Space Shuttle Discovery Final Launch Scheduled for February 24th

[NYCA News]

NYCAviation:

Space Shuttle Discovery Final Launch Scheduled for February 24th

Space Shuttle Discovery's final mission, an 11-day trip to the International Space Station, is now scheduled to launch Thursday afternoon.
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[fk6065]

I so wish I had disposable income to actualy see one of these.

[MarkLawrence]

That day is my birthday - think I need to convince my boss I need the afternoon off ... it's only a few hours drive....

[NLovis]

Man I wish I could go. I would too.... but I have work that day....

[cancidas]

guess nonreving down there is out of the question...

[gonzalu]

Is STS-135 still the final mission with Atlantis being the last shuttle to fly? I once witnessed a launch by accident from Epcot Center in Orlando... everyone was frozen stiff where they stood once everyone realized there was a beautiful arch over the evening sky and figured what it was. Awesome to say the least.

[bluejuice]

After many attemps at launch and 1 cancelled trip Im scheduled to be there on Thurs for the final Discovery flight,

[PhilDernerJr]

I'm watchin NASA HD here... http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/

Countdown holding at 3:00:00.

[Zee71]

I'll be watching the launch from home on TV or the web. I had tickets to see a launch from the cape 2 years ago, but unfortunately the launch got scrubbed and never got to see it.

[moose135]

What a ride! I'm still amazed at the footage from the new cameras they added to the orbiter to monitor the launch. I'll admit, I still hold my breath when they say "Go for throttle up..."

[megatop412]

I so wish I had disposable income to actualy see one of these.

No kidding, I just spent over a k on my ticket to Germany so no more plane tix for me for awhile

[Speedbagel_001]

What a ride! I'm still amazed at the footage from the new cameras they added to the orbiter to monitor the launch. I'll admit, I still hold my breath when they say "Go for throttle up..."


Same here. Infamous words, indeed. I'm curious if any post-Challenger crewmembers give it a second thought when that command is given.
But getting back to Discovery, did you see the massive chunks of foam come flying off the tank (post booster sep)? I thought they redesigned it so we wouldn't see big pieces like that come off. Didn't look too bad (as NASA confirmed) but still a little worrisome. I don't recall tank foam being this big a deal 25 years ago. Back then, it was all about the orbiter losing batches of tiles. Wonder what has changed.

[fk6065]

Some outstanding images here

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2...launch/100015/