I took nearly 500 pictures at the launch and another 500 yesterday during our KSC (Kennedy Space Center) tour. (So I will definetly add a lot more)

View at 1:50 AM in the morning, launch is at 8:56:23, yes we camped out that early to get a front row seat.




FYI at the launch I am using a 55-250mm lens, from 11 miles away..


Unfortunetly cloud cover was so low at the launch we only saw it for a few seconds, but we started to hear it over a minute later, and continued to hear the whole thing. I took video using my cellphone of the launch and recorded the pre flight go/nogo check. When I first listeded I thought I didn't get anything on film but the sound of the launch requires bass which my laptop doesn't have, but my headphones do. The video is over 200mb so I cannot upload it until I get home on Saturday.




I used my kit 18-55mm lens for everything except the launch. You guys know 18-55mm lens doesnt zoom in at all, which shows you how close they actually took us to everything.

Cool pics!  I really like that sunrise pic.

I was coming back from NYC and was opposite Titusville at launch time at a rest area on I95, awesom pics. I just felt the rumble/aftershocks

Tag for more great pics, thanks OP.

Thanks for sharing!



Seeing a shuttle launch live was always one of the things I wanted to do, but life kept getting in the way.  I'm happy for all of you that were able to do so (and a bit envious as well).

Cool, I am going to try very hard to make the next launch this summer. These are from last year, one of the best experiences I have ever had. Its too bad you guys only go to see the shuttle for a couple of seconds, we got to watch for minutes on a night launch. I really like your sunrise pics.


Some pictures of  STS-130


DSC_0186 by azeyecap, on Flickr


DSC_0187 by azeyecap, on Flickr


DSC_0201 by azeyecap, on Flickr

You can see booster separation on this shot.

DSC_0217 by azeyecap, on Flickr


DSC_0225 by azeyecap, on Flickr


DSC_0244 by azeyecap, on Flickr

awesome photos thank you sir  

I saw Skylab launch from roughly the same spot back in 1971 or 73. Can't remember now. Beautiful area.

Alright I went through about 1000 pictures and picked out the best ones.

We are packing up ready to leave tomorrow, we brought our car with us using the Amtrack Autotrain so we have a 17 hour ride home which is really going to suck in general coach seating, on the way down we had our own private room. So If I can get a cellphone signal I will give details for the pictures.



NASA


Garden of Rockets









Catwalk walked by Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins to the Comman module of Apollo 11.



Their view walking down it.



Internation Space Station Mural…






Closest Public view of Shuttle launch at ~6 miles…



USAF section that our tour guide said something about X37B….  Also the launch pads on the left
Are being leased to Space X.




We were lucky enough to catch one of the retrival ships bringing back one of the solid rocket boosters, I only had my 18-55mm lens so I cropped a lot. You can see the end of the 130ft ooster beind the ship, it is tan/brown.




*****NASA shuttle building fused desktop



Crawler used…


How close we got to the actual launch pad…..


Another view from farther…






Bunker made for generator back in the 60’s  for the launch pad, but wasn’t needed when the launch pad was connected to the grid so it was never used for any launches.




Actual stations used during Apollo program…



Actual Apollo rocket, was going to be used but Congress ended the program.

Now the lighting in the place SUCKED Many of these photos are ISO800-1600 at 1/8-1/20second expsorues, which impressed me when I saw how good they came out.









2205
2208
2219
2231
2238

Capsule from Appollo 14 that went to the moon and back.



I was amazed how sharp of a picture I could get using my hands and a 1/15 exposure.


Log book from Appollo 11



Memorial





Actual ICBM control center.


Armstron’s space suit


Launch…
T- 7 hours



Mercury, venis, jupitor lined up to the right…


Sunrise….











T-5









Tried adjusting these to get more color out. In the second one you can see the heat around the flame and shuttle


Next day we saw this flying down the coast very low, my brother says its not te one for the shuttle but it looks like it is.


Today was our last day at the beach and I found a sand crab who I named Fred, he was digging his hole and the tide was coming in so I helped him out….




Fred is very happy



OH NO

awesome pics

Look at that you were right...

Doomsday plane recently at Patrick's Airforce Base

Now that I'm at home and on my desktop the pictures I uploaded dont look so geat. I had to resize them to 1280 pixel max height wise to upload them with my phone. (about 150kb each) If I get bored tonight I will upload the full versions, but photobucket will shrink them again.

Video..... The preflight go/no go is with my DSLR @ 250mm, the actual launch is with my Samsung Focus WP7.

You can here the shuttle about 1 minute after it goes into the clouds, but your PC needs BASS to here it.

Also I didn't have a seperate sound file, we had an AM radio next to us that I just turned up.

Looks familiar...


Though, I think you meant STS-131.

You are right, I had to go pull out the T-shirt I purchased to make sure.

Thanks for sharing your pics. I saw a shuttle launch from Titusville in 1982. I was amazed at how fast it goes up- it goes out of sight quickly; also was amazed at how the ground shook- even at 10 miles away. And I've been told that's nothing compared to a Saturn V launch- especially the launches done at night.

Heres a link about the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft

An easy way to ID it: "....vertical stabilizers were added to the tail to aid stability when the Orbiter was being carried...."