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Plan on pulling on to SR 405 (from the west) or SR 3 (from the south) several hours before the scheduled launch time. Park your car in the Visitors Complex parking lots and head for the buses that will shuttle you to the viewing area. Once there, remember you are on government property and in a wildlife refuge to boot, so there are a few simple rules. Cooking and fires are prohibited, as are alcoholic beverages. You are not allowed to fish, wade, swim, or feed the wildlife (there are some manatee holding pens along the causeway viewing area). If you have a pet, you’ll have to make arrangements to leave it behind.
The atmosphere at the viewing area is infectiously cheerful and friendly. People seem to instantly become one happy family. At the launch I attended, a professor of astronomy from a nearby university was letting passersby take a peek at the shuttle through his eight-inch telescope. Dotted along the viewing area are NASA Exchange trailers selling snacks and souvenirs. The prices for food and drink are surprisingly cheap, especially considering you are a captive audience.
A public address system mounted on poles carries live announcements from NASA mission control. As launch time approaches, you will hear the actual conversations between mission control and the shuttle crew. A few minutes before the launch, several local radio stations begin live coverage. Among them are 580AM, 90.7FM, and 107.1FM.
At the actual launch, you will see a flash of light a second or two before blast-off. Then the shuttle disappears in a towering cloud of white exhaust only to emerge a moment later, its engines spewing a blinding flame. The shuttle will be well up into the air before you hear the sound, but when it arrives at your viewing point you will feel the land tremble beneath your feet as well as hear the throaty rumble of the booster rockets. As it continues its eight minute journey to orbit, arcing gracefully to the east, the shuttle looks like a tiny toy atop a massive column of white clouds.
About two and half minutes into the flight, the booster rockets drop away. (If you have binoculars, you may be able to spot the parachutes that lower them to the sea for recovery by NASA ships.) At this point, the shuttle becomes a star-like point of light hurtling into the history books. I was lucky. The launch I observed went up on the dot. But you should be aware that, more often than not, the shuttle doesn’t go up on schedule. If there are delays for weather or technical glitches, you will be kept posted. If the launch is scrubbed (that is, canceled) you can still enjoy the Visitor Complex.
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