FReep a shuttle launch

6/10/07 | self

[sig226]

STS-117 was the second launch I've attended since I moved to Florida. The threads always get hundreds of posts and thousands of views, so I think an upcoming launch would be a good place for FReepers to meet, share some lunch (or breakfast or dinner) and watch one of man's greatest achievements.

I'm starting this thread with pings to several FReepers who live in Florida and posted on the STS-117 launch thread. This is just because we can drive there without worrying about hotels and taking multiple days off work, so it's easier for us. If you are not from Florida, no problem. We'd still love to have you, and we'll get into what you might need in a bit.

I'd like to meet at Sand Point Park in Titusville. Several reasons advocate the park:
*It's easy to find. Take I-95 to the Garden Street / SR 406 exit and go east. When you get to the tall buildings at the river's edge and the bridge, Sand Point Park is on the left.
*It has a good view and it's fairly close. If you want, you can walk across the bridge and get even closer.
*Easy parking and lots of it.
*It's a nice big park, with fields and a baseball diamond. Set up your grill, play wiffle ball, toss a football, whatever.
*It's still in town, so you can walk to food and a CVS.
*There is a bathroom a couple of hundred yards to the east.

You will need:
*sunblock (yes, you will have to go outside)
*comfy chairs
*a radio - someobody should bring one since they broadcast the countdown all day
*food
*grill, if you want
*cooler full of beverages
*reading matter - you'll be waiting for a while
*frisbee, football, baseball, anything if you want to get a game going
*camera
*binoculars
*tripod
*hat with wide brim

If you plan to come in from out of state, you will need to be available for up to eight days. They plan the launch around a launch window that can be eight days long, like this one. You'll need all of the above, plus whatever cash you might use to visit Orlando, Miami, or anywhere else you might like to go. NASA posts the launch windows on the web, so we can post the dates when we pick a mission.

I'd like to find a December launch because I'd rather not draw a bunch of FReepers into Florida and then have a hurricane. There is also less chance of bad weather delaying the launch, and it's cooler. This map shows Sand Point Park in Titusville.

[yield 2 the right]

Don not forget the Jacksonville Jaguars, on the other hand never mind, ;>)

[sig226]

I haven’t chosen a launch date yet, so it might be the one you plan to attend anyway. Want to be on the list? You don’t have to go.

[wastedyears]

Sounds like fun

I’d like to go to Universal, go to City Walk and bask in the nightlife.

[yield 2 the right]

No thanks, but thanks very much for the invitation though ;>)

[sig226]

Okay. I didn’t tell him to go to a Devil Rays game, either. :)

[synbad600]

Thanks for the ping! Sounds like a great idea.

The only fly in the ointment for me is that it is an hour and a half/ two hour drive, and a few times it has been scrubbed in the last ten seconds. Still would be fun though to meet a bunch of FReepers and hang out, if its not during my M-F 9-5 work hours.

Keep on pinging!

From Vero Beach

[Fawn]

Is that a pic of the space shuttle in there?

[synbad600]

Yes. You can just see it bursting from the clouds on the bottom, a little to the left of center.

[sig226]

Okay, I’ll keep you advised. I haven’t been hosed yet, although I’ve only gone twice. I didn’t make the night launch last year because they kept changing it. Late in the year looks best, NonValueAdded said they’re discussing a December launch. That seems like the least likely to be scrubbed due to weather, and if people come from out of state, it is least likely to bring them into a hurricane. I’ll have to look at launch windows to see what looks best.

[sig226]

Fawn are you interested? It takes me about three hours to drive there. I keep the cruise set just over 70 and I stop at one of the rest areas for a Coke. It’s 165 miles from me.

[GladesGuru]

All I need to know is the number of Freepers. The stove is fired with wood, and I can always run several batches. The wok is 30 inches wide, and will cook a goodly number of wings.

I have a number of good friends in Titusville & Mims, so cooking rice will not be a problem.

Strictly BYOS (bring your own sake).

[sig226]

This ping is to let everyone know I’m still working on it and I have three new people for the list.

[synbad600]

The night launch on 12/09/06 was phenomenal. Unreal. I watched it from the beach.

[wastedyears]

I’ll certainly go to one. I would suppose just to keep me updated.

Thanks, sig

[publiusF27]

Thanks for the ping, Sig

[sig226]

The December launch is on the unofficial schedule at the Kennedy Space Center. Lift off is scheduled for 4:30 pm. It's a ten minute launch window if it goes that day, so there won't be a day of sitting around wondering if it will go. They haven't put the full launch window up yet, so I can't offer the alternate days they might launch. I'm not sure when they'll add the full window, but this looks like the one.

[Dixie Pirate]

Hi Sig-—

Add me to the list.

Steve

BAR.308
TNUSA - Ted Nugent United Sportsmen of America
NRA - National Rifle Association
ROA - Rednecks Of America