Shuttle Launch

5am, Easter Monday. T minus 1 hour and 21 minutes until the space shuttle blasts off on one of its very last trips into space. There are only 3 missions left after this one. It is pitch black, a little bit chilly. Everyone else is fast asleep but the jet lag has just caught up on me and I am wide awake and wondering what camera settings and which lens will be needed – there is no second chance for this photo op and, for me, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity that is too good to miss. The first photographer has just arrived with tripod (damn – didn’t pack mine). He has clearly done this before and at least is showing me the direction to point.

We are in Titusville Municipal Marina. Titusville is THE place to watch a shuttle launch if you can’t get one of the few public spots at the Kennedy Space Centre and you don’t work for NASA. Mind you, it is still at least 10 miles away but the area surrounding the launch is locked down by NASA and there is nowhere closer.

The first day of the holiday was a bit of a blur. We took the 17 hour night flight to Orlando and then drove down to Fort Pierce City Marina where Nico, Helen and LJ (friends from Dubai) are being most excellent hosts on their boat ‘Distinctive Too’. Three young kids on a plane for that length of time is nobody’s idea of fun but they all coped extremely well. The plane was full of what was mostly Americans returning home for Easter. A fair few of them, judging by their size and lousy haircuts, appeared to be soldiers returning for R&R as I believe they call it. I was struck by how big they all were, and Americans in general for that matter. As we were getting ready to take off a petite stewardess was struggling to close the overhead locker. The man mountain sat underneath it did not move a muscle other than to raise his arm slightly and easily push it shut.

From Fort Pierce we sailed up the intercoastal waterway for almost 5 hours to Titusville, watching dolphins play in the wake and jealously regarding the waterfront mansions. It’s not too hard to see why this is a popular holiday and retirement area. The boat is great, with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, internet connection and a big plasma TV. But this isn’t a boat built for pleasure cruising. No, first and foremost, this is a boat built for serious deep sea fishing. Nico takes this all pretty seriously, both in Dubai (where he has another boat) and here in Florida. Yesterday he caught an 80lb amberjack - comfortably bigger than Max!

At the back of the boat (I’m sure there’s a proper nautical term, but I am a complete landlubber) there is a big chair (‘the fighting chair’) with holders for 9 rods. You can even be strapped into it. Two of the rods, I am informed, are electric and cost a cool $1500 each. On the upper deck there are 6 more rods and giant pointed arms which can be set to trail bait. There are boxes to put fish in, a big tank full of livebait, and drawers and drawers of fishing tackle. This really is a professional sports fishing boat.

Anyway, back to the shuttle launch. It is now just after 6 and everyone has woken up and eagerly anticipating the launch. We have the local radio on giving commentary and countdown. And then, at precisely 6.21 EDT, the sky is no longer black as ball of incandescent light illuminates the whole sky and the shuttle is on its way to the space station. It is truly an amazing sight as it thrusts spacewards leaving a huge plume of smoke behind. A minute or so later the sound arrives, a gentle rumble at first and then a crack like a large clap of thunder. Suddenly, I am glad that we are 10 miles away.




After a few minutes it is gone and out of site. An absolutely amazing sight to witness first hand - the smoke lingers for a few hours, making strange shapes in the sky, but the memories will last forever.