Last launch of the Space Shuttle

Sorry for the delay on this post - I had technical difficulties with the video I took of the launch. I gave up and posted the footage from NASA of the launch.


I cannot believe I had the privilege to witness the last launch of the Space Shuttle.

My friend Lisa entered the lottery they had here at work for passes to park on-site at the Kennedy Space Center and she received a Turn Basin parking pass - about 3.5 miles from the space shuttle launch pad. And she invited me and two other friends to go with her. An 18 hour drive later, we were in Vero Beach, Florida and ready for the launch!

Launch was on Friday, July 8th at 11:26am. So we decided to leave our hotel at 4am just to make sure we got there in time :). They were expecting about 750,000 people, so we didn't want to get stuck in traffic. Since we were so early, there was minimal traffic and we had no issues getting on-site as we all had our work badges with us (which meant we also got free entry into the KSC Visitor Center later that day to buy more souvenirs :)). We were parked at our site by 6:30am.

Driving past the Vehicle Assembly Building (where the Solid Rocket Boosters and External Tank are attached to the Space Shuttle)



Atlantis - 3.5 miles away



We arrived so early, that the security wasn't yet setup around the press area, so we walked over to the official countdown clock and took some pictures.


Go Atlantis!!!


See the silver van/bus on the left hand side? That would be the AstroVan taking the crew out to the launch pad.



About 5 minutes prior to launch, my hands got all sweaty and my heart was beating fast. We were all laughing at how incredibly nervous and excited we were. My hands were literally shaking. And then, 31 seconds prior to ignition, I heard "failure" over the loud speaker. The crowd groaned and silence followed. It turns out the arm that has the vent cap (covers the tip-top of the External Tank) was showing data that made it look like it had not rotated away from the Shuttle, so they had to confirm with cameras that it was out of the way of the Shuttle. Talk about hair raising, stomach in throat moments. The launch window is only about 5 minutes long , exceed that time and it would have to be scrubbed and attempted the next day.

Launch Video

The launch control team did a phenomenal job and Atlantis launched only 2 minutes past her official launch time of 11:26am. I was able to see a launch last May, just before sunrise and was amazed by how bright the Shuttle is as she ascends. However, this time I was BLOWN AWAY by how bright she was in broad daylight!!! She had barely cleared the pad when I was overcome with emotion, not believing I was witnessing the last launch of a Space Shuttle. Ever. My hands shook as I held my little point and shoot camera to the side to try and capture the launch in video and tears streamed down my cheeks. It was over too quickly. My friends and I just stared at each other, cheeks wet with tears, trying to wrap our minds around what we had just witnessed. Discovery and Endeavor each put up a fight on their last launches, technical issues causing delays on both launches. Atlantis went out a graceful lady. Accepting of her fate and with a show I will never forget.

There was a low cloud ceiling so we were only able to see her for about 30 seconds, but after Atlantis left our sight, we could see the shadow of her plume projected on the clouds...and hear her!


We were there.


The end of an era. But not the end of the American space program. With the International Space Station, we will maintain an American presence in space until at least 2020.