Florida! - The Last Shuttle Launch

One of the most exciting things our family has ever done is watch the final space shuttle launch!

We gathered at Titusville with 1 million other spectators to watch Atlantis leave for its final mission - delivering equipment and supplies to the International Space Station.

The streets of that small town were filled with people, cameras, and vendors. (My dad almost got run over by a ice cream truck... twice!) Excitement and humidity filled the air.

After claiming our spot in the crowd, my mom and I went over to Space View Park where news crews, families, and vendors selling frozen lemonade and tacos walked over plaques embedded in the sidewalk dedicated to various NASA space missions. We also went over to the U.S. Space Walk of Fame Museum, which had a happy little gift shop filled with customers.

There was some worry that the launch would be delayed because of the cloud cover and the possibility of a storm on its way. NASA was going to proceed as planned and wait until the last minute before delaying anything. So when someone announced to all of us in the gift shop that the mission was a go, the place erupted in cheers!

Me and Mom
Ready with our cameras!

As it got closer to countdown, the crowd raised their cameras in anticipation. Some people actually let families with children move in for a better view (what a nice crowd!) and others had radios to let us all know when the countdown would begin.

Everyone counted down in unison.. ten... nine... eight... seven... six...

Five... four... three... two... one...

Titusville is 8-10 miles across the water from NASA's launch pad, and you could still hear the boom as the shuttle leaped into the air.

I doubt if Little Dude understood the significance of what he witnessed, but he was pretty excited about watching a shuttle blastoff.

It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime event!

Another shuttle shot!

After lunch, we finally join the million other cars crowding the highway leading to Orlando. Traffic was so slow that we watched a minivan let out a mom and kid so they could walk up and down the highway (the kid was burning off some pent-up energy with his scooter). Little Dude fell asleep and the rest of us were still talking about the exciting event we just watched.

What a day!