STS 119

Beeker

Shuttle Flight STS-119 due for launch this Sunday night at 23:38 UT.
This is the 125th Shuttle launch. Discovery will be heading to the Space Station for two weeks to continue construction.

Catch hours of live coverage on NASA TV
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/

Kevster

125th shuttle launch? - But it's STS-119. How does that work? Anyway, I was meant to watch this damn launch last Wednesday night / Thursday morning. It must be quite annoying for the astronauts to go through delays like this - you think?

Edit - I figured out why it's the 125th!:o

Beeker

This was the 119th planned flight, but often the schedule gets changed due to payload problems etc. The flight holds the designation and a later planned flight launches before it . This is why the flight designation is not always the actual flight number.
It has nothing to do with the two shuttle disasters as some think (Challenger in 1986, 25th flight designated STS-51L, different designation system back then and Columbia in 2003 113th flight designated STS-107)
I was at the launch last November of Endeavour it was the 124th flight but designated STS-126!:)

Delays can be frustrating for the crew (as well as nerds like me;)) but after almost 28 years of Shuttle flights you get used to delays.
Launch still go for tonight at 23:38 Irish time.

Kevster

You're not the first person to mention having gone over there to watch a live launch. Is there a special service you have to go through to see it or do you just make your own plans?

Beeker

Kevster wrote: »

You're not the first person to mention having gone over there to watch a live launch. Is there a special service you have to go through to see it or do you just make your own plans?

Make your own plans. I booked flights with Continental over the internet into Orlando and stayed in the Ramada Hotel in Titusville. Rental car from airport and your sorted. You can watch launch from Titusville, great view but you are about 11 miles away from pad. I bought a launch ticket from NASA a few weeks before to get into the KSC visitor center. Pad about 6 miles away, no direct view of pad but you see it within seconds of lift off and can hear it better than from Titusville. You can also but a ticket that gets you within 4 miles of the pad with a great view but they only sell 2500 of these tickets and they are very hard to get, I know I tried!

Visit the KSC web site for details of ticket sales. Normaly they sell them about 5 weeks before a launch.
http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/special-programs-launches.aspx

If you sign up for launch and event emails on the site they will inform you when launch tickets are available.

Kevster

Interesting.... Thanks. I assume that they easily sell-out, but how many people are actually there during the launch?

Beeker

5000 at the KSC causeway, about 3000 at the visitor center and normally up to 100,000 along the coast and in Titusville.

lord lucan

gray line tours also do the KSC causeway tickets. thats who i was going to use as i don't drive and they pick you up from any orlando hotel and drop you out to KSC. i think it was about $115 for the whole package.

this is the package for the mission just gone:http://www.etix.com/travel/servlet/onlineSale?action=viewTourDescription&route_id=14404&franchise_id=38

Beeker

Discovery due to land at the Kennedy Space Centre this evening{Saturday} at 17:38. Live coverage on NASA TV.
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/

For anyone interested Russian Soyuz TMA-14 with the expedition 19 crew on board will dock with the station at 13:15 today also live on NASA TV.

13 astronauts now in space. 7 on Shuttle Discovery, 3 on ISS and 3 on the Soyuz.

Kevster

I'll be in Dublin at a restaurant unfortunately. i'm that obsessed about the shuttle launches, however, that i'll probably check the news on my phone while eating!:o

Kevster

It landed safely enough. I actually did check my phone while eating my dinner and no-one else took any notice.

Beeker

Kevster wrote: »

It landed safely enough. I actually did check my phone while eating my dinner and no-one else took any notice.

Cool! God be the days when you had to wait until the following day to get any news on the Shuttle.