This is the view across the beach at Jetty Park of the Delta 2 rocket carrying a rather pricey space telescope.
Today was the much-anticipated and long-delayed launch of the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope, or GLAST. It went up on a souped-up Delta 2 rocket from Cape Canaveral.
I woke up early for the 25-minute trip north for a 11:45 a.m. liftoff. Wisely, I took time before I left to sign up for FLORIDA TODAY's launch updates via text messaging.
I dropped a whole Lincoln note for the parking fee at Jetty Park in Cape Canaveral. Most people were there for an easy, not-too-hot day of fishing and lounging on the beach.
But a few people knew what was up. We gathered on a boardwalk to the beach, a high vantage point from which to view launch pad 17B.
One oblivious beach bum came up and asked me, "Is there a launch or something?" I told him about it, and then he asked, "Where's it going?"
"Space," I said.
"No. When is it going?" he said. (I suppose I misheard him the first time.)
"Oh, 12:05," I said. Of course, I knew that because I had received inside information on my phone that said the launch was delayed 20 minutes.
The spectators in the vertical photo laughed when I told the bum that the rocket was headed for space. "Oh, I thought it was going to Tampa," one said. (It was going east, not west, so I doubt it, dude.)
When it finally lifted off, I - of course - messed up my camera a few seconds after it became airborne. I accidentally adjusted the settings dial to an automatic preset for people who don't know how to manually adjust the camera. I don't even know what it was for, but the photo came with an interesting silhouette, below, and the colors seemed better, too.
This was the closest I have been to the pad for a launch, and it was quite spectacular. Besides, GLAST rhymes with 'blast,' which makes for a perfect launch.
I woke up early for the 25-minute trip north for a 11:45 a.m. liftoff. Wisely, I took time before I left to sign up for FLORIDA TODAY's launch updates via text messaging.I dropped a whole Lincoln note for the parking fee at Jetty Park in Cape Canaveral. Most people were there for an easy, not-too-hot day of fishing and lounging on the beach.
But a few people knew what was up. We gathered on a boardwalk to the beach, a high vantage point from which to view launch pad 17B.
One oblivious beach bum came up and asked me, "Is there a launch or something?" I told him about it, and then he asked, "Where's it going?"
"Space," I said.
"No. When is it going?" he said. (I suppose I misheard him the first time.)
"Oh, 12:05," I said. Of course, I knew that because I had received inside information on my phone that said the launch was delayed 20 minutes.
The spectators in the vertical photo laughed when I told the bum that the rocket was headed for space. "Oh, I thought it was going to Tampa," one said. (It was going east, not west, so I doubt it, dude.)
When it finally lifted off, I - of course - messed up my camera a few seconds after it became airborne. I accidentally adjusted the settings dial to an automatic preset for people who don't know how to manually adjust the camera. I don't even know what it was for, but the photo came with an interesting silhouette, below, and the colors seemed better, too.
This was the closest I have been to the pad for a launch, and it was quite spectacular. Besides, GLAST rhymes with 'blast,' which makes for a perfect launch.
Accidental shot with the weird settings.
Bird bird, bird bird, bird
-Bambi
-Bambi
Beautiful rocket headed toward space (not Tampa).
Beautiful photos, Andrew! Did you publish them anywhere else, too?
ReplyDeleteThat last photo is especially nice. Perhaps one could get that in a high-quality print suitable for framing? It might make a nice birthday gift, too. ...
ReplyDeleteWebwriting07: Those photos were exclusive to The Offlede. I couldn't handle the prestige of an outside publication anyway.
ReplyDeleteWordnerdy: I'll look into it.