3...2...1...

Liftoff!!! Wow, what an AMAZING experience!!! It's been over two weeks and I still can't believe that I actually saw the space shuttle launch. As much as I wanted to take pictures during the launch, I decided not to so that I could just take in the whole experience. Even so, the first 10 seconds or so were still a blur because I couldn't believe it was really happening. As the engines ignited the shuttle seemed to leave the launch pad in slow motion. The fire lit up the crowd almost like it was daytime even though we were nearly 4 miles away. As my mind struggled to process everything, I suddenly began to feel the intense heat and the rumble from the solid rocket boosters as the shuttle turned away from us. The crowd was cheering and the adrenaline rush was so powerful that I felt like I was on the shuttle, too. The heat from the rockets was so intense that it vaporized the thin clouds as it broke through them, making ripples in the sky. We could even see the solid rocket boosters detach about two minutes after launch and parachute back to earth. They'll be picked up by a specialized ship, repaired, and used again. We could hear Launch Control over the loudspeaker telling us just how fast the shuttle was going and how far away it was as it faded into the night sky. After about 6 minutes it looked just like any other star in the sky.

We spent most of our free time at the Kennedy Space Center learning all about NASA and man's history of spaceflight. The shuttle, which will probably be retired in 2010 after nearly 30 years of service, will be replaced by Orion and Ares spacecraft. They are part of NASA's Constellation Program that aims to return astronauts to the moon and possibly send them to Mars.

Before we left we had a chance to meet up with John Herrington, a former astronaut, and to thank him for the launch tickets. We just happened to be there when he finished up a cross-country bike ride to promote science, technology, and math education. Matt and I even made it onto his blog, Rocketrek (scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page). We had an adventure of a lifetime and I can't wait to keep learning about the space program and to find ways to bring it into the classroom. Maybe someday I'll get to write about seeing an Ares launch!

Click here to see a video of what it was like to watch the launch from where I was (liftoff is at about 4:22) or click here to see NASA TV's coverage of the launch (you can kind of see the ripples in the sky starting at 1:34).