Discovery Shuttle Launch
Chris Riedman, a 13-year-old Gateway to Science member, recently traveled to Florida to witness the launching of the Discovery Shuttle as personal guest of NASA Engineer Dr. Jack Bacon. Chris and Dr. Bacon met on several occasions when the Visiting Scientists Series invited Dr. Bacon to visit Bismarck. Visiting Scientists Series is a partnership between Gateway to Science, Bismarck State College, North Dakota Society of Professional Engineers (NDSPE), Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Bismarck Public Schools and St. Mary’s High School. Together, these organizations inspire and educate!
Below are entries from Chris’ journal of the trip. The photos are video were provided by Chris and his mom, Karol.
Sunday, April 4, 2010 at 11:00 pm: AT THE HOTEL
Hi everyone, this is Chris. We had some long delays in the airport because of mechanical issues, but we finally arrived in Orlando, found the Disney hotel transportation, and just got checked in to our hotel. I can’t believe we will be going to see the shuttle launch in only a few hours ! I have to get a nap now, because Dr. Jack Bacon is coming to pick us up at 2:00 am. I’m so excited, I don’t know if I will be able to sleep!
Monday, April 5, 2010 at 4:00 am: PRE-LAUNCH
Hi everyone, this is Chris, and we are at the “causeway” = a little strip of land between 2 inlets of water, about 6 miles from the launch site. We can see Discovery across the water from us. The launch pad is lit up with huge spotlights. There are lights here too, as it is still pitch dark, and a PA system is playing constant updates from mission control. It turns out that you have to be 16 to be at the closest viewing area, so we are at the second closest requiring special permits, about 6 miles out. The general public actually can get no closer than about 10 miles. Jack (Dr. Jack Bacon – he told me everyone calls him Jack and I should too) picked us up at our hotel at 2:00 am. Then we went back to his hotel and picked up his wife Kathleen, her son Nicholas, a sophomore in college, their friend Ann and her son Morgan, a junior in high school.
We can see Discovery clearly through Jack’s telescope, and he gives us constant information about what is going on at the launch pad, and what to expect next. We are all ready, just have to wait now for the countdown and all last safety procedures to check out. It is actually pretty chilly here with a breeze off the water, so I’m glad I brought a jacket.
Monday April 5, 2010 6:00 am – PRE-Launch glitch
We are really excited to see the launch and it is getting very close to launch time!
We were very concerned that they said that the mission may be scrubbed because of a communication problems with the emergency abort switch – the engineer was unable to send the codes to the system .! We waited in silence while they attempted to fix it. Several minutes passed until over the speaker came the words Discovery is back on schedule! We were very excited! I guess you have to have some drama when doing something exciting.
Monday April 5, 2010 7:00 am
We just finished watching the launch and it was so amazing! And to make it even more exciting was that just before the shuttle went up the International Space Station went over our heads! We could see it as it seemed to be the brightest star in the sky, moving to the north very quickly. It passed in front of the moon as we watched.
The launch was even greater then I imagined. The countdown filled me with anxiety as Mission Control counted 3…..2…..1…..we have lift off! The pad filled with smoke. Then the shuttle emerged. So beautiful. So bright. It filled the sky with light and it felt like the sun was rising.
It left a huge trail of smoke, and then a cloud of condensed gasses. As we watched Discovery speed away to meet the space station, the horizon turned pink with the sunrise.
Truly a trip of a lifetime!
by Chris Riedman
