Space shuttle launch (6 pics)

[Boosting1Bar]

I was fortunate enough to have a couple extra vacation days to use to go watch the historic return to space lauch of the shuttle Discovery. I went down to a park called Jetty Park that is the closest you can be to the launch pads without being on space center property, and it's a pretty highly coveted spot to watch from, so I got there at 4:30am and still barely made it in before they closed the park due to being at capacity for the 10:39am launch. After getting a parking place and scoping out my shooting spot, I took a little nap :). Got back up around 7 and the buzz around the place was amazing! Got to talk to lots of other photographers sporting every brand/type of equipment imaginable. I highly recommend going to watch a launch if you ever have the chance. A more complete writeup of my experience will be on my website (www.boosting1bar.com) sometime this week. Now, on with the pics...
At T-4.5 hours the sun came up...
http://webpages.charter.net/brandonw/shuttle01s.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/brandonw/shuttle02s.jpg
At around T-3 hours there was a very large jet that landed at PatrickAFB and these two Blackhawks flew some VIPs over to the space center to view the launch.
http://webpages.charter.net/brandonw/shuttle03s.jpg
At roughly T-1.5 hours, the crowd was starting to gather at the waterfront and there was quite an air of excitement.
http://webpages.charter.net/brandonw/shuttle04s.jpg
Finally the shuttle blasted away from the launchpad and into the gorgeous blue sky.
http://webpages.charter.net/brandonw/shuttle05s.jpg
One last shot as the shuttle exited the atmosphere and just before dropping the auxillary boosters.
http://webpages.charter.net/brandonw/shuttle06s.jpg

[Tadhg]

Wow. Great stuff. I especially love the first and second last one. Must have been great to see the shuttle.

[Big_B]

Neat. You were very lucky to be there!

[tommykjensen]

Great shots which brings back memories from january 22, 1998 where I saw the night launch of Endavour from within Kennedy Spacecenter properties.

Great experience, highly recommended.

[felix21685]

cool shots..

[cmM]

WOW very nice shots. I was wondering if any POTN members had documented this.

[JuZ]

Do you have any shots of it a bit lower? I'd love to see some :)

[PicOlio]

For what it's worth... I live about 35 miles from where it launched and was able to pick up a few shots from my backyard. Not quite what I was hoping for but gives an idea what you could see from quite a distance. I believe it was about 35 or 40 miles east of us and a couple of miles in the air when I snagged these...

The shots: http://www.picolio.com/Gallery/Discovery2006

Next time there's a launch I hope to be there. I don't think anything can compare to being there. I REALLY like your second shot of the sun!

[jeff4sun]

Great pics. I am headed to New Smyrna beach this weekend and was hoping it would be delayed one more time so I could be there to see it. Beleive it or not, I did catch a glimps of it just after lift off all the way up in Jacksonville close to 130 miles away.

[tommykjensen]

I don't think anything can compare to being there. I REALLY like your second shot of the sun!

Thats true. It is an awesome experience, when I was there I could feel the roaring engines from where I was watching. A launch is awesome anytime, especially when visiting from Denmark but I think the night launch is even more special because the sky is lit up by the rockets.

[Cobra351]

VERY cool! Must be quite an experience to be there for a launch.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Great shots! all of them!

[Keiffer]

Nice shots Brandon, I was at the airport on the terminal top with the F4 and a 2x converter. They stunk LOL wayyy too far away. But oh well it was nice to see the return on the shuttles. I hope they do a night launch again....Now those are fantastic!

[PhotosGuy]

Good series!