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GO DISCOVERY!!!
God speed, crew of Discovery! I stood outside my office with tears clouding my eyes and watched her live leave the gravity of Earth! In five minutes after the launch, we could hear the low rumble of her engines as the sound of Discovery reached our ears from forty to fifty miles away. The launch area is very near where I fish, and if you guys saw it on TV, the Indian River they talked about on the news is my waters!
Awsome, just awsome!
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Flatsdude, Amen to the return of the shuttle to flight. I have been to NASA but neaver saw a shuttle launch. Must be awsome as you say.
Bill
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Bill
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I saw it along with the vapor trail. Luckily the sky was just clear enough to see it for a while.
I can sometimes see the launches from here depending on whether there are clouds or not. I can recall clearly seeing one of the shuttles in low orbit once on a clear evening with the naked eye when there was an unlimited ceiling of visibility. Awesome http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/biggrin.gif. It was moving pretty fast in orbit so it was only visible from horizon to horizon for a minute or two.
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Robert B. McCorquodale
Sebring, FL
"Flip a fly"
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Take offs are fun to watch, I remember when I was going to school in Daytona they had an evening launch. I had a radio on as I sat in the middle of campus in the fading evening light listening to the countdown, then watching an orange ball of light reach towards the heavens.
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We watched the countdown. Stepped outside with binocular to try to spot the vapor trail and see the SRB separation. Too many clouds in the sky twixt here and there. We'll watch for them at sunrise and sunset. [url=http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/elements/index.html:b1ab2]http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/elements/index.html[/url:b1ab2]
This stuff excites me now even more than when I was a kid!
We had reservations for a motel on the first and second launch dates. After that, the motels were into summer rates and far too exensive for two road-weary travelers to risk booking. Perhaps next time or the time after!
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aka Cap'n Yid.
Stev Lenon, 91B20'68-'69
When the dawn came up like thunder
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Hey there Slenon;
Just went to the NASA link in your post. Great, but it's most unfortunate that they chose Greek as the language with which to describe the tracking of the shuttle in orbit. You mention watching them at sunrise and sunset? Just how does one do that?. I'd me most interested in knowing if telescopic viewing is possible also. Thanks.
Mark
PS: And I share the sentiments stated above regarding their safe return. God Speed Discovery.
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I'd rather be in Wyoming!
[This message has been edited by Marco (edited 26 July 2005).]
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[url=http://science.nasa.gov/realtime/jtrack/Spacecraft.html:ad371]http://science.nasa.gov/realtime/jtrack/Spacecraft.html[/url:ad371]
puts the various orbiting items on a ballistic track on map
The Jpass feature will allow you to see when the shuttle and ISS are overhead in your location. They are best visible with the naked eye or binoculars at sunrise and sunset,
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aka Cap'n Yid.
Stev Lenon, 91B20'68-'69
When the dawn came up like thunder
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It's just fantastic to see a NASA launch. I saw one when I was a kid back in the 60's. This mission is pretty special to those of us in this area of NY. Commander Eileen Collins is from Elmira, NY where snipe and nyangler and tyeflies are from and where I work. Go Eileen!
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I was just watching MSNBC or Fox news. Apparently they think a piece of the ceramic tiles might have fallen off during the take off. They showed a video transmition from on the exterior of the shuttle looking at the belly and the main fuel tank. And it looks like a tile goes flying off. Did any of you see this?
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No, but if it did, I think they can fix it in orbit now with the new tile repair kits.
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Robert B. McCorquodale
Sebring, FL
"Flip a fly"