it is just different. You are part of it. Rush wrote a song about the first shuttle launch called countdown. It really seems to capture the feeling of the event. It is like the difference between kissing a woman love and watching a kiss on TV. Anyone that doesn't get a lump in their throat at a shuttle launch isn't anyone I would want to know.