17,000 Miles Per Hour....*yawn*

Don't know how we could be an aviation site without talking about today's shuttle launch.

My thread title obviously only a joke, as I'm astounded, never having realized that the shuttle went so fast during ascent into orbit.

I watched it liftoff live on TV this morning with my father, both of us just watching is awe. I decided to watch it just to see it, but I was filled with excitement and nervousness as the countdown got lower and as she tore ass up into the heavens.

The obsession is the same as when we were little boys and we liked watching fire trucks and construction vehicles. The amazement of technology and heavy duty machinery pushing the limits. The same reason most of us like planes.

Today's launch was perhaps the most beautiful thing I've ever seen on TV besides the opening theme to Baywatch.

My thoughts exactly.

I just watched it a few minutes ago online (didn't catch it live) and it's mind-boggling. Seventeen THOUSAND miles an hour. Their alternate airport was somewhere in Spain...and the news anchor said they would make it there in 35 minutes in the event of an emergency.

Spain. In 35 minutes. From Florida. The fastest Atlantic crossing was 173 minutes, and that was from New York to London.

If they plan on retiring the shuttle fleet by 2010, I can only imagine what's next.

Brian

I watched it on the web. Wow. That's all I have to say about that.

Josh

I missed the lift off, which was big disappointment, but I had to work. I remember watching the Discovery lift off as the first shuttle back in space after the Challenger exploded and it was thrilling. I'm not a huge fan of the shuttle program anymore simply because I believe the Shuttle's time has come and gone but its truly amazing the technology and the overall reliability of the shuttle. Even to this day I admire astronauts and the job they do. I can only hope that one day before I die space travel will be affordable to the masses.

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Originally Posted by T-Bird76

I missed the lunch . . .

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You must be hungry....

I think up until now I've taken the shuttles for granted, being that they've been around since I was about a year old, and during much of my life they would launch every few months. I think people around my age and younger probably have the same problem. It wasn't until the past couple days that I really thought about how amazing it is, that it is the most complex machine ever built by man, and how much I want to go down to see a launch.

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Originally Posted by jakbar

Quote:

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Originally Posted by T-Bird76

I missed the lunch . . .

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You must be hungry....

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ahahaha, thanks Josh. I think I was hungry when I typed this. I did miss lunch today btw.

I've been something of a space flight geek since I was a little kid watching the Apollo missions (still remember seeing Neil Armstrong walk on the moon live!) I found a TV over in the Editorial department to watch the launch. I'm always in awe of those things - the flames, smoke, noise, you just have to smile.

I was particularly impressed with all the new cameras filming the launch - the shot from the top of the external tank, looking back at the bottom of the Orbiter was amazing. Seeing the Florida coast get smaller in the background, then the curvature of the Earth, watching the SRBs detach, and finally the Orbiter itself separate and disappear was incredible.

Here's to a safe & successful mission!

It was definately an awesome launch. The external fuel tank shots where absolutely astounding. Like Gotham said, many people have taken these missions for granted over the past decade, which is kind of sad, to think how much work is involved in this and not to mention the incredable risk. As good as the media coverage was, you can only wonder if they will keep up the pace the next time around...

Great,and awesome....adjectives fail me, we need to get them to use jfk as an alternate landing site,13R is certainly long enough, imagine the shuttle on the Canarsie approach?!!! A net, would never be the same!

JFK is already designated an alternate landing site.