Yesterday night was an unforgettable experience for me. Guess what ? I went to the Kennedy Space Centre (KSC) to see the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis. A small narrative (Now, when I say small, I mean it….) follows :

Yesterday noon, when my friend asked me if I would be interested in watching the launch at KSC, I jumped at the idea. Who would want to miss such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity ?

So, off we set out at 7.30pm – a group of 16 in four cars. We wound our way to KSC through a long agonisingly slow ride. There were cars everywhere. At about 8.45pm, we went to the KSC launch centre. It was surprising though, that all of us happened to meet there. It never occcured to us that we would meet amidst such a huge crowd. After a lot of debate on whether to pay up 9$ to get into the KSC for the launch viewing, we finally decided against it, acting on the advice of a VERY FRIENDLY DESI (shocked, eh ?) who was nice enough to tell us that he had paid 9$ but it was not worth the money. So, we followed him to a better viewing spot, a couple of miles away. The place he took us to, was comparitively less crowded and offered an excellent view of the launch pad, though it was far off. The launch pad could be easily identified in the darkness by the powerful beams of light emerging from it. We waited in anticipation of the launch from 9.50pm, as the crowd started swelling. At about 10.30pm, someone in the crowd switched on the radio for the countdown. After about 3 minutes, we heard the final countdown – 32 seconds for blast-off !!! All eyes were glued to the launch pad. After the countdown said 0, we saw something which was truly a feast for the eyes. The shuttle took off from the launch pad emitting a thick large cloud of smoke and gas. As it went up higher, the bright flames beneath it lit the whole horizon with a brilliant orange glow, akin to a second sunset for the day. What a spectacle !!! The orange horizon slowly began fading as the shuttle went up towards the heavenly skies. We stayed there till the shuttle became a speck in the sky and finally disappeared beyond the clouds. I concluded that this was the best visual attraction I had seen all my life. Truly, this is not a sight to be missed !

The return back to our home seemed to offset all the fun we had had till then. But it was to be expected. The snails pace of the traffic seemed to go on till eternity. After about an hour and a half later, we reached home. I went to sleep almost instantly, but my dreams were all about the wonderful launch.

See You

Jagan