the tour also took us out to view launch pad 39A, from where atlantis launched just the day before.  in the distance, you could see the shuttle endeavour sitting on pad 39B ready for a rescue mission if necessary.  the reason for the rescue contingent is that the hubble is in a higher and different orbit than the iss.  were a problem to arise, there wouldn’t be enough resources for the iss to be a rescue option.

we saw the landing strip, which is so long you cannot stand on one end and see the other end as it follows the curvature of the earth.

as part of the tour, we were dropped off at the apollo/saturn v center where the history of the apollo and gemini missions were explained.  we saw the mission room including the actual equipment as it was when they originally used.  a replica of the apollo vehicle which is the saturn 5 rockets, the lunar and command modules, and all parts in between.  each portion of the apollo system and mission was detailed.

another stop on this tour included information about the international space station.  we walked through portions of the modules and visited the ready room where new modules being sent to the iss are tested for compatability and assembled for delivery.  we saw some of the japanese engineers who were getting ready to leave after delivering their next installment for the iss.  we also saw them testing and setting up another module for a future addition to the space station.

along with a friend and her parents, we camped out on side of SR-528 about a mile from the banana river drive exit about three and a half hours to get a good spot, which we did.  we realized we had a clear view of endeavour while atlantis was hidden behind some trees on a small island.  (i shifted my location to get some pictures of the initial srb ignition.)  i was still quite a ways away to get some very detailed shots.

i found out while on the tours of kennedy that i could have purchased tickets for the launch which would have put me significantly closer.  if i decide to attend another launch, i will indeed purchase those tickets.

of course, the time it takes to leave the pad to reach orbit is just around two minutes (two incredible minutes), the launch was over very quickly.  two hundred and twenty hours for two minutes worth of watching.  yes, it was worth it.

i recorded the launch on my tivo covered by one of my high def channels.  not only did i get to be there to see the launch in person, i got to see all the close up shot provided by nasa in high definition awesomeness.  the only way to beat that is to actually be either in the launch control room or on the shuttle itself.

my cousin (first and a half cousin?) sent me some links to photos of the shuttle taken by rod ostoski, a photographer who lives in florida.  the set of photos at the link below shows a rare scene of both the atlantis and the endeavour on launch pads a and b in the same shot.

STS-125 Space Shuttle Atlantis Mission to Hubble

the photographer has some other shuttle pictures in some other galleries if you are interested.  check out the links to his galleries at the top of his page (at the link above).