Launch at Kennedy Space Center

November 14, 1998

STS-95 launched on October 28, 1998 at 2:19 p.m. The day could not have been better and several of us on the Sleep Team had the pleasure of seeing the launch 4Ð6 miles from the launch pad, 39-B along a small body of water separating us from the launch area called a causeway. In addition to seeing the launch under a clear blue sky with very little wind, an orbiter was also on the other launch pad, 39-A. That shuttle is getting ready for a November 20, 1998 scheduled launch to deploy the first piece of the International Space Station.

Now before I go on, here's a little primer on shuttle anatomy. The orbiter is the whole vehicle that we see on the launch pad. It consists of the 2 recoverable booster rockets along the side of the great big orange tank in the middle. This tank is the external fuel tank that holds the majority of the solid rocket fuel the shuttle burns. To learn more about the orbiter, check out this URL: http://shuttle.nasa.gov/reference/shutref/

If any of you are interested in viewing a shuttle launch, below is a URL for more information. Anyone can view the launch and they're free of charge. For most folks, the trick is finding the time and money to get to Florida. If you can find both, here's the link: http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/carpass/carpass.htm

There were loud speakers lined along the opposite side of the road from this viewing area and an announcer provided regular updates of shuttle activities prior to launch. As the announcer's countdown reached zero, everyone saw a billowing cloud form into a large plume of rocket exhaust and steam. Thousands of gallons of water are used to spray down the launch pad to keep it relatively cool under the intense rocket blast which occurs during lift off. It was an amazing thing watching the orbiter accelerate from zero to over 1,000 mph in just a few seconds. At 25 miles overhead, the orbiter was racing along at over 2,000 mph. By the time the shuttle reaches orbit and begins circling around the earth, it will be moving along at the steady pace of about 180,000 mph! Seeing the launch was only half the experience. Sound travels through the air at a certain speed. Just a few seconds after seeing the orbiter launch, we were able to feel and hear the tremendous rumble produced from the main engines.

After the launch the following day, we joined the rest of the Sleep Team at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas to help monitor the mission in the Science Center of Mission Control -we're just getting started-

This is where we viewed the launch. A limited number of car passes are distributed for each launch. It seemed like thousands were present for this one.

Ray, Jeff, Rob at bridge: See what I mean by, "it seems like thousands". The bridge we're on separates the causeway in half. We thought we could be helpful assisting the traffic control officers...the shuttle launch area is to the left.

It was amazing to learn how much water is poured onto the launch pad to cool down the complex. It was a picture perfect day for a picture perfect flight.