A first-hand view of the shuttle launch

Photo by Sally Sweetapple

On July 26, Macquarie University’s Professor Malcolm Walter attended the launch of the space shuttle Discovery. Here he recalls what he saw and how he felt on that historic day.

It was about 9am when we got to the Banana Creek viewing site at the Visitors Center. It was stinking hot and very humid, and almost cloudless, especially above launch pad 39B. This was critical because a required criterion was that there must be visual inspection during the launch. Launch was set for 10.39am. There was only a 10-minute window that would allow a rendezvous with the International Space Station. At 10am we were all told to find seats in the stands (“bleachers”). There was no shelter from the sun and we Australians were amongst the few with hats.

The shuttle was in clear view five kilometres away over the kilometre-wide waters of Banana Creek. We amused ourselves watching the alligators in the creek. First Lady Laura Bush arrived just as the count resumed at T-9 minutes. We could hear the commentary from the Firing Room. “Control by the computers has now been handed to the onboard systems”. Until then the launch had been controlled from Kennedy, and after launch it would be passed to the Johnson Spaceflight Center. We stood for the US national anthem, flags fluttering next to the countdown clock in front and to the left of us.

The count got to T-10 seconds. An abort was still possible but very unlikely. The crowd started counting down out loud. There was a huge billow of steam to the left and right of the launch platform, as 1.2 million litres of water were dumped from the nearby water tower to cool the pad and reduce the noise, and the shuttle started to move, quite slowly. Then it was off and curving upwards. Where was the Earth-shaking rumble we had been told about? It soon arrived, a very loud, low frequency vibration that spoke of immense power, and danger. Images of Columbia and Challenger flooded into my mind. And I thought of Andy Thomas, up there for the fourth time. Knowing him made the moment even more emotional.

The shuttle went behind a cloud for a few seconds and then reappeared already 70 kilometres away, and at 2 1/2 minutes shed its solid rocket boosters. I couldn’t see that happen, though some said they did. At T+4 minutes it was already travelling at 13,000 kilometres an hour, and disappeared from sight. We all clapped and felt relief. Mrs Bush left. And then…well, I felt flat. Four minutes and it was over for us. In another four minutes the shuttle was in orbit. Briefly it was very emotional: I had stirring thoughts of great adventures, exploring space, and the brave crew of seven aboard the Discovery. Memories of past accidents intruded. And then it was back to sweltering in the sun.

Professor Malcolm Walter, Director of the Australian Centre for Astrobiology (ACA) at Macquarie University, was invited to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida, to watch the launch of the space shuttle Discovery by Australian-born astronaut Dr Andy Thomas, who was on board the flight. The ACA is collaborating with NASA on a number of projects and is the only Australian member of the NASA Astrobiology Institute

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