Atlantis is on its way!
by colleen on May.11, 2009, under SM4
Wow!!! What an incredible experience! I was atop a media tower next to the press site at Kennedy Space Center. With so many people here, I was struck by the quiet and calm just before liftoff. Everyone had fingers crossed waiting to see the glorious site of the Shuttle lifting off. As the countdown neared zero, smoke began to emanate from the launch pad. We all watched in awe as Atlantis rose into a mostly clear Florida sky. As it got higher, the sound was astounding and the wooden platform on which we stood shook. We watched until we could no longer see the Shuttle, only its contrail.
Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off
View from above the Kennedy Space Center press site after the launch of the SM4 mission to Hubble
2 Comments for this entry
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Welcome to the Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 4 Blog
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ESA/Hubble Outreach Coordinator Colleen Sharkey blogs live from the launch site at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA and from Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, where a team of European engineers and scientists provide mission support.
May 11th, 2009 on 21:47
The launch was absolutely amazing! I’m glad everything went well! I love the blog.
May 15th, 2009 on 23:05
Looks like your head is on fire in that second shot. I do hope the flames were doused in time.