Monday, April 5, 2010

Discovery's penultimate flight, along with its destination

web_discoverylaunchstreak_0028_2636
Space shuttle Discovery blasted off early Monday, around 6:21 a.m., 48 minutes before sunrise. The weather was clear and still, and the orbiter's booming engines seemed louder than normal. I got to Space View Park in Titusville a little late, less than an hour before the launch, because I was working a day shift Monday. Instead of getting the usual prime viewing real estate along the river, I rudely pushed through the masses for the above view with people crowding a small pier. It's neat to see all the camera LCD screens. People care about this stuff. This exposure was 6 minutes, 19 seconds long.

web_spacestation_discovery_0020_2641
About 20 minutes before the launch, Discovery's destination, the International Space Station, glinted in sunlight as it streaked across the sky, crossing in front of a crescent moon and flying over the lights from launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center. If you look at the horizon through the break in people's heads in the right corner of this image, you can see the Vehicle Assembly Building. This exposure was 63 seconds long.

SANY0002b
Here's what an old point-and-shoot camera did while my DSLR was tied up with the time lapse. Pretty lousy.

web_contrailspectators_0035_2637
The crowd thinned out a bit well after the launch, but Titusville was choked with thousands of people eager to see shuttle Discovery's second-to-last flight. It was the busiest launch-viewing event I've seen.

web_contrailspier_0041_2638
Unfortunately, people aren't allowed on this pier during the launch. There are too many spots where people can accidentally go swimming.

web_spaceviewspectators_0060_2639
The contrails always produce interesting shapes and colors in the upper atmosphere.

web_contrailsriver_0076_2640
It was one beautiful launch. Thanks, NASA.

No comments: