All the planning in the world.....

A month or so ago, our good friend, Ron V. was able to hook us up with passes to see the Shuttle Launch, scheduled for April 19. 

We were so excited because it was right after the Spring Game in Tallahassee!  Our plan was to leave from there and spend a few days in the TeePee in an area not too far from the Kennedy Space Center.

Well, those plans got blown out of the water when they announced the Shuttle Launch was being rescheduled for the afternoon of April 29th.  Ok, no big deal.  We took the TeePee back to Jupiter and made arrangements to stay at hotel in Melbourne the night before the launch.  (We've heard horror stories about the traffic getting into the Cape Canaveral area and we didn't want there to be any issue or problem that would keep us from getting to the meeting point in plenty of time.)

We were to be at the Merritt Square Mall 4.5 hours before the launch.  No worries.  We left the hotel in time to be there 6 hours before the launch.  And we were prepared - chairs, hats, umbrellas, ponchos and books.

It wasn't too long before we arrived in the parking lot when several big buses and shuttles started arriving.  And there were a lot of people waiting.

Two of the many buses.

Sadly, we were not on the KSC buses.  They were for people who had been invited by the Center Director. 

Thankfully, it was overcast and a bit breezy while
we stood in line to see what bus we would be riding.

Finally!  We were getting closer to the check-in table.

Woohoo! 

We had nearly a half an hour bus ride but the reward was going to be prime viewing area!

Getting closer....

Our guide:  Steve Depalo. 

 Steve has some pretty amazing credentials:
A Senior Systems Engineer with 25 years aerospace engineering experience, assigned to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Mission Systems Engineering Branch (Code 599) responsible for implementing end-to-end systems engineering for Space and Earth science missions. Currently, he is the Lead Systems Engineer for developing Unpressurized Cargo (UPC) for NASA’s Crew Exploration Vehicle, Orion, within the Exploration System Projects Office (Code 455). Previous assignments included Mission Systems Manger for the GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) Project and the Hubble Space Telescope’s EVA Systems Engineer and the Project Safety Manager. Prior to coming to Goddard in 1989, he served on active duty in the US Air Force as the Systems Safety Program Manager for the A-10, F-15, and YF-22 aircraft and Maverick missile weapon systems, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH..


During our journey to the Space Center, we were given information about the mission and the astronauts. 

We reached the gate and........

Well, that's when Steve broke the news.  The guard told him the launch had been scrubbed.  We went through the gate and made a U-turn.  Back to the mall we went.  During the ride, Steve got a call indicating the launch might be rescheduled for Sunday. 

No need to stay the night in Melbourne if it was going to be rescheduled two days later.  We were only 2 hours away, we'd just drive up.  Besides, we knew the meeting location, what bus we wouldn't be on, the whole drill. 

Since we had to have the TeePee in Tampa on Monday, we thought we'd take it up for the launch and then head to Tampa afterward.  On the drive back to Stuart, we got word it was going to be scheduled for Monday but there was going to be a press conference Sunday morning.  So Sunday morning, we were going to either go north or west. 

Fortunately we didn't have to wait until the press conference to find out it was delayed again, with no new date set.  We did find a pretty cool site for keeping track of the status:  SpaceFlightNow.

And so, we headed west.  But we considered this experience practice for when it's rescheduled.  Hopefully we'll be able to attend!