watching endeavor launch live

[#1]

STS-127 is on the launch pad, the RSS retracted, should lift off at 7:39pm Florida time (around Midnight Sat UK time).
DAK a website where the launch is 'broadcast live'

[#2]

Thanks for the reminder
currently at 10:54 to launch
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

[#3]

I took some friends to the Kennedy Space Centre in May and Endeavor was being prepped for launch then.

[#4]

Is that wall around the complex fairly new - I don't remember seeing it before ?

[#5]

Countdown Clock.....(No, not that countdown clock)
Watch it live on NASA TV
Decent quality full motion in full screen on Media Player http://www.nasa.gov/55644main_NASATV_Windows.asx

[#6]

Quote from: mal0z

Is that wall around the complex fairly new - I don't remember seeing it before ?

It's a long time since my previous visit prior to the one this year so I can't tell you how old the wall is.  One thing that we were told is that in recent years security has been very much tightened and this may be part of the answer.  Some areas I remember being allowed into before were certainly out of bounds.  This could have been because there were 'live' shuttles being prepared.

[#7]

dont count your chickens before they are hatched

Quote

Careful Testing Under Way After Lightning Strikes Sat, 11 Jul 2009 04:59:52 PM GMT The launch of space shuttle Endeavour was postponed until Sunday evening so engineers could evaluate the spacecraft's myriad systems following 11 lightning strikes in the Launch Complex 39A area. None of the strikes hit the shuttle or its external tank and solid rocket boosters, but there were strikes to the lightning mast and water tower. The launch pad is equipped with a lightning protection system of wires that is intended to steer bolts away from the shuttle. "We've seen nothing so far that shows anything affected any of the systems," said Mike Moses, chairman of the pre-launch Mission Management Team. Two of the strikes were strong enough to trigger an evaluation by engineers just to make sure all of Endeavour's systems are ready for flight. Although early evaluations showed no problems, engineers wanted more time to make sure they have checked everything correctly.

[#8]

Mal
thanks for the link, been postponed for 24 hours, now Sunday

[#9]

Don't worry, launches are sometimes postponed in Florida because of weather.  It soon passes and things will be back to normal.  Local hotels will be pleased because they will get extra business from people who are there to watch the launch
Very occasionally manned flights cannot land at Kennedy because the weather is bad at the arrival time and they are diverted to Houston or California. The shuttle then has to be transported back to Kennedy. 

[#10]

There are emergency landing airfields around the world for the shuttle -
When i worked many years ago now near Cadiz in Spain - there were many US personell around the bars and restaurants, and on asking what they were doing, I was told they were there in case the Shuttle needed to land

Rota airfield on Google maps

[#11]

When I was in Rota it was the same.  It had a big US contingent.  Apart from the US presence it is a lovely, quiet part of Spain.

[#12]

Stayed up late especially to watch STS-127 launch, but due to thunderstorms it was postponed for 24 hours
Launch at 6:51 p.m. EDT Monday.
NASA Website
NASA TV

[#13]

More thunderstorms in the forecast for this morning (US time) but looking better afterwards so they may get away later.  After all it is the middle of the hurricane season in Florida so guess they can expect a few thunderstorms.

[#14]

it might happen someday

Quote

Liftoff of space shuttle Endeavour on the STS-127 mission has been rescheduled for Wednesday, July 15 at 6:03 p.m. EDT. Monday's attempt was canceled due to poor weather conditions within the launch area at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Anvil clouds and storm cells containing lightning flared up toward the end of the countdown, violating stringent launch safety rules. "Technically, we've been really clean the last two days with our vehicle," Launch Integration Manager Mike Moses said of Endeavour's launch attempts on Sunday and Monday. "It's just been the weather scenario that got us." The outlook is better on Wednesday, with only a 40 percent chance of weather conditions prohibiting liftoff.

[#15]

Liftoff
Space shuttle Endeavour has taken off.  Fantastic sight.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8153091.stm