To Infinity........and Beyond!

[stevewe88]

Some shots from the shuttle launch this morning. It must be about the best two minutes of my life. Totally awesome.






Cheers
Steve

[Nicola]

awesome for sure!
#3 above all

[Donald]

Some shots from the shuttle launch this morning. It must be about the best two minutes of my life. Totally awesome.

That's one helluva lens to get those shots from Northamptonshire!

Steve - Didn't know you were going there. And we ain't never going to see it again. I'd love to have seen it.

[stevewe88]

That's one helluva lens to get those shots from Northamptonshire!

Steve - Didn't know you were going there. And we ain't never going to see it again. I'd love to have seen it.

Ha Ha!
Just happened to be here on holiday and got lucky with the blast off day. It was supposed to go a couple of weeks ago and got delayed so I am glad about that for sure.

You still have time donald, there is the last one going up first week of july apparently. If I had the money I would come again to see it. Incredible.

It is amazing enough when it takes off but it is totally silent from 11 miles away where I was. Then about 90 seconds later after it has long disappeared, the sound comes. You can feel it through your whole body like someone is hitting you on the chest. Really weird, but amazing.

[Rasbury]

Cool photo's Steve!I've lived in florida most of my life and have never been to titusville to watch anything that has been launched.Will be there for the last one though if all goes well.The sonic boom didn't hit us until about 10 minutes later.

[Wirefox]

Last one is great Steve. You can feel the power in the image. A chance in a lifetime indeed.

[stevewe88]

Cool photo's Steve!I've lived in florida most of my life and have never been to titusville to watch anything that has been launched.Will be there for the last one though if all goes well.The sonic boom didn't hit us until about 10 minutes later.

You really should Ron, especially if you are fairly close. The traffic on the way there was no where near as bad as they said it would be on the news. Getting out was a different matter but that didn't matter.

I dread to think what the crowds will be like for the last one though

[MiniChris]

I did the last night launch, I think it was last October and was about 6 miles away...I saw one other from the Hilton across from the launch site and like Steve reported, not only can you feel the sound, you can actually see it as it moves across the water. The ground shakes, you can scream as loud as you want and no one will hear you...awesome is the only word to describe the event and it pales in comparison to what you actually experience.

Anyone who can make it in July...it is one of those must see events in your life. There is nothing else in the world which compares.

[Mick J S]

Hi Steve, to be there to record an event like this must be awsome, it is something you will rember forever, superb shots, No 3 for me .

[rpcrowe]

I wish that I could shoot the launch but Florida is a long-way off from my home in California. Nice shots! Your images bring back memories from yesteryear...

In the early 1960's as a Navy photographer, while aboard USS Charles Berry, a Navy destroyer escort in the South Pacific, I shot the broaching of five Polaris missiles on a row from the ocean surface. They were shot in sequence, seconds apart, from a submerged submarine. That was also a memorable few minutes that I will remember all of my life...

There were five of us photographers aboard the ship for the launchings. Each missile launch was photographed with a pair of 16mm Mitchell motion picture cameras (with different focal length lenses) and a 70mm Hulcher still camera. We had the mounts fabricated for us with the Hulcher in the center and a Mitchell camera on each side. They were triangular bars so that when the camera was pointing straight, the tripod handle was pointing up at an angle. That way it was easier to shoot directly up as we followed the missiles into the sky.

We used a 35mm Mitchell motion picture tripod for each rig because the normal 16mm Mitchell tripod would not support the weight. We had pad-eyes welded to the steel deck and stops for our tripod legs also welded. We secured our camera rigs to the pad-eyes with the ratcheting aircraft tie-down chains. Each of our rigs weighed well over a hundred pounds (45+ kilos); probably closer to 150 pounds... So much for me thinking that a Canon 7D and a 70-200mm f/2.8L lens is heavy. I must be getting old! Of course, I didn't carry these rigs around for a day of walk-around shooting...

[stevewe88]

not only can you feel the sound, you can actually see it as it moves across the water.

I am glad you said that Chris, I thought I saw it moving across the water but thought, no it can't be and didn't want to sound stupid

[stevewe88]

I wish that I could shoot the launch but Florida is a long-way off from my home in California. Nice shots! Your images bring back memories from yesteryear...

Wow that sounds incredible Richard even it the rig sounds rather cumbersome to say the least.

It reminds me of a trip to Scotland when I was young. My Dad had a new Olympus OM40 and was raving about how good it was. We saw a couple of Nuclear Class submarines on exercise with some Naval Frigates and my dad rattled off a 36exp film only to find he hadn't loaded it properly and hadn't got a single shot Thank the lord for digital

[agaace]

Jealous.

[Colin Southern]

Just happened to be here on holiday and got lucky with the blast off day.

One of my customers was there a few years ago - but didn't know about the launch. I'll he'd had to have done to see it was roll out of bed and look out the window!

[Sahil]

Lucky you!

[stevewe88]

One of my customers was there a few years ago - but didn't know about the launch. I'll he'd had to have done to see it was roll out of bed and look out the window!

Oh No

It wasn't quite that easy, I still had to get up at 5am and drive for a couple of hours. My 3 year old twins were dissapointed though. When we told them they were going to see the space rocket take off, they thought they were going for a ride in it