Godspeed, Discovery!

I have a confession to make. I do not like rides. I get queasy at the slightest thing so I have absolutely no desire to get on a roller coaster. I don't even really understand why anyone would want to do that. I can barely get the desire to be an astronaut, to fly into outer space. Don't get me wrong. I know it's special. It's just something I would never even consider for a moment. I don't like hurling. LOL! My husband, on the other hand, would do it in a heartbeat. He's proud to have designed parts of our space program and would love to take a ride!

So, as the wife of an engineer and as an American, the space program holds a special place of pride in my heart. I don't remember the first moonwalk. I was only a month old at the time. But the Space Shuttle. I vividly remember the first launch and many thereafter. I still mourn the loss of Challenger and Columbia and the astronauts aboard both of them. I am sure I am not alone in this. There is just something so awesome in the Space Shuttle, in the depth of its losses and in the breadth of its successes and its power.

So, yesterday, when my brother and nephew flew into town for a visit we just couldn't resist the opportunity to get as close as possible to the launch. My brother, Rick, has long been a fan of our space program. It was he that first asked if we could possibly see it. If his plane hadn't been late, we'd have made it much closer. Nonetheless, from about 30 miles away. It was still an impressive sight.

We parked on the top of an overpass. Lots of other people were doing the same thing. We put the kids on top of the guardrail so they could see over the cars and faced eastward. We didn't have to wait long either.

It was an amazing site. The forest actually glowed with the firepower. From that, Discovery rose through a beautiful Florida sunset to reflect it back to us. Here, see for yourself.

Here, the glow of Discovery is just above the trees.

Here you can see where the shuttle has separated from the rocket boosters.Here is the sunset on the contrail.

Godspeed, Discovery.