3 - 2 - 1 BLASTOFF!

What an amazing experience. I don't know how to describe our day. Almost surreal, I guess. We were so excited to see the shuttle launch yesterday. STS-132 ... the last flight of Atlantis. Its headed to the space station and we got to see it blast off and we got to hear it from just 7 1/2 miles away. It was really impressive. We were at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. We arrived after about 8 miles of bumper to bumper traffic that took 40 minutes. We parked and entered the complex and set up the chairs. Then we skipped off to have breakfast with Astronaut Bruce Melnick which was really interesting. We enjoyed listening to him talk about his two experiences in space. Then we headed outside and enjoyed all the other things to see at the complex. Then close to launch time, we went back to our chairs and watched the big screen they had set up. We watched as they pulled the white room away from the shuttle. We watched as the cap came off. 10 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 6 - 5- 4 - 3- 2- 1 ... We watched as the burners started, and sparks flew. Then it started to lift up into the sky. Just a moment later, we could see the shuttle over the tree line as it rose into the sky. It was AMAZINGLY bright, like looking at the sun. The brightness of the burners and the trail of white smoke contrasting against the clear blue sky ... and then we could hear the rumble. It reached us several seconds after we could see it. I would love to come see another one.

And it was more than just seeing the shuttle or even more than hearing it. It was the feeling of the crowd, being a part of it. The crowd was all so excited and in awe. Everyone was sharing their previous experiences of seeing the shuttle launch and their excitement for this one. It was just cool!

I was blessed to borrow a camera that is much better than mine, and the pictures turned out well. If I ever get to come back, I'd love to be on the causeway and have an even bigger zoom.





So grateful to get to go! Happy Birthday Steve! I hope it was everything you dreamed!