You can consider this the 1999 sequel to the original
Mission to Cape Canaveral
in 1997.
These are my pictures and some comments from my trip to Florida in
November 1999, where I saw AMSAT's Phase-3D satellite,
toured NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC)
and visited friends and relatives in the area.
A Different Trip Entirely
Unlike the 1997 trip, where I was able to get all the pieces to come
together to watch a shuttle launch, this time those pieces came apart.
Already it was impossible to get the same "car pass"
as I got last time to watch a launch from
the "NASA Causeway" civilian viewing area within KSC.
This time everyone had long since booked them
clear to the end of 2000 following the interest in
John Glenn's
highly-publicized flight on STS-95 in 1998.
Then the shuttle launch schedule was messed up by Russian
delays with their part of the International Space Station.
But I can't seem to get an easy time planning one of these trips.
Yet again, a space program mishap threw my vacation plans in disarray.
An electrical short
5 seconds after the liftoff of STS-93 in July 1999
guaranteed no one would say the first female shuttle commander
had an easy time,
and grounded the shuttle fleet for nearly the rest of the year
as dozens of similar wiring problems were found in all four shuttle orbiters.
An active hurricane season made matters worse,
especially as
Hurricane Floyd
threatened to destroy all four shuttle orbiters
in their hangars at KSC if it had made a direct hit.
Fortunately it didn't.
Plans Come Together
Even without a shuttle launch, I decided to go to Florida on vacation anyway.
I was about to max out on vacation time accrual at work so I had to go
somewhere.
My grand aunt in Sarasota, FL had invited me to visit.
And an old college friend who now lives in Columbia, SC invited me to
his wedding reception.
Good enough - the trip would be 8 days in Florida and 3 in South Carolina.
I made nearly all my reservations (plane, rental car, motel) via the Internet.
I made arrangements to drop by
AMSAT's
lab in Orlando where the
Phase-3D
satellite was being prepared for shipment to the ESA/Ariane launch site.
And primarily to meet more people while in the area,
I also offered to speak at the November 1999 meeting of
Everyone's Linux User Group (ELUG)
in Orlando.
And it was people from AMSAT and ELUG who arranged sorts of
"backstage tours" that made this trip far more than I could have
hoped to arrange on my own.
Unlike last time when I was able to leave instructions for how I arranged
the trip, this time I can only thank Bob Davis (AMSAT),
Brenda DiSanto (Boeing) and Brian Coyle (ELUG) for the tours they arranged.
The Pictures
Here's the part you were waiting for (or skipped to. :-)
| Pictures by Subject | ||
|---|---|---|
| In-flight | From the airliners | 4 pictures |
| AMSAT P3D | AMSAT's Phase-3D Ham Radio satellite | 8 pictures |
| ELUG | ELUG's Nov 5 meeting | 10 pictures |
| NASA KSC | Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral (Nov 6 and 10) | 67 pictures |
| Sarasota | Pictures from Sarasota (Nov 7) | 15 pictures |
| Disney | Disney World (Nov 11) | 18 pictures |
| South Carolina | Columbia, South Carolina and vicinity (Nov 14) | 14 pictures |
| Pictures by Day | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | November 4 | Thursday | Fly from San Jose to Salt Lake City to Orlando
First AMSAT visit 4 pictures |
| Day 2 | November 5 | Friday |
Sightseeing in/around Eustis
Second AMSAT visit Speak at ELUG 14 pictures |
| Day 3 | November 6 | Saturday |
Employees' Family & Friends Open House at KSC
50 pictures |
| Day 4 | November 7 | Sunday |
Drive to Sarasota
Visit relatives See the sunset at Siesta Beach 15 pictures |
| Day 5 | November 8 | Monday |
Visit relatives in Sarasota
no pictures |
| Day 6 | November 9 | Tuesday |
Lunch with a friend from the UVV
in Lakeland
Relax in Orlando no pictures |
| Day 7 | November 10 | Wednesday |
Third AMSAT visit
Explore Titusville for launch viewing sites Second KSC tour (tourist areas only) 17 pictures |
| Day 8 | November 11 | Thursday |
Tour of a Disney data center
See Disney's Epcot and Magic Kingdom parks 16 pictures |
| Day 9 | November 12 | Friday |
Fly from Orlando to Atlanta to Columbia, SC
Briefly stranded by rental car problems Drive around to familiarize myself with Columbia Dinner with friends no pictures |
| Day 10 | November 13 | Saturday |
Attend wedding reception of Dr Kevin Ford and Dr Denka Kutzarova
no pictures (at least not for the web) |
| Day 11 | November 14 | Sunday |
Sightseeing at South Carolina State House
Sightseeing at University of South Carolina (USC) Hiking at Congaree Swamp National Monument 13 pictures |
| Day 12 | November 15 | Monday |
Fly from Columbia, SC to Atlanta to San Jose
2 pictures |
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