STS-123 - A Space Geek’s Pilgrimage : Part IV - Launch!

Hello Again,Guided only by the stars and the Sun (also known as Google Maps) I have triumphantly returned home. First off, I apologize for the delay of this post. The last few days have been extremely exhausting. I decided to experience some cosmic radiation on Monday and pick up a sun burn during my nine mile walk on the beach, my own little There and Back Again. Now what you have all been waiting for the final part of my story as well as pictures and a video.

I arrived back at KSC around 8:30 pm Monday night. My ticket said to arrive no later than 9:30, my other instructions from NASA said arrive no earlier, but plan for traffic. Either way I figured earlier was better. The drive in itself was amazing. I couldn’t keep calm or relaxed. Finally after nearly 17 years of waiting I would get to witness one of the greatest displays on Earth. And then it happened. As I approached I could see the spotlights from Launch Pad 39A streaking across the night sky, stopped short only by the low lying clouds - an impenetrable wall they could not pass. But that would not last long, soon enough we puncture those very clouds with a force which can only be matched by few.I made it through security around 9:00pm or so and had plenty of time to burn.

Luckily the park had most of the exhibits open so I was able to see a few things I had missed on the first day.There was a short movie about the quest for life on other planets. There were a few subjects discussed I found interesting. These mostly revolved around extremophiles, organisms which can survive in extreme conditions. Developing a better understanding of these unique creatures will vastly increase our chances of discovering foreign life forms in places such as Jupiter’s moons and Mars. Following the movie I still had a large amount of time to burn so I took some more pictures of the rockets set up in the rocket garden. It was an entirely different display at night as they were lit up against a black back drop. I decided to view the 3D IMAX movie about the space station again. It was rather chilly out, and when you get to watch astronauts float around in space… well I had no problem viewing it twice.

Finally, I made my way out to a large grassy area at the Visitor Center where they had a jumbotron set up showing constant video of the launch procedures, the shuttle, and the crew. They also had a small stage where a speaker explained what was going on as it happened, and an astronaut spoke for approximately 30 minutes or so. A portion of this time was uneventful and I, as well as a thousand or so others, slept. There were a few very important things I was definitely awake for.First, loading the crew into the orbiter: This happens several hours before take off. It’s quite a lengthy and arduous process as they must be placed into the orbiter in the vertical position. The in-orbiter cameras show quite a site. You always imagine a very roomy cabin. Not so - the crew is packed in there tight, and there are wall to wall switches, buttons, lights and monitors. You could hear communications over the speaker system as mission control, ground crews, and the crew itself went through checklists step by step, hundreds upon hundreds of steps. Everything - I mean everything - has explicit instructions and nothing is over looked.It was an amazing experience to hear as they went through communications checks, systems checks, and data entry. Every spectator was placed right in the experience themselves.

I was sure to be paying attention when they closed the orbiter door. I’m not sure what about it made it seem so special. Maybe because its the last human contact the crew has before take off. Maybe because it’s the final sealing of the orbiter. I’m not entirely sure, but something about it seemed special, and the expressions demonstrated between the crew itself and the ground crew sealing them in told me they felt the exact same way.At this point there were still a few hours to go until lift off, and there are several things I would like to make mention of before we get to the final moments. Something that struck me as odd were the built in holds in the count down. At certain times in the count down they would stop the timer. From what they were saying this is in order to give crews time to make sure everything was on track and do any catching up if necessary. I’m not sure why they feel it necessary to stop the timer, why not just add the time necessary from the start?

As 2:28 am approached things continued as normal. You could hear people talking back in forth - it was was mostly an abbreviated language. Of course I don’t blame them given the 20 syllable phrases they would have to repeatedly say. When cloud cover rolled in they sent a fellow astronaut up in a plane to test atmospheric conditions and relay the information back to the shuttle crew so they would know how the orbiter would act. From what I understand the plane he was flying has similar flight characteristics to that of the orbiter itself. I’m not sure if it was a T-38 training plane or a gulf stream jet (I received conflicting reports).Once we reached the 9 minute mark on the countdown, we went into the final hold which lasted 45 minutes. It was during this time my ears heard what they had dreamed off since the first time I saw the Apollo 13 motion picture; the flight controllers going across the room for go. Every time I heard the phrase “Go.” or “Go Flight.” I swear my heart skipped a beat. I could not believe I was finally there. Another life-long goal about to be accomplished.

Fast forward to T - 1 minute: The crowd begins cheering.

T - 30: Everyone is on there feet.

T - 10: The crown begins to count down.

At T - 6 six seconds my eyes could not believe what they were seeing. This is the point at which the orbiter’s main engines (fueled by the large red main tank) ignite. I was nearly 6 and a half miles away from the launch pad. Please realize I am not exaggerating in the least bit when I say that the main engines turned night into DAY. I’m not even sure if the sunrise is as bright as what I saw. Words cannot describe what I witnessed that chilly morning. The ground below my feet was clear as day, the sky turned orange and yellow, night no longer existed. I knew the shuttle was beginning to “Twang”. This is what happens when the main engines ignite and the shuttle actually moves backwards and then the launch pad, holding it in place, steadies it as it moves back into a vertical position before the white solid rocket boosters ignite.

T - 0: The boosters ignite, the launch pad releases it grip as the shuttle hurtles itself off of the pad. They say that the shock wave alone can kill you at over 800 feet away. I Believe Them. After a few short moments I see the shuttle piercing the night sky, the Earth with all its might reaching for her trying to bring her back down, but no - she no longer belonged to this world. It cuts through the night sky with a speed and power I have never before witnessed. I can remember seeing videos of launches and you see it move through the air for 20, 30 seconds. These videos are deceiving, they are shot from many many miles away. I have seen it with mine own eyes. When the shuttle decides its time to go, its GOES. It met the cloud line after only a few brief seconds. You cannot imagine how fast it climbs. Nor can I even begin to fathom the immense power pushing her upward.It was shortly after this when I heard the launch. I could hear the explosive power of the engines tear through the air. No television set, or even 5.1 surround sound can do it justice. It is a sound like none other. I watched on the jumbotron as the solid rocket boosters dropped off to parachute back to the ocean for recovery. I listened as mission control watched while the engines were throttled back during what is called “Max Q” (a point during the launch process when engines are throttled back so the shuttle doesn’t get crushed by the extreme forces acting upon it).

It is very difficult to completely describe this experience. It brought a tear to my eye as I watched mankind push the very boundaries of our capability. I stood there seeing what we can accomplish, and it makes me realize that the challenges I face are somewhat small and insignificant compared to what I am capable of. This journey has once again refueled my desire to push myself as much as possible to accomplish my dreams. Impossible is not a word. Unthinkable does not exist. And unreachable only means you aren’t trying hard enough.

I hope that my reporting on this once in a lifetime experience may have influenced some of you to make the same Pilgrimage I have. It some ways it has been a life altering event. In others a dream come true. There are only a few launches of the shuttle left. I hope to return for another one, maybe even bring my younger brother who is as big a fan as myself and will not other wise have the opportunity.Please stay tuned as I will be creating a post dedicated solely to pictures and what portion of a video I could shoot during the launch. I was concentrated on me viewing it, not the camera, so we will see how it came out.

Scott

1. Paolo Amoroso Says:
   March 12th, 2008 at 4:32 pm

   Scott. glad you had 101% success with your launch, nice description. As for countdown holds, see: “Countdown 101″ http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/countdown/ctdn101.htm

2. ScottMiller Says:
   March 12th, 2008 at 5:00 pm

   Paolo,

   Thank you for the compliment. I still feel I haven’t done such beauty justice. As you are well aware it is very difficult to place into words what I witnessed. A second thank you for the link, I was planning on searching for something of that nature, but have been busy working on images.

   I appreciate you sticking with me the whole trip!

   Scott

3. Katrina Says:
   March 13th, 2008 at 8:40 pm

   Thank you for the amazing post, Scott. I loved your description of launch. I was checking back a few times to see it, little did I know you were in transit! Hope you’re not too exhausted.

   I’m so glad you had a great launch experience at the KSC. I’ve seen one launch also, and like you, can hardly wait to see another. I think my astronomy will club will plan another expedition when we can - after all, there aren’t too many left.

   If you’re interested, here’s the you-tube movie my friend made of our trip to see STS-122:
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng75SOc5po0
   Not as spectacular as a nighttime launch, but at least we could see the aligator

   Now back to NASA TV! 1st spacewalk y’know….
   Katrina

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