Pogwatigue Perambulations: Failure to Launch

With the pending retirement of the Space Shuttle, I took my shot last weekend at seeing one of the final launches. With all my chips on the table, sadly, NASA scrubbed the launch in the eleventh hour due to a mechanical problem. To say I'm disappointed would be a gross understatement, but I knew from the onset that shuttle launches were finicky events. I tried to control the risk: waiting until the government passed a budget before buying a plane ticket, allowing extra time--that I ended up needing--to fly down and only snagging a causeway ticket when the weather forecast was sufficiently optimistic. Presently, the earliest this shuttle will launch is May 10th. There is another mission scheduled for June. It's doubtful I'll attempt to see either, but am glad I made an honest effort to see spectacle when I did.

The trip started inauspiciously. At 4:45 AM Thursday morning, I awoke to the sound of my phone ringing. It was Delta Airlines informing me that my 7:45 AM flight to Atlanta was canceled and that they booked me to fly the next morning on an itinerary that clearly would not have arrived in Florida in time for the launch. I hightailed it to the airport and got rebooked on a flight to Miami. My bad luck persisted as storms held me in Philadelphia long enough to miss a connection. I ended up flying from Cincinnati, not to Miami, but Fort Lauderdale.

Finding myself unexpectedly in south Florida, I looked up my great-aunt Margaret, 94 years young, who lives nearby. I spent an hour and a half visiting her and her son who stopped by about the same time. To get to Orlando, I chose a scenic route that skirted the northeast shore of Lake Okeechobee, which was draped in a powerful thunderstorm, a storm I would encounter further along in my drive.

Full Screen Version

Friday was devoted almost entirely to the shuttle launch. I had to be at the rendezvous point for the bus to Kennedy Space Center at 5:30 AM. We arrived at the visitor center about two hours later and were given about as much time to explore the ground and exhibits before returning to the bus for the drive to the causeway, six miles south of the launch pad and purportedly the best spot open for a commoner to view a launch. With 90 tour buses positioning to leave the parking lot at the same time the scene was as chaotic as you might expect. Shortly after being freed of that madness, another passenger on the bus received a message on his phone and relay the bad news.

Back in Orlando by early afternoon, I drove to the mall PREIT owns there, Orlando Fashion Square, and met with the manager. From Orlando, I headed back to Cape Canaveral. If I couldn't see the launch, I at least wanted to see the shuttle on the launch pad. I stopped three times & got distant views of the shuttle. I ended the day at the Deatrick family's Melbourne home. They bought me dinner and let me stay the night which was very convenient to the airport.

Statistics
Total Miles: 2,944 miles
• Air: 2,548
• Car: 351
• Bus: 95
Total Counties: 7
New Counties: 6
Fuel: 9.6 gallons
MPG: 36.5
Cost: $883.51