Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Photos | Seagulls, storm, shuttle scrub make for a ... crappy day at the beach

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Seeking a different angle for a shuttle launch from what I have used before, I chose Jetty Park near Port Canaveral as my viewing site for Endeavour's liftoff Monday. During the wait, I watched this girl feed Cheetos - or some off-brand - to the seagulls. And apparently, some of the Cheetos went in one end and out the other ... right onto my head. Poopy.

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Two launch attempts for STS-127 had already been scrubbed during the weekend because of weather. With the typical summertime weather pattern in Central Florida, things didn't look bright Monday. And sure enough, a thunderstorm moved over the city of Cape Canaveral a few hours before the scheduled liftoff time of 6:51 p.m. Just after shooting this, I scurried it for cover.

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The storm was ominous, to say the least. Most everyone cleared off the beach.

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A rainbow forms off the coast, as it continues to pour.

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As the rainbow persisted, the conditions brightened significantly. But once again, the weather was not acceptable for NASA. The agency scrubbed Endeavour's launch a fifth time, delaying it until Wednesday, a day I coincidentally do not have off from work. My hopes of seeing the launch from a different angle were foiled.

1 comment:

Joe said...

Those storms you get down there are amazingly photogenic.