2. Airplanes

Launch of STS-133 - February 24, 2011

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STS133Launch023

  • This map shows roughly where Brian and I were in relation to the launch pad, which is about 3 1/2 miles or so from us. We were at the point of the red arrow on the left, and the launch pad is at the tip of the red arrow on the right. That big blue thing on the right side is the Atlantic Ocean.
  • The crowd gathering, right after we arrived.
  • T-00:36:15 and counting. You can see the launch pad in the background (off my right shoulder), about 3 1/2 miles away. Do I look much like a tourist?
  • First sign of "life" from Discovery. We can't hear it at this point because the sound takes about 15 seconds to travel the 3 1/2 miles to us.
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  • Almost clearing the launch tower, which is the point at which the Kennedy Space Center Launch Control Center hands off the control to the Johnson Space Center Mission Control Center.
  • Intensely bright.
  • I'm not sure, but I think it is about this point that we felt the vibrations through our legs and were finally engulfed in the roar from all that power.
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  • Shortly after the spent Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) separate from the shuttle.
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