Atlantis hurtles toward Earth orbit. - Photo by Adam Dubbin/TheSequitur.com
By TheSequitur.com Managing Editor Sept. 11, 2006
TITUSVILLE, Fla. -- The space shuttle Atlantis successfully launched from pad 39B at Cape Canaveral, Florida late Saturday morning after nearly two weeks of delay.
Shuttle mission STS-115, which launched before the window of favorable conditions ended, carried a payload that includes a 17.5 ton addition to the International Space Station. Foul weather, including tropical storm Ernesto, and minor malfunctions were to blame for the grounding of the shuttle, which was first slated for lift-off August 27th.
The space shuttle Atlantis successfully launched from pad 39B at Cape Canaveral, Florida late Saturday morning after nearly two weeks of delay. - Photo Illustration by Adam Dubbin/TheSequitur.com
Across the Indian River from the island NASA inhabits, crowds of people flocked to see the launch. The skies were mostly clear and the mercury had risen just as quickly as the sun that morning. All along the western bank, empty lots and balconies became the perches for multitudes of spectators - some locals, some tourists - all with a shared exhilaration over the event that would take less than five minutes to transpire.
Radios squawked with the tinny sound of descending numbers on the AM band. As the countdown neared zero, the crowd was tense with anticipation, hoping for another NASA victory over the earthly elements. The final five ticks were announced and a plume of smoke began to grow around the thick little stick on the horizon, drawing a gasp from the spectators. Every single breath was held in silence as a blazing flame arose from the billowing cloud. The crowd finally exhaled just as a sonic boom roared across the river and into the ears of the onlookers; the ground trembled with the fury of an unfathomable amount of force. What looked like a bright candle atop a slender stack of dirty cotton balls steadily made its way up into the atmosphere, piercing the cloud cover and then arcing into space. Rejoice overtook everyone - a sense of success and vindication overcame the audience as if they had sent the shuttle into the sky themselves.
Just as the flame dissipated into the deep azure, James Mitchell of Miami, Fla. announced, “Seeing this makes me proud to be an American.” A unanimous consensus of the nearby crowd agreed and good cheer was abound. Strangers and friends alike shared smiles and fist-pumps as the reality of the event finally settled in.
As quickly as they had arrived, folks packed up their cars and congested U.S. Highway 1, dispersing back into the Florida mainland; Saturday had resumed its normal course. The rest of the day would carry on with conversations recounting what had been witnessed and the high spirits that were felt. Indeed, it was a great day to be an American. [Reuters, NASA, All photos by
]
, TheSequitur.comManaging Editor, can be found roaming around the state of Florida with a camera in hand.
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