July 24, 2001

9:43 PM

My house's windows just rattled from a sonic boom, so that means the space shuttle's home again. I kind of forget about these things until a little visceral something like that brings you back in touch. Int'l Space Station that much closer to completion. Living in the future is cooooool.
posted by logovisual (8 comments total)

Wow and I thought I had it bad, living near to an airport.
posted by lucien at 12:22 AM on July 25, 2001

In Central Florida, it's really a tradition ... when a shuttle launches, we tend to leave our office to stand in the parking lot to watch it go off (we're about 40 miles from the coast and it's clearly visible ... I've heard is visible all the way on the other coast in Tampa.) With the rocket launches from the Cape as well, it seems like there's always something shooting into space from our backyard.

When they land, there's a huge DOUBLE sonic boom that will set off car alarms on the street. I love living in the shadow of a spaceport!
posted by bclark at 6:44 AM on July 25, 2001

That is just too cool. Maybe I should look into work in Florida. :)
posted by brownpau at 9:50 AM on July 25, 2001

I live on the West Coast myself, and yeah, we can go up on our roof and watch it take off. It's great stuff.
posted by logovisual at 10:04 AM on July 25, 2001

It's visible in Southern Florida too, on take off. I used to go outside and watch it pass right overhead when I was in Palm Beach county. Supercool.
posted by owillis at 10:56 AM on July 25, 2001

I'd love to see a launch and/or landing. (Here's the NASA page with info on viewing launches & landings) I went to Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama as a kid (not once, mind you, but twice!). Although I have virtually no reason to go to Florida (no relatives/friends there), seeing a launch is something I want to do in this lifetime. Question for those of you who live nearby and have seen either: which is better, launch or landing?
posted by msacheson at 11:02 AM on July 25, 2001

msacheson: Absolutely, positively launch. Landings are comparatively boring -- half the time they're at night and it's just like a jet coming down. Launches are big whoosh-boom affairs. They're generally early in the morning, though, so you'd better hope you're an early riser.
posted by logovisual at 2:27 PM on July 25, 2001

It's funny, I live far enough away from the spaceport that I don't think about how relatively close it is to me, When I watch a space launch I just sort of think of it as anything else I see on television... until I sometimes see an orange streak in the sky coinciding with what I'm watching on CNN.

I always feel a little sheepsish after that.
posted by dong_resin at 2:52 PM on July 25, 2001