Space Shuttle Endeaver launch tonight

“I was just channel surfin and noticed there's gonna be a space shuttle launch within the hour. Channel 213 if you have Dish Network. I'd love to see one launch in person someday.”

“Safe launch at 6:48 PM CST. Did any of y'all in Florida see it?”

“The closest I've ever come to seeing an actual launch was in the early '80s. I was in Orlando for for a seminar, and about the time it was going to launch, we all went outside. We were about 25 miles away, so all we saw was a ball of fire going up into the sky. But it was still pretty cool.”

“I was on vacation down at Cocoa Beach a few years ago and we could see the launch towers from our hotel at Pellicans Landing. I took a tour of the Kennedy Space Center while there. I saw one of the space shuttles on the launch pad from about 2 miles away. It's as close as they would allow us to get to it. They launched it a few days later after we were back home.”

“Yep, Treebait and I saw it.

We live about 10 blocks from the beach. It rained early last week and washed the crap out of the air and then the cold front had moved over and pushed the clouds away.

Canaveral is about 140 miles south of us but when they lit it off we saw a huge red orange glow to the south and then a rising pillar of flame. You could see a flare when the boosters split off and the shuttle became a bright star untill we lost it across the ocean.

Night launches are very cool. It's something you need to see before you die.”

“Seen so many that I seldom look up when I hear the roar. (By the time the noise reaches Melbourne, the space craft is way, way up there.)

I only worked until 6 today, so at launch time I was playing one-pocket pool at the Golden Cue.”

“You were playing pocket pool, and you admit to it... LOL”

“Yo HPM... It's on my list of things to do. Thanx for the reply.”

“packrat - Thanks for posting the information. If I had remembered, I might have watched the launch. That is, if I had not enountered a friend ready for a game.

hyway - FYI, in billiards I rate in order of difficulty, and in enjoyment:

1. 3-cushion billiards
2. 1-pocket pool
3. straight pool
4-up. other games.

I am not very good, but I love to play. I spent three years in the Republic of Panama trying to learn how to play 3-cushion billiards. Only then did I learn that others were not only trying to make successful shots, but were playing position for their next shot.”

“One of these days.... !”

“Maybe we can put together a Florida TT trip to coincide with a shuttle launch at a coastal park. We could see the launch from the beach.

It would have to be a car camping trip cause there isn't much beach hiking around here.”

“This is the space shuttle launch schedule

Maybe we could work out a trip to coincide with one of these dates.”

“Thanks for sending the schedule Bro. I'll see how these launches coincides with with available vacation time at work. I'll make it down there someday to watch one with ya. Glad to have met ya at TC2. See ya.”

“I was looking at the astronaut schedule and noticed that they have scheduled the other "teacher in space" for November. The teacher who was backup to Christa McAuliffe is scheduled to go up. Dang, she is 51 years old now, only two years younger than me. I think they need a "professor in space".”