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Tuesday 11 March
Space Shuttle Endeavour STS123 Launch
The world's biggest re-useable firework. Shelly came home the other day and said some guys from her work were going on a kayak trip to see the forthcoming shuttle launch. This seemed like a really good idea because we would be away from the crowds and hopefully get a better view.
So, at 11.30pm Monday night we travelled to the Haulover canal, for the 2.28am launch and to meet the people running the trip. We had concerns about meeting some 'gators on the trip but we were told that the water was salty so we would be okay. The only wildlife we could have come across would be manatees (sea cows). These are pretty docile so no problem there.
After a safety briefing and getting kitted out with life vest, whistle, torch and, of course, kayak we ventured out into the canal which is really a river network through marshes. We paddled off into the darkness with only a luminous green stick on each kayakers back to navigate by. The lead kayaker had a flashing red LED on his back for everyone to follow also. We paddled for around a mile and took a right turn into a bay to land on a sandy beach and disembark to see in the distance the highly illuminated launch site 7 miles away.
WOW what a sight! It's a clear night and we can easily see the shuttle and solid fuel tanks. I zoom-in with the camera and take a few shots. The pictures turn out good to say it's 7 miles away and at night.
We have around 20 mins before launch so we start chatting to a couple who kayak a lot and are interested in a trip to NZ. We give them a few pointers and suggest the Marlborough Sounds or Abel Tasman National Park for their kayak holiday.
Then someone calls out "2 mins to launch", so cameras are switched on and the excitement mounts. All eyes are trained on the launch pad......5, 4, 3, 2, 1...... plumes of steam (no its's not designed by Robert Louis Stevenson!) pound from the launch pad and the shuttle lifts off in total silence. The shuttle ascends and disappears into the 3,000ft cloudbase before we get the sound which has travelled the 7 miles to us. You can feel the noise in your ribcage and the whole experience makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. Around 360,000 gallons of water are dumped on the launch pad at launch to cool the pad and suppress some noise. This is the steam that is visible on launch. I manage 3 shots of the launch and Katrina, Shelly's sister, videos the launch, so take a look at the video as well as photos.
Time to "saddle up" and return to our launch site and take the 60 mile drive back home. We get home at 4.30am and go to bed but it's difficult to sleep as we are still on a high from seeing the launch. It's awesome to see something like this when you've only seen it on TV before!
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