Launch America!!!

This brings back memories… Pad 39A is back in use…

 

The first launch of American astronauts into space from U.S. soil since 2011 is set to take place Wednesday, and NASA wants the public to be a part of it.

The agency will host a social event virtually so viewers can get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the agency’s SpaceX Demo-2 test flight, which will send NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley on a journey to the International Space Station.

Full article, HERE.

And you can find NASA TV HERE.

I remember following the nascent space program avidly as a young boy. I remember the launch was supposed to be on Thursday, but it got rained out. I was actually allowed to skip school that day to watch the launch. It was early in the morning, and my mother allowed me to turn the old black and white TV on to watch. I was glued to the TV for most of the day, with Walter Cronkite reporting each new bit of information.

Hats off to those pioneers, and it’s time to take the next steps… And the scenario is surprisingly similar 59 years and 20 days later… Pad 39A, single rocket, new capsule, weather an issue. Sadly, Jack King won’t be calling the launch as he did for Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo.

Of course THIS symbol wouldn’t be allowed today… Sigh…

Here’s hoping it comes off successfully!

Comments

Launch America!!! — 16 Comments

  1. Yeah, been a LOOONG time since we have watched live U.S.A. astronauts being launched into space. Hope it goes well, 2020 has had enough tragedies as it is.

  2. I also recall watching Alan Shepard’s ride. I didn’t get the day off from school, but the principal had decided that history was being made and that the students should witness it. We were all herded into the school auditorium where a small TV was set up and watched him go up in living B&W. I was disappointed that it didn’t go straight to the moon. That came later.

  3. We had a TV in our elementary school classroom. We watched the Mercury launches live. We were enthralled. Today it would have to be on a delay in case the rocket blew up on the pad (a real possibility at the time) and all of Americas school children would have been traumatized.

    • Back in ’86 watched the Challenger go to pieces live with the rest of my first grade class. We weren’t really sure what we were looking at, and even after we figured that out I can’t say it impacted us too much.

  4. My first world memory is Apollo 11. I was all of 4, but I remember the launch. I was underway for Challenger, and at Cape Canaveral for the first return to space after that. I moved to Brevard county in ’92 and have been here ever since. Today is a BIG day and I hope it goes smoothly. What SpaceX has done is nothing short of amazing and done for FAR less than NASA, Boeing, LM, and ULA have spent.

  5. I remember watching all of the launches, from Gemini through the end of the Apollo program. And Jules Bergman is sadly missed, too.

  6. jrg- Concur!!!

    jim- I remember they did show it in some classrooms, but I know a few of us got to stay home that day too!

    NRW- Point… sigh

    Clayton- Envy you! You’ll get to see it live!

    Rev- agreed!

    PH- Yep!

  7. We used to go to a neighbor’s house to watch the launches and splash-downs on COLOR-TV!!!! The space stuff, mostly in B&W, we watched at home.

    Then family moved to Satellite Beach in June 1973 and we went to the 528 causeway to watch Skylab 3 go up.

    I haven’t been this excited about space in a long time. We’re getting back on track after veering off doing the LEO thing with the Shuttle.

    Fingers crossed.

  8. They said to look to the south-west between 9-9.30 BST to see ISS chased by Space-X.
    Ten-tenths cloud cover!
    I feel cheated.

  9. Mom let me stay home to watch the first few Mercury flights, and then the flights got too long!

    I watched ’em all, though, and watch the Eagle land on my little Sony 5″ “Tummy TV” B&W set.

    Once they’re up, I’ll have to run my tracking program to see if there’s any visible passes here. I saw the ISS, Shuttle, and a Russian supply ship go over one night years ago, and it was most impressive!

    GO SPACEX!

  10. Too bad it rained.
    I had a friend took his family down from Michigan to watch.
    But they might just have been enjoying a spell of liberty.

  11. Rained out.

    Now to see if there are reasonable flights to MCO this weekend..

  12. I was fortunate enough to be 12 miles or so from the Apollo 8 launchpad with my parents and brothers when it blasted off. The sound was deafening and the ground shook. Most memorable moment of my life until watching the triple landing of the SpaceX Heavy on live television.

  13. All the students and staff at my elementary school watched the first launch in the cafeteria. They put THE school TV up on the roll out stage so we could all watch. First graders on the floor closest. Sixth graders standing in back. Rest arrayed by height. Adults along the side. All of us counting down to liftoff.