birchy Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 Once in a lifetime thing for me! : You'll have to forgive the video quality.. it was taken with a digital camera and he loses focus halfway through and can't get it back. Either way, the video doesn't really do it justice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanJuanWorm Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 OMG i've always wanted to see one. Lucky guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birchy Posted June 22, 2007 Author Share Posted June 22, 2007 OMG i've always wanted to see one. Lucky guy. It was amazing. You could CLEARLY see the booster flames, and then boosters separate and the shuttle keep going and everything! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reevesr1 Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 It was amazing. You could CLEARLY see the booster flames, and then boosters separate and the shuttle keep going and everything! Birchy, When I lived in Orlando, you could see it launch, the contrails and separation anyway. I think you could even hear it, but it was 20 years ago and I may be remembering it wrong. I can't remember if we could see the flame. I do remember the utter thrill however. I grew up in Houston in the 60s. Made you an automatic space nut. My aunt worked at NASA (and one of the pictures on the "Things to do in Texas" was a shot of my dad and his best friend with 80 redfish or so) and got me the word for word radio transcripts from Apollo 11 about a week after splashdown. I read it cover to cover. It was on old mimeograph paper and was several inches thick. The astronauts even swore when the TV wasn't recording. To a 9 yr old, that was the coolest thing ever. It was lost in a move in the 70s and I still feel bad about it. What I would give to have a copy today. I was on a Submarine (USS Birmingham, SSN 695) when the Challenger exploded. I almost got in a fight when someone in the crews mess made a smart ass remark about it. I literally jumped across a table at him and was grabbed before I could lay into him. When we got back to Pearl Harbor a few weeks later, I would turn off the TV any time I saw it coming on. It did not feel right to me watching people I had always considered heros die. I can honestly say it was at least 10 years later when I finally saw it by accident. I was living in Houston when Columbia disintegrated. I was watching it land on TV. This one was much more personal as my son played baseball with Illan Ramon's son. I had met Illan and knew he was an astronaut, but frankly did not know he was on Columbia until I saw it that day. I certainly knew his son (and had coached him a bit) and mother much better. Tragic, as you can expect. All that said, I still get a massive thrill anytime I see the shuttle go, either 100 miles away in Orlando or on TV and envy you just having seen it. It is an awesome sight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reevesr1 Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 Should have watched the video first. Obviously Orlando as well? I was stationed there in 1980 an 81, about 20 miles from Disney World. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxwell Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 thats would be iuntence too witness, thanks for postin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birchy Posted June 23, 2007 Author Share Posted June 23, 2007 Should have watched the video first. Obviously Orlando as well? I was stationed there in 1980 an 81, about 20 miles from Disney World. Yep! Unreal that I happened to be in Orlando for only the 2nd time in my life, and it was at the same time as a shuttle launch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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