Up Up and Away

[TitusvilleSurfer]

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r236/TitusvileSurfer/Transportation/Delta%20II/DeltaII.jpg

"Are we under invasion?!"
No were not under invasion, were sending it!
"Is it going to Iraq?!"
...Noooo

(some guy from Norway)

[Subie J]

Looks very futuristic (sp?) I like it.

I think the people in the bottom left really help.

[kevin_c]

I'm assuming it's the space shuttle? ???

[Desertraptor]

Delta from Canaveral?

[scorpio_e]

UFO ;)

[TitusvilleSurfer]

Desertraptor wins the prize from the other side of the world. This was a Delta II sending a GPS satellite into orbit. I work at NASA and while I see every launch, rarely get the chance to shoot them. This was a treat! :) My only complaint is a lack of a 10-22 so that I could have gotten the whole launch from the pad until the last stage burned out of sight. (24-70 @ 24 mm was used)
Once it got going, you could see around as if the sun had just come up for about 30 seconds even though it was 2:10 AM. No post processing of any kind was used. This is straight RAW to resized JPG.

[Desertraptor]

I missed STS117 :( Was there on the original launch date which weas rescheduled due to the hail damage. Determined to get back.
Need more time at KSC to see everything

[TitusvilleSurfer]

I've been driving around out there five days a week for years now and still haven't seen it all. Just under 300 sq miles makes a lot of terrain to cover! It sure is pretty though. One of my friends works on a bobcat tractor and a real bobcat sleeps on top of it every morning. He has to wait for the animal to get up and move on its own before he can start work. Anytime there is wildlife stopping work that isn't critical or if the animal isn't posing an immediate threat to personell, you have to leave them alone. I like that policy...they really do everything they can to keep the various animals king of the jungle which is NASA.
About two months ago I saw a Florida Panther...that was a treat. No camera though. :.( I've seen black panthers as well but it's been about 4 years. Lots of deer and LOTS of pigs...bald eagles...scrub jays...wild dog packs...all sorts of interesting creatures are roaming freely out there. The water has fun photo ops as well. Manatees, whales, dolphins, sharks, leaping manta rays, and alligators just to name a few. I've caught several fish on my lunch breaks that I have never been able to identify.
Plant life is there. Many trees from the north are not found farther south and many from the south are not found farther north. Some of these have interbred and their are plants on that base with no official name at all. Ahh I could go on and on, it is such a neat place to work.