Ibbygirl Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 I have a question for you. If I want to come up to see the launch tomorrow, but want to avoid the crowds, how close could I reasonably get? Any city/town recommendations for a Southern county girl?? ;) I am totally fine with driving up and parking on the side of the road somewhere to watch it go up. Thank you to all who reply. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamakimberly Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 We were seriously thinking of driving out to go see... not sure I want to deal with the crowds. We're in Lakeland... just not sure if we are up for it... sigh. May just stay home and watch it on tv, but that seem so pathetic when it is just an hour and a half away! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yobella Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 Well, we can see it here in Vero once it gets over the trees. I would think anywhere between Vero and the Space Center, depending on how close you want to get. Of course the beach is the best place to view from here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 My parents like to go to the beach to see it. They generally go to one of the state parks on North Hutchinson Island near Fort Pierce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 Orlando? You could probably see it from east Orlando, near the UCF area. Maybe the southern end of Brevard County. I don't think Melbourne gets a lot of shuttle traffic. You'll see more traffic the further north you go, and on the beachside. Melbourne Beach or Satellite Beach might not be bad. To the north, Oak Hill (southern Volusia County) is a possibility. Titusville, Cape Canaveral, and Cocoa Beach will be a mess. Dh, who works at Canaveral Air Force Station, expects it to take several hours to get home (it should take 30-40 minutes). Ds and I are thinking of riding our bikes to the river to watch. There's no way I'll venture out in a car tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 We watched the final Discovery launch at New Smyrna Beach and we didn't have any trouble driving to it or parking (many just parked on the side of the road) or picking our spot on the beach. We only got there about an hour early as well. The only problem was the traffic when we left. It was a great spot and the dds thought the best part was the sound after they saw the launch - you felt it all through your body so we were definitely close enough. We took A1A all the way there and drove until the road ended. Have fun!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibbygirl Posted April 29, 2011 Author Share Posted April 29, 2011 Thanks ladies for your responses. :) My parents like to go to the beach to see it. They generally go to one of the state parks on North Hutchinson Island near Fort Pierce. We were thinking about doing this, but I'm not sure if it's worth that long of a drive (for us) for what we will see. I mean, if it's just going to be a tiny speck in the sky I don't know if I want to drive 2 and a half hours for that, kwim?? How much can you actually see from Ft. Pierce, do you know?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 Thanks ladies for your responses. :) We were thinking about doing this, but I'm not sure if it's worth that long of a drive (for us) for what we will see. I mean, if it's just going to be a tiny speck in the sky I don't know if I want to drive 2 and a half hours for that, kwim?? How much can you actually see from Ft. Pierce, do you know?? I am trying to remember. I know it was more than just a speck. I think with binoculars I could see it pretty well. It has been a while, though. A friend from grad school is a shuttle astronaut, I went to see her first launch. I have also seen a couple from the Cape, and, of course, Fort Pierce cannot compete with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 DH is a UCF graduate and says that he could pretty easily see launches from UCF, but that it may have grown up more since then-a lot of the area around campus wasn't developed back then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibbygirl Posted April 29, 2011 Author Share Posted April 29, 2011 I am trying to remember. I know it was more than just a speck. I think with binoculars I could see it pretty well. It has been a while, though. A friend from grad school is a shuttle astronaut, I went to see her first launch. I have also seen a couple from the Cape, and, of course, Fort Pierce cannot compete with that. Wow how exciting!! Ugh, you can't even imagine how many vacations my family has planned around a launch only to have it cancelled once we were up there. :( I've still yet to see a launch from the Cape. I hear it's amazing, but it seems now like it will be impossible. With only two launches left, I'm sure it's no longer possible to even get tickets to see one. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yobella Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 Here is what it looks like from Vero on the beach. http://www.veronews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=565%3Avideo-shuttle-launch-seen-from-vero-beach&Itemid=481 basically pretty much a fire ball. You can see the rocket boosters separate and drop though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 The beaches on the side of Patrick AFB off A1A have good views but you have to get there about an hour early to get parking. THe beaches south of Patrick, Satellite Beach, Indian Harbor, have no parking issues at all. They are about 10 miles south of Caneveral Shores and probably about 20-25 miles from the launch site. You see it and hear it. Former Space Coaster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibbygirl Posted April 29, 2011 Author Share Posted April 29, 2011 Thank you everybody so much. Sigh. What to do, what to do?? They are forecasting storms so I don't even know now if the launch will take place. God knows I really would love to see it in person, but I think for today we will have to watch it on tv. :( I'm just north of Miami so that would be quite a drive for me to if it's just going to be called off because of storms. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephanie in FL Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 I had planned on driving to NSB to see the launch today, but after I heard the crowd totals (around 750,000, plus the President and his family is attending), I am staying home. I can see it from my house which is 60 minutes away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephanie in FL Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 They are saying the storms will be gone by launch time. I will say that people also started camping out a couple of days ago for spots. So that tells you how crazy it will be. The news said people may be stuck in traffic for 6-7 hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasharowan Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 Just as a warning, they are closing schools at noon and sending the kids home because they are expecting record numbers of traffic to see this launch. I know this because we are trying to figure logistics of getting girl scouts out of here for their camporee, otherwise I would have been clueless about the schools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibbygirl Posted April 29, 2011 Author Share Posted April 29, 2011 I had planned on driving to NSB to see the launch today, but after I heard the crowd totals (around 750,000, plus the President and his family is attending), I am staying home. I can see it from my house which is 60 minutes away. They are saying the storms will be gone by launch time. I will say that people also started camping out a couple of days ago for spots. So that tells you how crazy it will be. The news said people may be stuck in traffic for 6-7 hours. Just as a warning, they are closing schools at noon and sending the kids home because they are expecting record numbers of traffic to see this launch. I know this because we are trying to figure logistics of getting girl scouts out of here for their camporee, otherwise I would have been clueless about the schools. :eek: yeah, I heard on the news last night that President Obama was supposed to be there. I'll bet it's going to be crazy. Sigh. I think our plan now is just to set the television to record the launch when it goes live and to go to our local beach and just look north and see if we can see it go up. I remember when I was a kid in school that they would take us outside when there were launches so we could see the trail of smoke going up and although it was far we could still see it. (We saw the Challenger disaster with our own eyes :( ) So maybe we'll see something from the beach and then we can go home and just watch what we recorded. I don't know what else to do honestly. The crowds are just going to be too crazy up north and the with the weather I really don't want to drive up there in that. :( I'm sure the next launch in June is going to be even crazier as it's the last. :( Sigh. I'm so sad to see the shuttles retire. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 I heard the crowd totals (around 750,000, plus the President and his family is attending), The President and his family, Gabrielle Giffords (the Congresswoman who was shot -- her husband is an astronaut on this mission), and it's the last launch for Endeavor. Put them all together and it's like the early days of the shuttle program in terms of crowd size. Just as a warning, they are closing schools at noon and sending the kids home because they are expecting record numbers of traffic to see this launch. I know this because we are trying to figure logistics of getting girl scouts out of here for their camporee, otherwise I would have been clueless about the schools. Yep. They've never let school out for a shuttle launch, but dismissal time is too close to launch time. The buses would all end up stuck in traffic and kids wouldn't get home until after dark! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibbygirl Posted April 29, 2011 Author Share Posted April 29, 2011 Oh wow! I was just looking how I could watch it online since none of the local stations were showing it and I just saw that the launch was called off and postponed until Monday. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0429/Kennedy-Space-Center-Space-shuttle-launch-scrubbed-until-Monday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasharowan Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 Yep. They've never let school out for a shuttle launch, but dismissal time is too close to launch time. The buses would all end up stuck in traffic and kids wouldn't get home until after dark! They scrubbed the launch and 5 hours later the highways were still bumper to bumper crawling speed heading away from here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibbygirl Posted April 30, 2011 Author Share Posted April 30, 2011 They scrubbed the launch and 5 hours later the highways were still bumper to bumper crawling speed heading away from here. I wonder how many will return on Monday?? Maybe it might be worth trying to go up then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 Bumping this to say it's postponed to at least next Sunday - Mother's Day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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