I'd imagine it'll get much more difficult to arrange a launch viewing unless
one lives in Florida. NASA now is only giving the public 24 HRS advance
notice of a launch, due to post- Sept 11th attacks. Just the other day a guy
in a light plane who strayed into restricted airspace while the shuttle was
on the pad was "escorted" to the nearest airport by an F-15.
It's always been difficult to plan a trip to a launch due to the common
delays. About 4 or 5 years ago when I was on a family vacation in Florida, I
drove over to the Cape at 3:00 AM to catch a launch, only to hear on the
radio while still driving that that morning's launch was scrubbed!
My parents retired to Florida's west coast, and they were able to actually
see the flames from clear across the state as the shuttle climbed when it
would launch at night.
George S.
P.Dixon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
> Stop making me jelous. Ever since I was a kid, buying space flight
> news every month, one of my dreams has been to see the shuttle
> launch. Even though I've been to the states about a dozen times, I've
> never managed to see a launch.
>
|