We left Tennessee for Florida around 8 a.m. The ten hour drive didn’t seem daunting knowing we were less than a day away from the launch. Our only issue was logistical- the launch was scheduled for 4:39 a.m. and we needed to be at the Kennedy Space Center by 10:30 p.m. before the parking lot closed. With a four and two year old, the thoughts of how they would handle those six hours, and the inevitable three hours of traffic leaving the area afterwards was a thought we just tried to ignore.
We kept on, making it to the Cape in time to meet my brother, who flew in from New York to be part of it. We arrived at the Space Center in plenty of time, the phrase “Hurry up and Wait” never seemed so appropriate. We made the rounds at the Space Center, viewing all of the rockets and shuttles that were on display. It truly is an awe inspiring place. And just miles away was the shuttle, with their crew working non stop getting the vessel ready to go. Although we must have been tired, we didn’t feel it at that point and aside for a few breakdowns, the kids were holding up well. It is a strange site watching your son romping around their playground at 2 a.m.
You can’t blame a 2-year-old for having a breakdown on a playground after midnight!
A 3 a.m. power nap with the Shuttle getting ready for the launch on the big screen.
Even the announcement that there was now only a 60% chance of launch because of low clouds did not dampen our spirits. by 3 a.m., we were beat. We all conked out on the floor inside, hoping we didn’t sleep through the launch! By 4:30, the time had arrived. We lifted the kids onto our shoulders, trying to wake them without the drama that could come with the situation. They awoke and were so excited. We took our spot, nine minutes away when we heard a muffled voice across the loudspeaker that sounded something like “Sorry”. We each looked at each other, with disbelief, as the other bewildered spectators started packing up their chairs and headed for their cars.
Making our way to our viewing spot… we had no idea what was going to happen.
It was postponed! What? All kinds of questions ran through my mind. Are you serious? Do you know what we went through to get here? Are we now supposed to come back again tomorrow, after the Super Bowl, with no sleep? But there was no time to complain, or even to walk. We had to run- if we wanted to get to our car and avoid hours of traffic. But there was no avoiding it. We wound up sleeping in our car in an insurance salesman’s parking lot somewhere in Titusville.
Needless to say, with little to no sleep, after watching the Saints defeat the Colts in the Super Bowl, we stumbled out of our hotel room in Orlando on a mission. We were going to see it happen. After some advice from the locals, we scrapped going to the Space Center again and decided to watch it from a spot near the water in Titusville. As luck would have it, we pulled into the final spot available only an hour before launch. Apparently, many of the thousands of people watching Saturday couldn’t make it Sunday, and the viewing areas were much more accessible.
Before we knew it, we were counting down. We all hopped onto the roof of our vehicle with cameras and videocameras ready.
Some of us screamed and some of us watched with our mouths wide open as night turned to day in an instant with the light from the shuttle’s launch. In what couldn’t have been more than a minute, the astronauts were just a speck in our viewfinders, on their way to the International Space Station.
And just like that it was over. With our big smiles while muttering the words unbelievable more than once, we headed back to Orlando for some well needed sleep.
Mission Accomplished.
