And we have lift off!

It was like the clouds parted and the sun shone just long enough for lift off to be successful. Up on the roof none of us could believe it didn't get scrubbed. But I'm glad it went on the first try. And I can't believe I didn't cry. It is sad, this thing coming to an end. But (trying to stay positive and I can't believe I'm going to be this cliche...) when one door closes another opens.

I can't get the pics of lift off from my Canon right now but I can give you this little tidbit. Here is a highway cam of the poor tourists trying to leave the KSC Visitor's Center.



Yeah, you guys thought a trip over here was going to be this awesome adventure...all fun and games in sunny Florida. Ha!

It's an adventure all right. But in that traffic right now it might seem like a big steaming pile of adventure, filled with "rude drivers", topped with a dollop of "road rage", and sprinkled with "holy cow my kids are screaming and fighting in the backseat".

Nah. It was all worth it.

Go Atlantis Go!!!

I'll write another entry documenting my memories of the shuttle program, but for now, with exactly 30 minutes before Atlantis is scheduled to lift off, I wanted to share some of what is going on around town in anticipation of this final launch.

It took me 1 hour to drive 2 miles on my way into work this morning. And this was 5 hours prior to launch. I shared the road with hundreds of tourists, tour buses and media vans.

One report stated that 1 million people were expected to come to view the launch. That is IN ADDITION to those of us who already live here.

Here is a screen shot from a highway cam showing the traffic coming from Orlando into Brevard County via the Beeline. See the left most lane on the screen that looks backed up for miles? Yep, that is the road carrying peeps here to Brevard County. And this show was taken about 2 hours prior to launch.



A few weeks ago my coworkers and I were able to go out to the launch pad and have our pictures taken with STS-135 Atlantis, the shuttle who's mission will close out the Shuttle Program.





Weather is looking dismal for lift off. There's a 70% chance that weather is too cloudy and rainy for an emergency landing but Houston still says we are a go.

Time will tell.

I'll be watching and photographing from the roof of my building and if it launches, will post pics later.

God bless the crew and all the employees who made this great program and great day possible!