Rocket Launch!

Good evening Room 18! I hope you have been having a great week back in Winnipeg while I've been away for my conference. I'll tell you more about the conference soon, but I wanted to tell you about something super-exciting that we did tonight - we went to see a rocket launch! Ever since I was a little kid, I have been really interested in space and rockets - in fact, it was my dream to be an astronaut when I was in elementary school! I wasn't able to follow through on that dream, but I never lost my interest in space. So when I saw NASA's launch schedule earlier this month, and that there was going to be a launch when I was in Florida for my conference, I knew I had to be there - we even went to Kennedy Space Center the other day to get 'psyched up' about space and the launch (we got to met an astronaut, but that's another story!). So today, after our conference finished for the day, Ms. Welbergen and Mrs. Malkoske (the two teachers I came to the conference with) and I packed a picnic supper, and made the drive (just over an hour) to Port Canaveral to watch the rocket launch. I was really excited for the launch, but I was a little nervous that they might have to cancel the launch at the last minute (like sometimes happens). We pulled off the road at a spot we had read about on the Internet as being a good spot to watch a launch from. We ate our dinner, and were amazed by how many people were pulling off the highway to watch at the same spot. There were hundreds of cars there, and there are a number of spots like this all around the launch site. We talked to people from all over the USA who were there to watch the launch, and even a man from England! You aren't allowed to get too close (for safety), so we were about 11 miles away. However, even from that distance, we could still see the launch site all lit up. The rocket was scheduled to liftoff at 8:48 PM EST, and that's exactly what happened. It was a clear night, so we were able to watch the rocket for about 90 seconds, until it disappeared into the heavens. It was an amazing experience that I won't forget. I've attached a few photos to my post, to show you what it looked like. Although the pictures can't fully do the launch justice, they will be great reminders of this wonderful night! Make sure you also check out Mrs. Malkoske's blog posts about the launch at http://200awesomedays.blogspot.ca/2013/01/rocket-launch.html and http://200awesomedays.blogspot.ca/2013/01/321blast-off.html - while I was taking pictures, she was taking video of the launch. You can also learn more about the launch by going to the NASA home page at http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html.