Space Shuttle launch STS-119
Title picture
On march 15th, 2009 I was lucky enough to witness a shuttle launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida. It was a memory I will never forget, the noise and the thought that man is flying into outer space was very moving.
The mission was STS-119, a regular maintenance mission to the ISS (International Space Station) and add some new parts to the ISS.
The mission was a great success! I have posted the sequence of pictures I took of the launch! I hope they are not too many .
I had to witness the launch from approximately 10 mile away, because the island of Cape Canaveral is closed to the public during launch day, only a select few lucky people and press get to witness the launch from the island itself.
Here a picture of the people camped out to witness the Shuttle STS-119 launch, I was among them eagerly anticipating the blast off!
This is a picture of the Shuttle assembly building, this is where the shuttle and its rocket boosters get assembled for the launch
This is the closest picture I could get of the launch complex 39A with my big zoom lens!
This was engine ignition! you could see the light from the fire, but could not hear anything yet! the sound took a while longer to reach us!
This is where the people really started cheering!!! beautiful launch!
And now the sound started to reach us and you could feel in your chest the massive thrust of the incredible rocket boosters at full throttle!
all the people around me standing in awe and happiness
watching a beatiful launch
now it was accelerating and climbing faster
now I will leave you to enjoy the amazing pictures of the shuttle climbing...
climbing...
climbing...
climbing...
probably at this time it was throttle down from maximum pressure
prepare for roll onto its back
rolling...
prepare for jettison of SRB(Solid Rocket Boosters) the 2 rockets on shuttle's side.
separation of SRB(Solid Rocket Booster)
here you can now see 3 separate objects flying, shuttle and 2 SRBs
rocket boosters falling back to earth
next comes the main engine shutoff
and separation of the external tank
SRB (Solid rocket boosters) falling back to earth, there is a NASA vessel waiting for retrieval in the Atlantic.
this was a final picture of the leftover smoke with the last few sunshine rays shining on it.
Even though the Space Shuttle program has suffered two catastrophic accidents, it still remains one of the marvels of our 20th century! let us see what the future has in store for us now.
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please leave a comment below...
Amazing Pictures, thank you!
Thank you for commenting. I was happy to share and that people enjoyed the post!
Sounds great. You're really lucky. good for you
Amazing Photos . Well done
Thank you for sharing your experience with us.
Thank you. I wish humanity would invest more into exploring our space and galaxy, instead of military. It would be a common goal for all humanity and unite us instead of fighting.
amazing!
Thank you :)
Just wow. An amazing experience. Happy for you for having the experience. I've always loved to see a launch and try to see one hopefully in the near future. Although the Space Shuttle program is discontinued but we might get there again to send a new set of space shuttles up there.
Would be awesome to see the first interplanetary mission! Maybe someday...? Mars...
I hope very soon. Can't wait to feel the excitement of the first day that human kind steps on Mars. Hope in our life times :)
Love your posts, I am following you now...
Thanks a lot! glad you liked them. I followed you too. You got a great blog as well :)
Wow, thank you for this post! You got some great shots of this event.
I really liked the detail and colours of "separation of SRB(Solid Rocket Booster)".
Voted!!
Thank you! I am happy I was able to share my experience, and other people also have this fascination with technology and the space program. I was truly impressed by the power these rockets have!
You analyze your experience so amazing that you made me feel I was there when the shuttle was launched.. I really enjoyed the picture and I'm happy you had the experience.. I'm gonna see one probably one day.. Thanks man
Thank you so much for your comment, I am happy you enjoyed the post!
If the space program had only half as much budget as the military, where would we be today?
So true!! I suppose vacation on Mars, affordable to all, would be a reality by now! Or even further, and lots of new knowledge about our space.
Excelente publicación. Felicidades.
Recomiendo https://steemit.com/steemit/@germanosorio/do-we-want-to-innovate-or-get-more-speed
Feliz Dia
Thank you, you also have a good post.
Good Photo man
Thank you for your comment.
This is something i would love to see once in life.
Thank you for sharing this!
Hopefully the space program will continue worldwide. Europe, USA, Russia, Asia et al... Human curiosity for space.