Shuttle Launch

thecommander

Always wanted to see the Shuttle launch and the time to do it is fast closing. Just wondering if anyone has been there and if it would be worth the trip over just to see it?

I was thinking about STS132 on May 14th. I dont want to fly over and stay only to have the launch delayed and miss it. Does this happen often?

Return flights at the moment for €400

Any suggestions welcome.

ynotdu

Hi,below is the link to the remaining four Shuttle Missions,there scheduled lift-off dates as it stands now.

Two regular posters on the space&Astronomy forums have been to see Launch's,both seem to feel Gator tours gave them a very good deal.

with only four left the cheapest option might turn out to get as close as You can to view a Launch.

Also due dates often slide for one reason or another,I recommend You dig up threads from boards archives to see how long You might have to hang around to see a launch.It IS a gamble but by all accounts from those who have been lucky enough to see one It will be something You will never forget!!!!!
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/418353main_Remaining%20Shuttle_12-09.pdf

ynotdu

Hi again,just realised that the link to STS-129 that Lord Lucan saw in person is still easy to recover,Beeker was there for at least one before that,off the top of my head i think he saw two from KSC.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055690291

Beeker

thecommander wrote: »

Always wanted to see the Shuttle launch and the time to do it is fast closing. Just wondering if anyone has been there and if it would be worth the trip over just to see it?

I was thinking about STS132 on May 14th. I dont want to fly over and stay only to have the launch delayed and miss it. Does this happen often?

Return flights at the moment for €400

Any suggestions welcome.

Hi Commander,
I have seen two over the years. STS-41D in 1984 and STS-126 in 2008. In both cases I was very lucky. Over 50% of launches are delayed from 24 hours up to weeks in some cases. The dates given are just the dates they aim for but often change making it very difficult to plan a trip. In 1984 I was working in the US in Georgia so got down to Florida the day before the launch. As it happened it was delayed 24 hours. In 2008 I flew over the day before and as luck would have it it launched on time. In the weeks before that launch the date had been changed 3 times, I have to rearrange my flights and accomodation each time which cost a few Euro but I was determined and went for it.

Its not easy as the dates can be fluid in the weeks coming up to it and the launch can even be cancelled in the last few seconds if something is amiss. Allow plenty of time by arriving the day before and staying for maybe two weeks, this gives you the best chance in the event of a delay as most delayed flights launch within a week of the date {but not all}.
Be flexable with your departure date as the launch date can slip in the weeks before.
I know this is not what you want to hear but this is the reality of it. I hope you do go and get to see a launch, there are only four left. I can tell you it is an unforgettable experience. I am not a religious person, I do not believe in any gods but seeing and feeling a Shuttle launch was a profound religious experience for me.:)
Best of luck Here was my experience for STS-126
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055500188

thecommander

Thanks for the replies.

Unfortunately I don't really have the time to hang around, was thinking of flying in the day before and staying for 3/4 nights after. Its a pain that the dates can change around so much but such is the nature of the business I suppose.

Its such a gamble to book at this stage. Is there anywhere I can look at the average delays to flights or something so I can make a decision?

Beeker

thecommander wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

Unfortunately I don't really have the time to hang around, was thinking of flying in the day before and staying for 3/4 nights after. Its a pain that the dates can change around so much but such is the nature of the business I suppose.

Its such a gamble to book at this stage. Is there anywhere I can look at the average delays to flights or something so I can make a decision?

Not really, Don't forget each launch is a one off and there are no real patterns to see. These links might be of some help.
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/090713-sts127-delay-record.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/08/07/tech/main3141075.shtml

novarock

I have seen one before (John Glenn's return). I would definitely time it so that you are going to one outside of hurricane season. When I was there a hurricane wasn't too far off the southern tip of florida, and the launch was in jeopardy right up until the day.

Best place to base yourself is Titusville, across the water from the space centre. Plenty of Hotels/Motels, and a place of historical significance in terms of the Apollo missions...

Id say it has changed now, but when I was there you could get pretty close to the launchpad crawler when the shuttle was rolling out. The space centre has a great buzz about it during the lauch weeks.

lord lucan

thecommander wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

Unfortunately I don't really have the time to hang around, was thinking of flying in the day before and staying for 3/4 nights after. Its a pain that the dates can change around so much but such is the nature of the business I suppose.

When i was over for STS-129 in November last year i left it as late as possible to arrive in Florida. Launch was on Monday at 14.28,i arrived in Orlando on Sunday night around 22.00. I had a 3 day window as i had to fly home on the Thursday. I was lucky,Atlantis got away first time so i had no worries with time,stayed in Orlando until wednesday and then home on Thursday.

So the best advice i could give is get down to Florida as late as possible to give yourself as big a window as possible.

thecommander

lord lucan wrote: »

When i was over for STS-129 in November last year i left it as late as possible to arrive in Florida. Launch was on Monday at 14.28,i arrived in Orlando on Sunday night around 22.00. I had a 3 day window as i had to fly home on the Thursday. I was lucky,Atlantis got away first time so i had no worries with time,stayed in Orlando until wednesday and then home on Thursday.

So the best advice i could give is get down to Florida as late as possible to give yourself as big a window as possible.

How far in advance did you book flights? Did you spend the entire time in the run up to it panicing about changes to launch schedule?

lord lucan

thecommander wrote: »

How far in advance did you book flights? Did you spend the entire time in the run up to it panicing about changes to launch schedule?

I held off booking flights until 4 weeks before launch. However,2 weeks before launch after the official Flight Readiness Review they changed the launch date from November 12th to the 16th. I ended up booking a one-way flight back to Dublin seperately for a later return.

And yes,i spent every day checking for technical problems or potential delays. There was an Atlas rocket due to launch on the Saturday and if that didn't launch on time it would launch on the sunday which would have pushed the Shuttle launch back until Tuesday. In the end it didn't launch on Saturday but they couldn't figure out what the problem was so they gave the range to Atlantis allowing her to launch on Monday. Caused me a lot of anxiety it has to be said.

thecommander

How long before launch is the Flight Readiness Review?

Beeker

thecommander wrote: »

How long before launch is the Flight Readiness Review?

Normally a week to 10 days before.

thecommander

Beeker wrote: »

Normally a week to 10 days before.

Doesn't make it easy does it! Think I may just bit the bullet about 6 weeks before hand and book it and cross my fingers that nothing changes drastically.

lord lucan

thecommander wrote: »

Doesn't make it easy does it! Think I may just bit the bullet about 6 weeks before hand and book it and cross my fingers that nothing changes drastically.

Looking at the Atlas schedule they've nothing that will affect the Shuttle in May but there's a Delta 4 launch scheduled for May 13th from the Air force base which means that they would have the range for that date and any Shuttle launch would have to be at least 2 days after that. The Eastern Range provide Radar tracking support for launches on the Eastern seaboard but require 48 hours turn around between launches.

More than likely NASA will have talks with ULA about moving the Delta launch back to allow them a few days to get Atlantis away but it's not guaranteed,NASA may have to give way and push STS-132 back a few days. Unfortunately that decision won't be official until the FRR is concluded though usually there'll be whispers beforehand of what way it's going.

thecommander

lord lucan wrote: »

Looking at the Atlas schedule they've nothing that will affect the Shuttle in May but there's a Delta 4 launch scheduled for May 13th from the Air force base which means that they would have the range for that date and any Shuttle launch would have to be at least 2 days after that. The Eastern Range provide Radar tracking support for launches on the Eastern seaboard but require 48 hours turn around between launches.

More than likely NASA will have talks with ULA about moving the Delta launch back to allow them a few days to get Atlantis away but it's not guaranteed,NASA may have to give way and push STS-132 back a few days. Unfortunately that decision won't be official until the FRR is concluded though usually there'll be whispers beforehand of what way it's going.

If it was you, what would you do?

lord lucan

thecommander wrote: »

If it was you, what would you do?

I'd book flights to arrive in Florida on the 13th,the day before the current scheduled launch. If NASA get the range then first attempt at launch would be the 14th. Failing that you'd have 2/3 days there for successive attempts if the first one doesn't work out.

If ULA get the range then first attempt at a launch of Atlantis would be the 15th so you would still have a couple of days which could see a launch. That's the way i'd approach it. It's too far away to be able to guess accurately how it'll go tbh.

thecommander

lord lucan wrote: »

I'd book flights to arrive in Florida on the 13th,the day before the current scheduled launch. If NASA get the range then first attempt at launch would be the 14th. Failing that you'd have 2/3 days there for successive attempts if the first one doesn't work out.

If ULA get the range then first attempt at a launch of Atlantis would be the 15th so you would still have a couple of days which could see a launch. That's the way i'd approach it. It's too far away to be able to guess accurately how it'll go tbh.

Cool. Think I'll leave it until about 6 weeks before to books the flights anyway, before they start getting more expensive. Get a short holiday out of it either way.

Really love to see, pity I didn't make the effort over the years and go see one.

lord lucan

thecommander wrote: »

Cool. Think I'll leave it until about 6 weeks before to books the flights anyway, before they start getting more expensive. Get a short holiday out of it either way.

Really love to see, pity I didn't make the effort over the years and go see one.

Sounds like a plan. Keep your eye on this forum. There's always a dedicated thread to each mission and any updates to do with launch dates,technical issues etc. will be posted there,it'll help before you book flights.:)

thecommander

Thanks everyone for your input.

goose2002

Similar to the OP, I'm considering booking flights to Florida to see a shuttle launch before it finishes. In my case im considering STS-134 in July although I could wait till the last one in Sep too. The current plan was to book it as late as reasonably possible and to arrive as close to the date too. Day before preferably. For viewing the launch we were considering Space View Park in Titusville, its seems small and i'm sure would be packed but would help keep the costs down as from what I can see its free to view from there. Does any of the posters have any experience with viewing launches from Space View Park?

The idea was to stay for a week in the hope that any delays would be kept short to one or two days. We have family in Florida too so even if we missed the launch due to a long delay, the trip wouldn't be a complete write off but it's something I have wanted to see as long as I remember.

Beeker

goose2002 wrote: »

Similar to the OP, I'm considering booking flights to Florida to see a shuttle launch before it finishes. In my case im considering STS-134 in July although I could wait till the last one in Sep too. The current plan was to book it as late as reasonably possible and to arrive as close to the date too. Day before preferably. For viewing the launch we were considering Space View Park in Titusville, its seems small and i'm sure would be packed but would help keep the costs down as from what I can see its free to view from there. Does any of the posters have any experience with viewing launches from Space View Park?

The idea was to stay for a week in the hope that any delays would be kept short to one or two days. We have family in Florida too so even if we missed the launch due to a long delay, the trip wouldn't be a complete write off but it's something I have wanted to see as long as I remember.

I have been to the park but never viewed a launch from there. I watched Discovery launch in 1984 from a location just south of the park. You get a great view across the Indian river to the Launch pads but they are about 12 miles away. still a great view. I also watched endeavour launch from the KSC Visitor complex in 2008. You can't see the launch pads but get a great view seconds after launch when it clears the trees. By far the best place to view is the causeway as Lord Lucan, one of our esteemed member can confirm, He viewed Atlantis launching from there last November.
What ever you choose the very best of luck, I hope it works out for you.:)

lord lucan

goose2002 wrote: »

Similar to the OP, I'm considering booking flights to Florida to see a shuttle launch before it finishes. In my case im considering STS-134 in July although I could wait till the last one in Sep too. The current plan was to book it as late as reasonably possible and to arrive as close to the date too. Day before preferably. For viewing the launch we were considering Space View Park in Titusville, its seems small and i'm sure would be packed but would help keep the costs down as from what I can see its free to view from there. Does any of the posters have any experience with viewing launches from Space View Park?

The idea was to stay for a week in the hope that any delays would be kept short to one or two days. We have family in Florida too so even if we missed the launch due to a long delay, the trip wouldn't be a complete write off but it's something I have wanted to see as long as I remember.

You'll want to arrive early at Space View Park for a launch. From what i can gather it gets very busy there and as STS-134 is scheduled provisionally to launch at 07.51 you'd probably want to be there by 02.00 to get a decent spot. And if you're driving you'd be best finding a diner afterwards and get some breakfast as the traffic in the area is horrific after a launch.

Beeker

lord lucan wrote: »

And if you're driving you'd be best finding a diner afterwards and get some breakfast as the traffic in the area is horrific after a launch.

:DYou better believe it, traffic is mad there after a launch:D

lord lucan

Beeker wrote: »

:DYou better believe it, traffic is mad there after a launch:D

It took me 2hrs 20 minutes to get back to Orlando from the causeway(the length of Apollo 13 movie:)),would've been longer except our coach driver took a completely different route and avoided a lot of the major jams.

Beeker

lord lucan wrote: »

It took me 2hrs 20 minutes to get back to Orlando from the causeway(the length of Apollo 13 movie:)),would've been longer except our coach driver took a completely different route and avoided a lot of the major jams.

It took me about 3 hours from the Visitors center to my Hotel in Titusville, a journey of about 8 mile, Endeavour had circuled the earth twice by the time I was there:rolleyes:

thecommander

goose2002 wrote: »

The current plan was to book it as late as reasonably possible and to arrive as close to the date too. Day before preferably.

I know its the quiet season at the moment, but I did a few search for flights for dates that are close and it seems up to 14 days beforehand there are still good deals on trans-atlantic. That will change as it gets closer to high season. Probably is possible to wait until close enough to the date without getting charged more for the flights.

www.skyscanner.com

ynotdu

I would guess that 133 would be full of V.I.P,s all over the place.
not a hope of even pitching a tent for us 'unimportant' people;) anywhere in florida!
Even if ya got close to the poliTHICKen's it would be really boring chit-chat................."is this a first flight or a last one" "Oh theres a camera Smile"..............................."What have we to 'hold' for twenty minutes,a baby?....................................."OMG sweetie i just spotted my wife"..................etc......:)

Beeker

ynotdu wrote: »

I would guess that 133 would be full of V.I.P,s all over the place.
not a hope of even pitching a tent for us 'unimportant' people;) anywhere in florida!
Even if ya got close to the poliTHICKen's it would be really boring chit-chat................."is this a first flight or a last one" "Oh theres a camera Smile"..............................."What have we to 'hold' for twenty minutes,a baby?....................................."OMG sweetie i just spotted my wife"..................etc......:)

:D:D:D

lord lucan

ynotdu wrote: »

I would guess that 133 would be full of V.I.P,s all over the place.
not a hope of even pitching a tent for us 'unimportant' people;) anywhere in florida!
Even if ya got close to the poliTHICKen's it would be really boring chit-chat................."is this a first flight or a last one" "Oh theres a camera Smile"..............................."What have we to 'hold' for twenty minutes,a baby?....................................."OMG sweetie i just spotted my wife"..................etc......:)

STS-133 i can safely say will be the hardest launch in history to get tickets to. Loads of Americans will be writing to their congressman to get tickets and all other means open to the public will be massively over subscribed. And unfortunately as you point out there'll be loads there who are there to be seen and have no interest in Spaceflight.:(

thecommander

Oh well, looks like the moving of the launch of STS 131 has moved the launch of 132 into June. Puts the kibosh on my plans to go. Back to watching online.

GiftGrub100

I have tried to make a shuttle launch for the last few years, got very close two years ago with STS 124 as shuttle launched on a Sat evening when we had left Florida at 10 am that morning, we were stuck in Newark as it went up. Last year STS-125 went up on time (MAY 11), i was hoping it would be delayed as we arrived in Florida on the May 14th.

Just pick your time and book the trip, even if you don't see the launch the trip to Kennedy Space Centre is fantastic and if you take the "up close tour" you could see one of the orbiters on the launch pad along with all the rest of the historic sights at the KSC including a visit to the runway where the Orbiter land after the mission.

I am going to Florida this year and STS 132 is scheduled to go four days before, if that happens I am never going to see a launch, however if it is delayed a few days then game on, as I have booked for two and half weeks. Would be nice to see.

I did get to see a rocket launch in 2004 as they sent a satellite into space and it was amazing, though from the Visitor center it felt like we were miles away (which you are), i think for a shuttle the only way would be to get tickets for the viewing gallery or to watch from Orlando or somewhere miles away as the traffic is supposed to be mental.