🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1991Jun02.092719.26176@demon.co.uk> Andre Willey <andre@cix.compulink.co.uk> writes:
>

>When I was in Florida at the time of a launch, I went down to a little place
>called Titusville (sp?) just up the coast from the space centre, and almost
>directly opposite the launch pad itself. If you get there an hour or so
>before the launch (before too many cars arrive) and park in the MacDonald's
>car park you can have a burger while you wait; there will be lots of other
>people there, all with radios tuned to the KSC broadcasts...

We did about the same thing when we saw STS-7 (Sally Ride, Challenger).  Only
crowds were a lot bigger then--we drove there the night before the launch
and slept in the car in a bank's parking lot until the lift-off the following
morning.  There were cars, campers, people lining that north/south road
through Titusville.

>Then, when the time comes, you can stroll a hundred yards down the small road
>beside the restaurant to the water's edge, where you have a clear view over
>to the pad. I got a *great* view, and some nice pictures. Of course, my little
>200mm lens was overpowered by folks with 1000mm lenses and tripods, but what
>the hell, I saw it! And heard it (wow!)

Yeah, you can hear it!  I remember calculating how far away we were using
the time delay between seeing and hearing the lift-off.  Around 4 miles, I
think.  I was disappointed because they were supposed to land back
at KSC, but diverted to Edwards instead.  I wanted to hear/see the shuttle
break Mach--it apparently does it right over the town!

>Don't forget to have your car radio tuned into the local station which
>carries the KSC stuff. If the launch is scrubbed before you arrive you can
>always turn back or change your plans. Also, you can follow the progress
>of the mission once the shuttle is way out of eyesight and you are back
>in the traffic jam!

>BTW - it's a good idea to park close to (or even on) the road ready for a
>quick getaway as soon as the shuttle is out of view - those extra couple of
>minutes getting back onto the road can make the difference between a one
>hour and a three hour journey back to Orlando! Or you could always sit
>around for an hour until KSC is open to visitors again, but I guess it would
>be a bit crowded!

>We did our trip to visit KSC *before* the launch date, and though you can't
>get close to the pad with the shuttle on (fuel, explosives bolts, etc), you

>Andre

>Andre Willey                       |  Email: (1) andre%cix@ukc.ac.uk
>7 Oaklands Road, Sutton Coldfield, |         (2) andre@cix.compulink.co.uk
>West Midlands, B74 2TB, England.   |         (3) ...{mcsun}!ukc!cix!andre
>Phone: (UK) 021-308-5251           |  "Il est mort, Jean Luc..."
>Note: Some mailers have problems with replies to address (2) at the moment
-- 
Jeff Hansen
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