Anybody watch?

It was awesome, Endevour is traveling 21700 feet per second right now! That is so awesome. Such a beautiful sight!

 

It's always a BLAST!
Nighttime launches look so powerful.
They kept the camera rolling on the external tank until separation. 1,000 mph in seconds. Always been an aviation fan. I have seen one daylight launch. The roar and rumble is something to hear.
Always a proud moment.

 

I forgot , what's the muzzle velocity of the M16?
Bullets are fast

 

I just watched it from my back yard and it was amazing! It looked like the sun was coming up.

 

How many miles away were you? Close enough to shake the house?

 

The M-16 (M-4) is the same as our rifle and has a muzzle velocity of 2800fps.

The shuttle launches are cool, it is kind of sad that they are becoming routine and have only a short mention in the news...

We have Canadians that ride the shuttle as well as technology so it is of interest to me.

 

We are about 35 miles away. This one did not shake the ground. I have been there as close as you can get to watching it and it is awesome. You can feel the heat and it shakes everything!

 

I worked in Naval Aviation and have stood feet away from aircraft chained down in afterburner...it can make your nose bleed and rattle your bones but im shure that is small potatoes compared to the shuttle launch up close.

How did you get "as close as you can get?"

 

ive always wanted to see a launch in person. thats some unreal power from those solid rocket boosters. i hear you can get tickets to launches. i know right after 9/11 they tightened up security and had all kinds of restrictions etc... rumor has it they are gonna retire the shuttle in a few years and already have some new type of craft in the works.

 

I don't mean to belittle the shuttle program, but after 30 years, I don't get nearly as excited about a launch as I did as a kid. I was hoping the space program would have advanced as rapidly as some other technologies have. I know that's probably unreasonable, but I don't care. At this rate the great-grandchildren of the youngest people on the planet will not see interstellar travel. Maybe not even permanent manned science stations on other planets in this solar system.

 

A buddy of mine used to work there. We were on NASA property and just across the water from it. We were probably only 1/2 mile away. I guess others were closer but that is as close as civilians can get.

 

have any of you ever flown in a plane when it zooms past you? i have have friends at Embry-Riddle that will put their money together and rent a piper cheyenne (turboprop) and climb to the flight levels and watch it zoom past them to get photos for the Avon newspaper there. they've even told me that the FAA has two King Air's that will intercept you if you come close to the (i think) 35 mile restriction and give you a nice greeting when you land gotta be careful out there :

 

Very true.
We went to the moon in 10 years (some still dont believe) but I think the money grab, petty politics and distractions will rule the day until something unites man to invent more than better more effective ways to kill each other.
There are some good ideas that just need money and attention.
Once they really figure out gravity new technologies will branch out from it.
We are still pretty much just hurling ourselves into the void right now like we did many years ago.
Same with forest fires....nothing new.

 

i dont see everyday space travel in my lifetime either..just like the flying cars we were supposed to be cruising around in by now lol. theres talk about going back to the moon. space shuttle only goes up like 300 miles.

 

Thanks for the link.