HST STS-125 set to launch today

[mjennings]

Atlantis is scheduled to take of at about 2pm EST on the final mission to HST,
you can follow it at
https://www.space.com/spaceshuttle/index.html
https://www.spaceflightnow.com/
and https://www.NASA.gov
weather at the KSC doesn't get much better than this, and so far no anomalies.

 

[sunward]

23 minutes to go.

 

[sunward]

couple minutes late but has taken off.

 

[mjennings]

A little Pixelated due to the 4X digital zoom on top to the 10 X optical, but not bad for being 6 miles away

 

[Donaldsrockets]

Great launch

Too bad the ET camera blacked out prior to separation. I always loved seeing that shot.

 

[jadebox]

I took a three-hour lunch today to drive over to Titusville to see the launch. We had visitors from out of the country, so we wanted them to have a chance to see the launch. It was cloudy, so we could see ignition and lift-off. After that, the shuttle played peek-a-boo as it sailed through the clouds.

I was a little disappointed that it wasn't as loud as I'd expected. With the shuttle heading more east than it does for visits to the ISS, I'd expected more dramatic sound. But, of course, the launch was impressive as always.

We visited Space View Park which wasn't overly crowded. The atmosphere there while waiting for the launch is a lot of fun.

-- Roger

 

[spacecadet]

A little Pixelated due to the 4X digital zoom on top to the 10 X optical, but not bad for being 6 miles away

That's not pixelation, that's heat haze!
Great pictures.

 

[mjennings]

you may be partially right about the heat haze but this image was compressed for the upload. so it looks a little cleaner being smaller.

 

[Delta-IV]

I took a three-hour lunch today to drive over to Titusville to see the launch. We had visitors from out of the country, so we wanted them to have a chance to see the launch. It was cloudy, so we could see ignition and lift-off. After that, the shuttle played peek-a-boo as it sailed through the clouds.

I was a little disappointed that it wasn't as loud as I'd expected. With the shuttle heading more east than it does for visits to the ISS, I'd expected more dramatic sound. But, of course, the launch was impressive as always.

We visited Space View Park which wasn't overly crowded. The atmosphere there while waiting for the launch is a lot of fun.

-- Roger

Glad you were able to see it, from my viewpoint on the second floor of my building (~ 6 miles away too) I saw it all the way to SRB sep and a bit beyond until it went above some sirus clouds.

It was quite loud for us, more than normal, as my office is southeast of LC39A.

 

[Fred22]

I am green with envy GO NASA

fred

 

[mjennings]

I didn't see SRB SEP because I stayed in the building and she was out of my line of sight by then, I'm south with just a touch west from LC 39 in the SSPF. That was the first shuttle launch I was inside for (all the others during work hours I've gone outside), building rattled pretty good.

 

[mjennings]

video of the ET after Separation is at
https://www.nasawatch.com/archives/2009/05/todays_video_ex.html

 

[Reed Goodwin]

A couple friends and I drove down to Florida to see the launch. We saw it from Titusville and were pretty impressed. I wanna get closer, though

Reed

 

[mjennings]

where in Titusville were you and what zoom was that taken with? That is a great shot! Hope you enjoyed the trip.

 

[Reed Goodwin]

I was just north of where 50 hits US-1, pulled off in a nice patch of grass. That shot was taken with the Canon 100-400mm at 400mm and is almost the full shot that I had on my 20D.what I would give to be 3 miles out, though...
Reed

 

[digitalastro]

Here are a few from Banana creek.

 

[Delta-IV]

Here are a few from Banana creek.

Don't you just love those heads jumping into your field of view....here are a couple from last fall. We set up our tripod on ther other side of a rope and had it low to get some shots without standing up and getting in someones view.....well we tried to be nice....

 

[Reed Goodwin]

Haha, I don't get many heads in the way being as tall as I am :neener:
Reed

 

[foose4string]

Wife and I stepped off the cruise ship on Sunday and caught the launch on Monday. A big thanks to Paul Graf for putting the launch tix up for grab.
We had a great time. I met Standardrockets( Lyle) on the causeway. Out of the thousands in attendance, we happened to be riding the same bus....go figure! Nice meeting you Lyle.

Here are a few shots I took from the causeway.

 

[foose4string]

...a few more...

I have to say, I thought it would be louder and a distinct BOOM, but I never heard or felt it like that... just the rumble.

 

[Delta-IV]

...a few more...


I have to say, I thought it would be louder and a distinct BOOM, but I never heard or felt it like that... just the rumble.

Nice pics..as for the sound, it depends on the weather. The wind direction, temperature and humidity. It to me seems much much louder on those cooler, dryer and being downwind launch days/nights. At my office we got a good rumble, from the causeway my office is to the right (east) and north.

Glad you got a chance to see one of the last shuttle launches. The Ares won't be quite as good, but with one of those SRB's it'll still be impressive.

 

[mjennings]

great pictures! I saw Foose and expected to see flame fins photoshoped in! The sound in the Florida air is a funny thing, never sounds the same twice.

 

[foose4string]

Thanks. The visitor's center was running tours to the Saturn V complex and ISS/Clean Room facility during the A.M. On the way to the ISS building our bus driver told us the Astronauts would be boarding their bus soon and heading to the launch pad, and if we timed it right, we would be stopped by the the security roadblock on the way back to the visitors center. We got lucky and picked the right tour bus on the way back. We were first in the line of traffic that was stopped by the roadblock and got front row seats as the silver bus drove by with the chopper and armored car escort. Pretty cool and probably something rarely seen by the visitors.

 

[Fred22]

man you guys got some great shots. I am glad for you but confess to a twinge of envy
Cheers
fred

 

[Dr.Zooch]

WOW! Foose- you dog! You made out like a bandit! :clap::clap::clap:

Super pictures!

Glad to hear that it all worked out so great for ya'.

FYI- after 15 previous STS launches that I've seen, I have to say that this one was not nearly as loud, nor did it shake us as much. I posted a question on NASAspaceflight.com asking if anyone thought it may be the weather that dampened the sound. It seemed as if the noise lasted far shorter than it has in the past.

 

[foose4string]

Thanks. You know I was lovin' it.

The entire flight was visible from the causeway all the way through SRB separation. I was able to follow one of the SRB's for quite a while but it disappeared the closer it got to the horizon.

 

[Dr.Zooch]

WOW!!

From the VIP site it boosted into that first cloud, then popped out and popped back into another and that was pretty much all we saw. I shot the worst shuttle launch video in history- guess I need to take a few lessons from Bob at MDRA.

Thanks. You know I was lovin' it.

The entire flight was visible from the causeway all the way through SRB separation. I was able to follow one of the SRB's for quite a while but it disappeared the closer it got to the horizon.

 

[mjennings]

Nice separation shot! I've seen about a dozen launches over the last 2.5 years I've been down here and I've only been able to track the boosters after the last launch (STS-119), it helped that it was a twilight launch.

If you saw the cranes moving when you were in the Space Station Processing Facility, you may have seen me.

 

[Reed Goodwin]

Ah, rats, we actually skipped the SS processing facility as we were starting to run out of day and we were still hoping to hit the beach. Ah well.
Reed

 

[RocketT.Coyote]

By coincidence, MST3K The Movie was run on one of the cable channels here. (That's where the SOL hits The Hubble during one of the breaks.btw)