Space Shuttle launch STS-119

in photography •  7 years ago 

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Title picture

On march 15th, 2009 I was lucky enough to witness a shuttle launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida. It was a memory I will never forget, the noise and the thought that man is flying into outer space was very moving.
The mission was STS-119, a regular maintenance mission to the ISS (International Space Station) and add some new parts to the ISS.

The mission was a great success! I have posted the sequence of pictures I took of the launch! I hope they are not too many .

I had to witness the launch from approximately 10 mile away, because the island of Cape Canaveral is closed to the public during launch day, only a select few lucky people and press get to witness the launch from the island itself.

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Here a picture of the people camped out to witness the Shuttle STS-119 launch, I was among them eagerly anticipating the blast off!

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This is a picture of the Shuttle assembly building, this is where the shuttle and its rocket boosters get assembled for the launch

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This is the closest picture I could get of the launch complex 39A with my big zoom lens!

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This was engine ignition! you could see the light from the fire, but could not hear anything yet! the sound took a while longer to reach us!

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This is where the people really started cheering!!! beautiful launch!

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And now the sound started to reach us and you could feel in your chest the massive thrust of the incredible rocket boosters at full throttle!

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all the people around me standing in awe and happiness

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watching a beatiful launch

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now it was accelerating and climbing faster

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now I will leave you to enjoy the amazing pictures of the shuttle climbing...

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climbing...

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climbing...

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climbing...

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probably at this time it was throttle down from maximum pressure

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prepare for roll onto its back

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rolling...

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prepare for jettison of SRB(Solid Rocket Boosters) the 2 rockets on shuttle's side.

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separation of SRB(Solid Rocket Booster)

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here you can now see 3 separate objects flying, shuttle and 2 SRBs

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rocket boosters falling back to earth

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next comes the main engine shutoff

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and separation of the external tank

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SRB (Solid rocket boosters) falling back to earth, there is a NASA vessel waiting for retrieval in the Atlantic.

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this was a final picture of the leftover smoke with the last few sunshine rays shining on it.

Even though the Space Shuttle program has suffered two catastrophic accidents, it still remains one of the marvels of our 20th century! let us see what the future has in store for us now.

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Amazing Pictures, thank you!

Thank you for commenting. I was happy to share and that people enjoyed the post!

Sounds great. You're really lucky. good for you
Amazing Photos . Well done
Thank you for sharing your experience with us.

Thank you. I wish humanity would invest more into exploring our space and galaxy, instead of military. It would be a common goal for all humanity and unite us instead of fighting.

amazing!

Thank you :)

Just wow. An amazing experience. Happy for you for having the experience. I've always loved to see a launch and try to see one hopefully in the near future. Although the Space Shuttle program is discontinued but we might get there again to send a new set of space shuttles up there.

Would be awesome to see the first interplanetary mission! Maybe someday...? Mars...

I hope very soon. Can't wait to feel the excitement of the first day that human kind steps on Mars. Hope in our life times :)

Love your posts, I am following you now...

Thanks a lot! glad you liked them. I followed you too. You got a great blog as well :)

Wow, thank you for this post! You got some great shots of this event.
I really liked the detail and colours of "separation of SRB(Solid Rocket Booster)".
Voted!!

Thank you! I am happy I was able to share my experience, and other people also have this fascination with technology and the space program. I was truly impressed by the power these rockets have!

You analyze your experience so amazing that you made me feel I was there when the shuttle was launched.. I really enjoyed the picture and I'm happy you had the experience.. I'm gonna see one probably one day.. Thanks man

Thank you so much for your comment, I am happy you enjoyed the post!

If the space program had only half as much budget as the military, where would we be today?

So true!! I suppose vacation on Mars, affordable to all, would be a reality by now! Or even further, and lots of new knowledge about our space.

Excelente publicación. Felicidades.
Recomiendo https://steemit.com/steemit/@germanosorio/do-we-want-to-innovate-or-get-more-speed
Feliz Dia

Thank you, you also have a good post.

Good Photo man

Thank you for your comment.

This is something i would love to see once in life.
Thank you for sharing this!

Hopefully the space program will continue worldwide. Europe, USA, Russia, Asia et al... Human curiosity for space.

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incredible photo of her very unique and beautiful @ bernardino do not forget follow @ jhoni

Thank you! will follow..

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

An unforgetable experience indeed.

Thank you for your comment, I wish I would have gotten the chance to experience an Apollo launch, 1961-1973. Those rockets were HUGE!!! They even took man to the moon :)

That's super awesome, something that no one will ever get to see again! I happened to be off the coast of Cape Canaveral for an Atlas-5 launch last spring and it was truly spectacular, seeing it on TV or whatever does not do it justice. I don't know what it is about it that is so awe inspiring but it really is amazing.

People find fireworks fascinating, but to see and hear the thrust of 1,859 kN (418,000 lbf) at takeoff is as you say does not do it justice and is awesome!

for sure fireworks suck now.

The first photo looks like a dragon, it's so powerful! Congrats :)

Cool analogy! Dragon and power! I did not see it before...

Looks awesome :)

Thank you, it was an amazing experience!

You got a 6.98% upvote from @postpromoter courtesy of @bernardino!

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Felt like I was there on the launching site itself!

I wish more people got to experience a space launch, it truly is an awesome sight!

Beautiful

Thank you for your comment @cassteem, I am following you.

Whoaaa man!!!!! Thank you for sharing this!

I am happy you enjoyed the post! the astronauts spent 14 days in space, before returning home.

These are amazing pictures. I'm a bit of a space nerd myself, but I've never seeked out pictures of the shuttle launch.

I just hope the space program continues. It is an amazing experience to witness a launch!

A wonderful account there.
The fast growth of artificial intelligence will definetly enhance space mission

Yes, I believe so too artificial Intelligence will speed up the program. Because people are crazy enough to do brave things!

That's great picture. I invite you to me

Thank you!

nice

Thank you!

Man! You are lucky to witness this amazing event! Cheers!

Yes, just think how incredible it would have been to see the Apolo rocket blast off to the moon! It was much larger than the space shuttle. Yet I feel lucky to have seen the shuttle. Thank you for leaving a comment.

Thanks for sharing. I love space and space exploration. I wish I lived closer to where shuttles launched.

We will have to wait for the next Shuttle or Rocket space program, unfortunately the Space Shuttles were retired in 2011. I look forward to the new programs of space exploration, hopefully planetary travel, like Mars!

Nice camera! Great shots!

Thank you!

I remember my favorite movie THE HIDDEN FIGURES.

I have not seen the movie yet, I just watched the trailer and look forward to seeing it! Thank you for your comment.

Woao! Fantastico!

Thank you for your comment. Congratulations on Julián! I saw it on your post.

Amazing photos. But even though we had some setbacks with the space program, I am confident that the launch of Falcon Heavy next week will be the start of a new chapter. Let's hope the launch will not be a flop as we definitely don't need another setback. Cheers and is that Evangelia shipwreck on your profile background? :P

Thank you! and very well said, let's keep our fingers crossed that we start a new chapter in space exploration. Lastly you are correct!! the shipwreck is Evangelia in Costinesti, Romania!

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