Some shuttle launch screen caps, for those who are interested...

[Fridays Child]

[Gman]

1. Thanks

It's always very cool.

[immoderate]

2. Woo-hoo

--IMM

[Rick Myers]

3. I watched it LIVE, and grit my teeth and cried!!!

I watched the Mercury and Gemini launches in primary school, and there is NEVER a routine launch!!!

Godspeed Atlantis!!!

[BobRossi]

4. What a waste of my money.

Why not just pile in a heap on the front lawn and light a match to it?

[A HERETIC I AM]

7. Don't worry. It wasn't your money they spent....

They spent your money on one of these;


I have it on good authority that not a dime of your tax dollars go to NASA

[Aviation Pro]

19. Hey, watch it....

...that tank is the source of some very fond memories for me. You go Alpha 12 of the 1st Armored Division, 1st Battalion, 35th Armor, Alpha Company.

[A HERETIC I AM]

21. Not meant as a disparaging comment, by any means...

just trying to assure that fellow his tax dollars went towards something a little more down to earth, thats all.

Tanks are cool too. I just wish we could find a way to never need to shoot them anymore.

"Shoot off shuttles, not tanks" could be a cool T-shirt

[Fridays Child]

8. I knew that, even if I stated, specifically, that this thread was for those who are interested...

...someone would feel the need to show up and take a crap on it. Thanks for not letting me down.

[ReverendDeuce]

9. This happens every time...

I've posted about space exploration before. I learned to hold my tongue around here.

Typically, I get snide responses like "that money could be better spent on , then we'd all be better -- space is a waste of money!"

I'd rather we didn't spend as much on no-bid military contracts and unneeded wars, honestly. <sigh> But I guess I'm in the minority position when it comes to science and research funding.

[Fridays Child]

13. I don't think you're in the minority.

There are just a few posters, here at DU, who manage to keep themselves very busy, pissing on threads.

[cobalt1999]

16. I hope it's never a minority position, but...

there are just short sighted or uneducated people on both the right and the left.

They remind me of this quote from Monty Pythons' "Life of Brian"

"All right... all right... but apart from better sanitation and medicine and education and irrigation and public health and roads and a freshwater system and baths and public order... what have the Romans done for us?"

The same goes for people bitching about science spending...What has science ever done for us?

[glitch]

17. Lol! I need to watch that movie again. nt

[bananas]

20. Keep posting!

Don't let the doomers and luddites get you down!

[Fridays Child]

27. Thanks!

[Bucky]

10. Yeah! Fuck scientific research!

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

15. What scientific research is going on here?

There's some rather impressive engineering going on, but it's what, thirty year old engineering?

[slowry]

14. Why not both :) n/t

[Warren DeMontague]

5. That was cool!

Very, very cool.

[Aviation Pro]

6. Watched it on the beach at Ponce Inlet....

...perfect seperation at 2:40 after launch time. SRBs seperated right in front of us.

[redphish]

11. Just moved from South Daytona to Palm Coast.

You can see it just as well from here, amazing.

[Ahpook]

18. Lived in Ponce Inlet for about 9 years...

Right across the street from the Lil' Champ

Fond memories including those night launches.

[TZ]

12. Very nice

Thanks for posting!

[progressoid]

22. Here are a couple more...

[Fridays Child]

25. Nice!

[Duppers]

23. more pics

From NASA Fact:
Did you know that every day the Hubble Space Telescope archives 3 to 5 gigabytes of data and delivers between 10 and 15 gigabytes to astronomers all over the world?

Yet, * cut funding necessary to keep Hubble operable.

[Fridays Child]

24. Beautiful shots!

[Cameron27]

26. It was fantastic to watch!

Thanks for the pics

[magellan]

28. We watched from our backyard

We never miss a launch or landing if we can help it. Thrilling stuff. Thanks for the pix!

[Fridays Child]

29. Lucky you!

That must be awesome!

[magellan]

30. Pretty much

We're about 50 miles away so don't get the launch sound effects, but watching that bright yellow light arc upwards on a plume of smoke is an amazing sight. It's one of the reasons we persuaded ourselves to move down here!

[Fridays Child]

34. A friend and her husband drove about 1,000 miles to see the launch.

It was his anniversary gift to her. They bought a package deal that got them into some convention where they rubbed elbows with the astronauts, and they had a good view of the launch. I think she said they were on the causeway, wherever that is. Anyway, she called me the other night because she had just met Guenter Wendt, the Apollo padleader. She had sat down next to him, before realizing who he was. And, when she figured it out, she asked if she could shake his hand. He shook her hand, saying, "Oh, I'm nobody." But she was thrilled to meet him.

[magellan]

35. Wow, that's a nice gift!

Particularly the opportunity to meet Guenter Wendt. Gosh, he's been around forever, hasn't he? How did she recognize him?

If I'm not mistaken (which is always very possible, lol), the causeway is the road that links KSC and Cape Canaveral AFS. It's a restricted area with great viewing of the launch area; you need to make a request in writing for a special pass. We found that out by trying to get there early one morning in '97 and being turned around at a guard station. It's not open to the general public.

I'm green with envy!

[Fridays Child]

36. She really didn't recognize Guenter Wendt, at first.

But others, nearby, were speaking to him and calling him Guenter, so she asked him if he was Guenter Wendt.

I bet she has some good pictures of the launch. Hopefully, she'll email them, when she gets home.

[Fridays Child]

33. self delete

[watercolors]

31. Never tire of watching the launches

We came to the Cape in 63, hubby an engineer, retired in 1995. We are indeed so proud to have been part of this history in the making. We now have our son working at the Cape, and a grandson doing apprentice work for NASA. I wish skeptics would take a closer look at what the proram has brought to us. For our part we are proud that our family is contributing to the future of this country in a positive way.

[malaise]

32. Thanks

I too watched it live.