posted 04-20-2001 04:09 PM               

WOW!!!!!!!!!!

That was the most awesome sight Ive ever seen!

I arrived Wednesday...got my press passes and headed for the RSS rollback. Met
Jimmy Brown..great guy..great advice! Thanks Jim.... IT was delayed an hour,
and thus perfect timing. The sun went dowen just as they started, and it lasted
into the night. We first watched it from the side of the pad; later, they took
us to the crawlerway. Hope the pictures came out..my camera may not have been
advancing the film.

Then came launch day. First, the crew walkout. IT was great although I was
squeezed in the second row. Any pictures show the back of the astronauts, as
best as I remember.

Then the long, but pleasant wait inside the press building. You can watch NASA
TV, talk to people, get some free photos from the lab, etc. Speaking of which,
I met my friend Howard, the photo lab manager. He gave me some advice on
exactly how to shoot it, and then took the film to develop it there. Maybe one
will reach the KSC website ...

From the 9 minute point, the time seemed to zip right by. And all of the
sudden, a column of liguid gold rose out of the grouns trailing a cloud of deep
brown smoke. Then the sound hits, a few seconds later, growing louder and
louder until all other sounds are drowned out. For this mission from our
prospective, Endeavour went into the cloud about plus 20 seconds, never to be
seen again ..but that certainly didnt dampen my spirit!!

Some experience if you havent seen a launch yet. WOW! Later I met a few other
people, including Ken H. from the cover service, who also provided me with some
area info. After the launch, I couldnt seem to remember anything, literally .
Maybe it was that cloud of HCl!...
Boy..that made 5/ the last 6 on timers, just what I hoped for! We decided to
come home last night..as long as I saw the spectacle, that didnt matter. Well,
thats all I can think of. Of yea...Don Peterson did not sign (I dont think
anyone signs at the astro encounter). There were quite a few astros at the
press site...all I think ESA. I had nothing to autograph of a pen until later
after the launch, but didnt come to think of getting autographs (nor felt like risking it). -Ben

------------------
______ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
-Ben

"'Time was invented to keep everything from happening at the same time.
Space was invented so that everything doesen't happen to you.' -Anonymous"

(Feel free to email me, subject line "Collect space", as I will not recognize you otherwise! Thank you.)

posted 04-20-2001 04:55 PM               

Seems that the last 2 launches have gone off on schedule. If only I waited until the launch after STS-98....

Oh well, I just have a good excuse to go back to KSC again!

Maybe you already saw this, but here is a web page about my trip: www.geocities.com/tegwilym/ksc

posted 04-21-2001 12:29 AM               

I did see the ISS and Endevour fly over Seattle tonight. ISS came over and was fairly bright, then about 2 minutes later the shuttle came right behind it! Very cool! :-)

posted 04-21-2001 02:26 AM               

You think you live a fair distance from the KSC! Try living in the UK where you have to save up approximately $2,000 just to get over to Florida and hire a car. That's not including food, accommodation, petrol or anything else. It takes me 3 years to save up for my trips to USA. So, please, no more complaints about how difficult it is for you to get to the KSC to see a launch. Imagine saving up for 3 years, arriving at the space center and then they cancel the launch! Get my point?

posted 04-21-2001 03:33 AM               

Same with me, Jacqueline ..... still thinking of a US journey for some weeks within the next time but it would have to include FLA (preferably during a launch), Houston and Huntsville ...

posted 04-21-2001 05:29 AM               

I went to JSC, Houston back in 1999. Have to say that the KSC beats it hand down. Next year when I visit the KSC I do not know if there will be a launch. Unfortunately due to my husband's work and son's schooling we only have a limited time to take as a holiday. Let's hope I'm lucky again. I saw STS82 launch in February 1997.

posted 04-22-2001 07:45 AM               

Also at KSC for the daily Astronaut Encounter the day before launch were Don Peterson & a surprise appearance by Gene
Cernan! But neither were autographing,
although a few brave souls got quickly
applied scribbles from Cernan as he walked away.

STS-100 more than made up for the
disappointment of STS-101 a year ago when NASA tried three straight days to launch STS-101 & gave up after high winds canceled each attempt & we had to return home without seeing the launch. Then I met & got auto-
autographs from 5 astronauts, so it wasn't a total loss. But STS-100 was more like it!

posted 04-24-2001 07:47 AM               

You asked how to get a NASA Guest viewing
pass for viewing a Shuttle launch at the
Banana Creek NASA Guest viewing site. Check
Ken Havekotte's 2nd posting in "Free Space"
in the "My trip to Kennedy Space Center,"
as he explains how to get such a special pass. They are possible to get, but not easy,
but well worth the effort if you want to see
a launch close-in & with the real possibility
of meeting several astronauts. I met 8 there
at the STS-100 launch.

posted 04-25-2001 06:27 PM               

I have yet to get all of the RSS rollback photos back, and my crew walkout ones. I fear the worst on the RSS...my camera was not advancing the film properly...and from what I see so far are also overexposed.

posted 04-26-2001 04:39 PM               

When you are shelling out $1500 for a trip to ksc, you want to make the most of the launch. I visited ksc in oct for sts92, I paid $150 for a vip pass through nss, including transportation. They don't offer vip passes anymore because they had a poor response, I had an email from them 5 days before the launch, telling me they may have to cancel becuause they didnt have enough people to cover costs. I had flights and accomodation all booked, I got the pass in the end, but the launch was delayed and I missed it anyway.

If anyone knows how to get hold of one of these passes from the UK without having to pay a third party, please can you post a reply or email me pauljenkinson@hotmail.com.