While sitting at work back in March of 2010 I was thinking about the upcoming retirement of the space shuttle fleet and how I have always wanted to be at the press site to witness a launch. Back in 1992 I got lucky and got to witness STS-45 (Atlantis) launch while I was down in Florida during Spring Break, however in all my years of being a member of the media I had never applied for credentials to record a shuttle launch. Now time was running out and I realized I had to do something about it or always regret not being there.
I had no idea how to make my dream become a reality so I made some phone calls and found out that when the shuttle lands NASA opens up registration for media for the next upcoming mission. Well it was March and there were only 3 missions left (May, July, and September). May and September were not going to work for me (conflicted with Andrews AFB air show and Oceana air show), so I had decided to apply for the July mission which was scheduled to be Endeavour on STS-134.
As time grew closer to registration time, NASA shuffled the schedule of launches to better accomodate the retirement of the shuttle. When President Bush decided the shuttle fleet would retire in 2010 he had intended for there to be a replacement program to continue to bring Americans into space. However President Obama cancelled the new program and NASA was left with some decisions to make, and shuffling the launch schedule to better accomodate the end of the program was their only option. STS-134 (which had been scheduled in July) and STS-133 (which was scheduled for September) were swapped and placed in order. STS-133 would launch in November, and STS-134 would launch the following February (2011).
After talking with NASA for a few months I learned when the media accreditation period would begin for STS-133 and as soon as the window was open I filled out the application so there would not be a problem with there being too many people ahead of me. Everything was going great.
Then about 2 weeks before I was planning on heading to Florida I received an email from NASA that my application for credentials had been denied due to the fact my photo agency does not cover the space program. I started making phone calls right away and explaining why I was being sent down there to cover the launch and that we do cover aerospace, however this was the first time I was being asked to cover a launch. NASA reversed its decision and approved my application.
Then in late October 2010 I headed down to Florida for the final launch of Discovery. As most of you probably know, there turned out to be a fuel leak in the main fuel tank and the launch was delayed. It gets a lot more technical, however, the shuttle was not going to be going up while I was in town.
NASA engineers worked 24/7 to get Discovery airborne and tried a few different launch windows heading up to Christmas however it was not able to happen and they decided to move the launch to the February window that STS-134 was previously scheduled, and move STS-134 to April.
Due to the fact I was already credentialed for the STS-133 mission I was able to return to Florida on February 22nd and begin covering the attempted launch of Discovery again. This time however everything could not have gone off more smoothly. Due to the fact I had already been down at NASA a few months earlier I had learned how things work down there and knew where to be when, what lists my name needed to be on, etc.
So on the day before launch (Feb 23rd) I arrived at Kennedy Space Center at 8:00am and so began the fun. At 6:45pm the members of the media that had signed up for being at the rollback of the RSS (Rotating Service Structure) had to be on the NASA buses for the ride over to the launch pad. We arrived at the pad at 7pm and the rollback was scheduled for 8pm. Once the massive structure that protects the shuttle began moving it took about 20 minutes for it to be completely out of the way and unveil the beautiful shuttle standing poised, and ready for launch. Soon after we began taking our photos we had to get back on the buses and head back to the press site. I left KSC around 10pm that evening.
Then the next morning I was back at KSC at 9am for what would be a very full day of activities. The big events today however were photographing the astronauts heading out to the launch pad, then of course the launch itself. At noon we all had to line back up and get on buses to head over to the building where the astronauts were, and at 1pm they came out and waved to the massive crowd of people cheering them on. Then just as quickly they were gone and on the way to the launch pad. Then we headed back to the press site and prepared for the scheduled 4:50pm launch of Discovery.
The weather could not be more perfect (74 and sunny), and according to NASA communications the orbiter was in perfect shape, and ready for launch. During the countdown there was a problem with a computer monitor at the range safety office, but it was fixed in time and at exactly 4:53:24 PM EST the Space Shuttle Discovery roared off the launch pad and skyward towards the International Space Station for the very last time. It was a beautiful site, but I was very impressed with the roar and how loud the crackling sound of the flames were as it streaked up into the sky. It was an experience I will never forget.
Here are a few of my images from my two days at NASA. Why did I not start covering these launches earlier? :)
No comments:
Post a Comment