The Greatest Experience I've Had....

Was being at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, at night, to watch Endeavour launch. The launch was supposed to happen on our last night in Florida (we spent a week there hanging out at the Disney parks). But, as it almost always happens, the launch was delayed; I believe because of bad weather at the abort site in Spain. So, we extended our trip a day or so and went back to KSC the next night. Jeremy had some connections with his local congressman, so he was able to hook us up with seats in the VIP section; right next to the astronauts' families! It was still about 3-5 miles away from the launch pad, but closer than if we were on the causeway.

Jeremy had his camera (film at the time) and so he gave me the responsibility of taking video. It was so exciting! J even called our friend Alex right before the launch, then put the phone down on the bleachers while the shuttle took off so Alex could hear the launch. Amazing. Since it was night, it was hard to really see the shuttle on the pad. But the water spray started.... the engines ignited (and according to Jeremy, insert Paula's crazy reaction here)... the sound- oh my gosh, the sound of the engines - nothing else quite like it. Finally, the countdown clock reached zero, and the shuttle catapulted itself into the sky. I can't really describe what I was feeling. Awe? Definitely. Emotional? How could you not? Patriotic? Absolutely. But there are so many other emotions it's hard to really tell you what it was like without actually witnessing it. A couple of seconds after Endeavour lifted off the pad, the fire trail lit up the night; and it was like the middle of the day. You could see everything. We watched the shuttle until we could see it no more. I think once we got back to our car, we were both pretty silent. To absorb what we had just seen took time.

So, right now, Atlantis is getting ready to launch for a repair mission to the Hubble Telescope. It's supposed to be the last mission to the Hubble. The shuttle is supposed to launch at 2:01 EST, or 11:01 PST. I have NASA TV running on my computer right now. They just now are releasing their T-9 minutes scheduled hold, and will start the last 9 minutes of the countdown

I've gotta go watch this!