shuttle launches

One of the neat things about living in North Florida is shuttle launches. We're not anywhere near close enough to see detail, or hear the rockets roar. For that you have to drive down the coast. Here, if the conditions are right, though, you can see it....especially if it's at night. On a clear day though, you can see the bright flame from the rocket rising into the air and the smoke trail behind it. At night, if it's not too cloudy and you're looking in the right direction, you can't miss it.

What's interesting though, is what you see in the neighborhoods...ours included. About two minutes before the scheduled launch, people empty out of their houses and into the street. If there's an area nearby with a big clearing, or a hill with a better view over the tree line, they'll gather there. Everyone looking in the same direction...southeast. Someone will be the first to spot it rising over the trees and point, and there will be ooooohhhhs and aaaahhhhhhhs. Everyone will stay there, watching the shuttle rise into the sky, and nobody leaves until you just can't see it anymore. That usually lasts (depending on visibility/clouds) until sometime after the booster separates and you can't see flame anymore. Then it's just a smoke trail. Eventually you lose that and can't tell where it is.

What's interesting about it to me is, it never gets old. Every time the shuttle launches, the same play is acted out in neighborhoods all around us. It doesn't get old for me either, as I'm part of that crowd every time I'm home and the shuttle goes up. It's just an awesome thing to watch.