🚀 go-pugleaf

Well, the launch date for STS-53 is not yet final (now there is a problem
with one of Discovery's Auxillary Power Units) so a launch date for STS-54
is a bit premature, but the second week of January seems pretty stable.
 
A Car Pass for Space Shuttle launches will put you on the NASA Causeway,
a strip of land crossing the Banana River between Kennedy Space Center
(on Merritt Island, Florida - between Cape Canaveral and the mainland) and
the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (on Cape Canaveral proper.)
The NASA Causeway is about six miles due south (in the middle) of
Launch Pad 39A and about seven miles south of Launch Pad 39B. This location
is probably the best all-round viewing location for launches of the
Space Shuttle, but there are some qualifiers...
 
First, determine (from NASA press kits or other semi-technical sources)
the launch azimuth for the Space Shuttle on the particular mission you
hope to see launched. If it is a low-inclination flight (i.e., the normal
28.45 degree orbit) then the NASA Causeway car pass site is far and away
the best spot to be. This azimuth will have the Shuttle travelling an arc
eastward across the sky, creating the impression that the Shuttle flies
right over you (it doesn't though!)
 
On the other hand, a high-inclination launch (57 degrees) will take the
Space Shuttle almost directly AWAY from the NASA Causeway site, and you'll
be looking straight up the SRB plume. Now this is still EXTREMELY exciting
and EXTREMELY impressive, but a better VIEWING site might be the Indian
River shore in the Titusville, Florida area. Titusville is due west of
the Kennedy Space Center launch pads, and a high-inclination launch will
arc northward across the sky from your vantage point. 
 
There are pros and cons to both sites, but if you can get a pass, definitely
go out to the NASA Causeway! The NASA Causeway site is equipped with
loudspeakers broadcasting commentary from Shuttle Launch Control (the same
as NASA-Select TV) so you'll know what's going on even if you don't have
a radio. However, be advised that traffic on the Causeway can be terrible.
My advice is to take plenty of food, drink, and sunblock and plan to spend
a lot of time waiting. It's a smart idea to take some fold-up chairs and a
picnic set-up, too.

Pros for the Titusville area are easier access and a faster getaway after
the launch. Cons are that some riverside locations charge you for the
priviledge of parking there (ah, capitalism at work) and a radio station
carrying launch coverage may be hard to find (keeping you in the dark as
to what's happening in Launch Control.) Further, a morning launch may be
lost in the rising sun as seen from Titusville. (If the launch is scheduled
for within two hours of dawn, go down to Cocoa Beach instead.)

For you information:

STS-53 DISCOVERY (no earlier than 2 December)
57 degree orbit (high inclination - northeastward flightpath)
 
STS-54 ENDEAVOUR (no earlier than 2nd week of January)
28.45 degree orbit (low inclination - due east flightpath)

The second week of January is likely to be chilly, even in Florida, and
especially standing on a causeway in the middle of a river. Be sure to
bundle up!
 
-Brian