No go for launch! We drove out to the beach today to see the launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery... but it was scrubbed with about 2 hours or so on the clock. Looks like Monday. The day was not a loss, however - the weather turned out to be beautiful, and we had a great day on the beach. We are lucky to have supernice friends with a beachfront condo - lots of people were stuck for hours in heavy traffic getting out to Titusville. We hope to get back out there for the launch next week!
Strange, but true: for some reason, the Florida Atlantic Ocean now looks like the Caribbean Sea! People who live on the beach say it has been like this since the hurricanes. There is also a difference in the sand - it is not really sand anymore... it is very grainy, with zillions of tiny crushed-up shells.
Back to the beach! We headed back to Cape Canaveral National Seashore today to witness the launch of the US Space Shuttle Discovery. We headed for the tip of the seashore, where there is a view of the launchpad, but by the time we got there, the parking lots were full. We ended up on Bethune Beach on the Atlantic Ocean, probably 30 miles north of Kennedy Space Center as the crow flies. It was an absolutely gorgeous day. The beach was crowded with onlookers, and we listened to the final countdown on the radio. The crowds erupted into cheers as the shuttle blasted off. We were able to follow it's ascent over the ocean for about 3 or 4 minutes before it disappeared from view. It was a great day, and we are all proud to have witnessed a bit of history!
