July 8, 2011 7:22 a.m.

This is a morning tinged with regret for me.  This morning could very possibly be the final space shuttle launch, if the weather cooperates (and there is only a 30% chance that it will). 

My regrets are that I never took the children out there to see a launch.  By “out there”, I mean out to the area near U.S. highway 1 to view a live launch.  This would be a physical distance of about 12 miles from the launch pad (our yard is 32 miles from the launch pad, but still provides a view of the launch if clouds do not obscure it).   Even back as recently as February, a fellow church member opened his yard to the church family for a viewing, and I declined to go because I thought we would have been away from home for ten hours, not returning until ten at night, and always with the possibility that after all that effort, the launch might be scrubbed.  You see, back in my younger days, I would have been one of those people in a car driving all the way out there, claiming my viewing spot, and standing and waiting until 34 seconds before launch, when something would go wrong and we would have to fight the traffic returning home, having seen nothing.  I can’t tell you how often that has happened to viewers through the years, but it only happened once (or twice) to me before I stopped trying.

On an earlier occasion, I had driven out highway 528 (then called the BeeLine, now called the BeachLine) and taken a left onto highway 407, thinking it was the most direct way, only to be stopped in my tracks a couple mile down due to traffic, and finally having to view the launch from the side of highway 407.  That was my first attack on the launch; I had evidently left home too late that day.

The highlight experiences happened only because I used to be an electrical engineer at Kennedy Space Center.  As a result, I would acquire special passes that enabled me to take guests out to the causeway to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to view the launch from there.  It was in this way that I was able to treat my husband and my father to the experience.  That was nice.

And on one occasion, while working there, I got to view a launch from as close as the launch pad side of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).  I’m talking a mere 3 miles from the launch pad, about as close as the press is allowed.  Much closer than this would be considered unsafe, due to the noxious gases eliminated from the craft during launch.  Anyway, the rumble of the launch from that location is indescribable, especially as the sound bounces back at you from the VAB behind you.  The intensity and energy of the launch from this distance goes right through your body and brings tears to your eyes from the moment it begins.  That was an unforgettable experience.

And no, I have never gotten out to the coast to see a night launch, although I imagine that would have been awesome, as well.

So I can’t escape this final launch without regret that I didn’t get the kids out there, although we always saw the launches from our yard, whenever we could, and I always was excited when it happened, causing my kids to be excited as well.

And besides, when we all one day see the Glory of God, that space shuttle launch will look like a cheap 4th of July sparkler in comparison.  So, in retrospect, the kids wouldn’t have missed out on much.

and p.s. No, I would be insane to try to take the children out there today or tomorrow.  Everybody in America (and outside America) who realizes it is the last shuttle launch has already head out there early this morning.  That’s alotta people.