Speaking of John Glenn, my only watched launch was STS-95, his return to space on Discovery... I had a NASA Causeway pass... :) :) :) I video-taped it, something I have yet to capture to a usable computer format, but I tell ya, I did a crappy job filming since I really wanted to see it with my own eyes (directly and not through the lens). I hear the night launches are spectacular! :)
<brag> http://www.turnpike420.net/gallery2/v/Vacations/1998-10_Dis-Uni-NASA/fl11.jpg.html </brag> :p laters, David On 6/29/06, Rick DeNatale <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
On 6/29/06, Reginald Reed <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > This is something I miss from attending the University of Central Florida in > Orlando. You could see the shuttle in the middle of the day without > assist. It was cool to be walking between classes, look up and see the > shuttle. Too cool. My only shuttle launch was STS-91 which happened to coincide with a hobby convention I was attending that week in Orlando. It took a few trips out to the causeway because of several weather scrubs, but I got to see a night launch. It was a big week which also included the 30th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing, and the recovery of the Liberty Bell 7 Mercury spacecraft. They were lucky that that particular mission didn't end Columbia's career two flights early, five seconds after launch an engine shut down and there was also a hydrogen fuel leak which nearly caused an abort to orbit. None of us watching from the NASA causeway were aware of any of this. Manned orbital spaceflight is still as dangerous as it was in 1961, in the case of the Shuttle maybe even more so, due to the exposure of the orbiter to damage from foam/ice/birdstrikes etc during ascent. I was pondering this as I watched the NASA press conference today. The decision to launch over the objections of the safety office are nothing new, there has always been calculated risk, and many of the near-fatal incidents are unknown or forgotten by the general public. Most know of Apollo 13, some might have heard of John Glenn's "separated" heatshield during the first US manned orbital flight. How many remember Gemini 8 which nearly ended in catastrophe, or Apollo 12 when the crew was given the go for translunar injection, despite the fact that after a lightning strike during launch it was unknown whether or not the parachutes would work. Of course they would have been just as dead without going the moon if they hadn't worked. The risks are worth it if they produce knowledge. My hat is off to anyone willing to put their body into a machine which can hurl them to orbital velocities, whether it's today or in 1961. -- Rick DeNatale IPMS/USA Region 12 Coordinator http://ipmsr12.denhaven2.com/ Visit the Project Mercury Wiki Site http://www.mercuryspacecraft.com/ -- TriLUG mailing list : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug TriLUG Organizational FAQ : http://trilug.org/faq/ TriLUG Member Services FAQ : http://members.trilug.org/services_faq/
-- TriLUG mailing list : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug TriLUG Organizational FAQ : http://trilug.org/faq/ TriLUG Member Services FAQ : http://members.trilug.org/services_faq/
