Its not every day you get to be in arm's reach of an astronaut. Well, I was today. Perks for working for NASA I guess. I was so sad that I forgot about them coming until it was too late. I waited through all of their speeches and went down for the autograph. They give out a picture of them all that they sign for you. I got in the long line that wrapped around the auditorium. It stood completely still for about 15 minutes. They were only signing for 30 minutes. We finally started moving. I'll be darned if they didn't cut off the dang line right in front of us because they had to get going. I was a little sad. Luckily, they signed extras to pass out to the rest of us in line. The reason this one was so special to me was because I actually saw them launch back in November. It was a night launch. It was the most beautiful, unreal, amazing thing I have ever witnessed so far. It is unreal that something that big, with that much fuel and fire around it can just take off into space. It literally brought tears to my eyes and took my breath away. I tried to scan the picture, but it wasn't working. I will try to post it later.
Since I wasn't blogging at that time, here are some details from my trip. My co-worker, Terri, and I were invited to go with another lady we worked with. She was invited and could bring 3 other people. We were so excited and drove our happy selves all the way to Cocoa Beach. We stayed on the beach in a condo...and did not once get to get on the beach until we were pulling out to leave. We refused to leave without letting our toes hit the sand. We worked at JSC while we were there for 3 days. It was such an amazing experience to be there while all of that was going on. We got all kinds of tours of the buildings, the VAB, the control room. It was so much fun.
I was amazed with this building for some reason. I think because it was so big. The NASA meatball, as they call it, on this building could fit a baseball field inside of it. That is the scale of how big this building is. It stands for Vehicle Assembly Building. This is where they house the shuttles before they launch...at least I think I am getting my details right.
These are whiteboards that are posted all through this one building...I forget its name...the one that has the control room in it. They have a board for every flight that is cased in glass. It is drawings and writings from the astronauts and their families. They are so sweet. The ones that really were sad were those that did not return. The plaque's were on the wall too that had the mission's patch on it. The astronauts design their own patch. Again, the ones that were sad were those that didn't have a return date plate.
And of course...the Shuttle. The one we went to see was STS-126 and it was at NIGHT! Those are very rare to get to see, and it really is rare for people to go and see the launch on schedule. A lot of times they get scrubbed. I struggled with the decision to go, because Kyle and I had Alabama football tickets that Saturday I was supposed to be returning. There was a hurricane or something far off that could possibly cause a weather delay of the shuttle. I went with my gut, went to see the launch, it went off, the AL tickets were sold out from under us, and Kyle ended up getting to go with one of our friends. All in all, I made the right decision. That night at the football game was FREEZING! I would have been miserable. Plus, this was a chance of a lifetime that I couldn't pass up. It was great.
Here is the video I took from my regular camera. It is not the best quality, and I am not smart enough to figure out how to rotate it. So, you have to turn your head to see it. It is nothing close to the real thing, but this was my view from the causeway. Wish you could see it like I did. Scroll to about 1 min 20 seconds and it will start soon.
Since I wasn't blogging at that time, here are some details from my trip. My co-worker, Terri, and I were invited to go with another lady we worked with. She was invited and could bring 3 other people. We were so excited and drove our happy selves all the way to Cocoa Beach. We stayed on the beach in a condo...and did not once get to get on the beach until we were pulling out to leave. We refused to leave without letting our toes hit the sand. We worked at JSC while we were there for 3 days. It was such an amazing experience to be there while all of that was going on. We got all kinds of tours of the buildings, the VAB, the control room. It was so much fun.
I was amazed with this building for some reason. I think because it was so big. The NASA meatball, as they call it, on this building could fit a baseball field inside of it. That is the scale of how big this building is. It stands for Vehicle Assembly Building. This is where they house the shuttles before they launch...at least I think I am getting my details right.
These are whiteboards that are posted all through this one building...I forget its name...the one that has the control room in it. They have a board for every flight that is cased in glass. It is drawings and writings from the astronauts and their families. They are so sweet. The ones that really were sad were those that did not return. The plaque's were on the wall too that had the mission's patch on it. The astronauts design their own patch. Again, the ones that were sad were those that didn't have a return date plate.
And of course...the Shuttle. The one we went to see was STS-126 and it was at NIGHT! Those are very rare to get to see, and it really is rare for people to go and see the launch on schedule. A lot of times they get scrubbed. I struggled with the decision to go, because Kyle and I had Alabama football tickets that Saturday I was supposed to be returning. There was a hurricane or something far off that could possibly cause a weather delay of the shuttle. I went with my gut, went to see the launch, it went off, the AL tickets were sold out from under us, and Kyle ended up getting to go with one of our friends. All in all, I made the right decision. That night at the football game was FREEZING! I would have been miserable. Plus, this was a chance of a lifetime that I couldn't pass up. It was great.
Here is the video I took from my regular camera. It is not the best quality, and I am not smart enough to figure out how to rotate it. So, you have to turn your head to see it. It is nothing close to the real thing, but this was my view from the causeway. Wish you could see it like I did. Scroll to about 1 min 20 seconds and it will start soon.
