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The launch postponement of the 20th, was a blessing and a curse. The curse was that the launch would have been spectacular from where I was in Titusville. The blessing was that the launch ticket I wanted to get was now available, since the tickets are only "good" for a single launch attempt. Later in the morning of the 20th, I went back to the Visitor's Complex and purchased a ticket and after a few hours waiting (interrupted by a few hours of waiting), we were out at the Banana River viewing site a couple of hours prior to the scheduled liftoff:
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Well, the launch was scrubbed again. This time, we had an inkling about what was going to happen. Within 45 minutes of our arrival, clouds started rolling in from the north (we're south of the launch pads). Clouds in Florida in the summer are not good -- especially at night. Clouds don't normally build up unless they're nasty; a storm out to the northwest of us had been flashing cloud-to-cloud lightning the whole time. At first, I was just disappointed, because I knew the clouds would probably spoil the view somewhat. Then, as I saw that there was no clearing behind the clouds, it became obvious that the launch opportunity was in danger.
The countdown was held at T-5 minutes, but the storm was building as it got closer to us. Finally, we had a couple of ground strikes from the lightning and we were, uh, encouraged to get back on the buses that took us out to the viewing site. NASA tried to wait out the weather, but if anything, it was deteriorating and I found out the attempt was cancelled while I was on the bus. Then as the lightning show really started, we were driven back to the Visitor's Complex and I got in line to my hotel room.
I was the only one in a car that was going to my hotel room, but all the thousands of others were conspiring with me to clog the Beeline. Well, as it turned out, it was a run-of-the-mill head-on car accident that really slowed down traffic, but it was a bit surreal for me: I'm in the middle of a lightning storm in my car, moving approximately 2 feet every minute, wondering what's going on, and somehow I'm picking up WCBS in New York and WBBM in Chicago on the radio. So while I waited for the traffic to lighten and the next lightning bolt, I was listening to the current traffic conditions in New York City...
Last Revised: 22 July 1999
Complaints: blupwa@lupwa.org