I had 
a 
previous regular engagement to be in Fort Lauderdale the later part of this week so I decided to take the opportunity to also view the shuttle launch on Tuesday 1:31am. I changed my flight to be in Florida Monday and drove up to Kennedy Space Center (KSC) area. I checked out on the web for the various alternatives to view shuttle launches. The shuttles are launched from pad 39A or 39B at the northern part of KSC. Other space flights are launches from pads in the southern part of the KSC. There are these five ways to view a shuttle launches. The first three are available to the general publics. The last one is only for VIP and/or families of the shuttle crew members:
1) view it for free in the spaceview park near the junction of US 1 and State Route 406. There are room to accommodate about 300 viewers along the water front which has an unobstructed view of launch pads 39A and 39B about 12 miles away, separated only by water. This location has ample parking. I got there on Monday night about six hours before the launch. 90% or about 40 people worth of the “front row” seats, were already taken. But the rest of the crowd started to show up starting about three hours before the launch. It was full house about an hour before launch. There are volunteers setting up two small color TVs to provide what NASA is showing for the launch event including the real life proceedings of the launch. The audio of this was piped to several large outdoor speakers. It was really fun carnival like atmosphere. Good thing it did not rain that night but bringing a rain gear and insect repellant would have been a smart thing.
In Titusville and surround area there are various other locations with slightly less ideal viewing angles and accesses - maybe a bit obstructed, maybe a bit farther away, maybe someone might charge a fee for parking…
2) Paid $38 to visit KSC on launch day. This will entitle the ticket bearer to also watch the launch in KSC’s viewing area equiped with large screen tv and high quality sound. This viewing location is about 7.4 miles from the launch pad. But you can’t see the pad due to trees. Therefore you can only see the shuttle once it clears the tree line. Of course there are plenty things to see inside KSC and the ticket is good for two admissions within 7 days. For an extra $12 you will be made a “commander”, get a Commander Pass that will allow you to enter KSC on any non launch day for a year. This pass will entitle you with a 10% discount for purchases in KSC gift shops, 20% discount on KSC food, and over $5 discount per admission ticket for your friends and families. The KSC admission ticket or the Command Pass is also good for admission to the Astronaut Hall of Fame 4 miles west of the KSC.
3) Paid an additional $21 on top of the above mentioned $38 to take a KSC run bus to go to the restrcited part of the NASA Causeway to view the launch. This location is about 6.5 miles from pad 39A. It has an un-obstructed view of launch pad 39a and 39b where the shuttles launch. The shuttle is in full view from the causeway. There is audio of the launch proceedings but not video. Since only water separate the pads and the causeway a night launch will be so spectacular since the water will be lighted up for all these miles. It is awesome. I went this route on Friday and had a grand time. Due to causeway parking capacity NASA only sells about 2000 such bus passes per launch and they are usually gone within minutes. You can subscript to a mailing list to know when these passes go on sale on line.
4) NASA apparently allowed cars to park on the causeway for viewing the launch. Prior to 2002 limited number of passes were issued to the general public for this. Now it is only available to families of NASA workers.
5) If you are a VIP or a family member of the shuttle crews you can view the launch on a bleacher stand right outside the Saturn V site in KSC. There are seats for about 100 people. This is the closest site to launch pads 39a and 39b. It is about 5 miles away still. To me this is not as good as (3) since most of the view of the shuttle itself would be blocked by the supporting structure of the launch pad.
To me the several hours that led to the launch were filled with very impressive launch proceeding information over the audio stream from NASA. The lift off was so spectacular at night. The cheering leading to or at the lift off was so heart warming. Surprising ly the often spoken of accompanying thundering roars were no where to be heard on Friday. The first couple seconds when the sky was lite up it looked almost like a atomic blast were often depicted less the mushroom cloud. When the shuttle pierced through and then shine from above the cloud it was so awesome. It was many time brighter than a full moon and in orange of course. I highly recommend seeing one of the remaining six launches before the shuttle program is wrapped up. Be sure to bring a tripod and insect repellent. The rain coat I conclude is not as important since if it rained where you are viewing the launch chances are that NASA would have cancel the launch. It turned out that there could be no rain within 6 miles radius of the launch pad for the shuttle to be launched. Plus a long list of weather conditions have to be met for the launch to be on.
http://www.launchphotography.com/Shuttle_Launch_Viewing.html is a great article on choices of viewing shuttle launches.
I will post some video and photos I took on Friday.
