4...3...2...1... BLAST OFF!

This past weekend, my family did what we do best... We went on yet another last minute trip. This time, though, was truly special. We had talked about doing this a while back but had pretty much decided not to go. But earlier in the week, we thought "Why not?!"... so we packed up and headed south Thursday afternoon. We were up for nearly 41 hours before any of us adults got any real sleep.

What were we doing that was so important??? NASA STS-135 Space Shuttle Atlantis launched for it's last mission from Kennedy Space Center on Friday, July 8, 2011 at 11:29 EDT and we were there to watch in person just across the bay from the launch pad. Not only was this the last shuttle mission from Atlantis, but it was the last ever mission for any space shuttle in the NASA program... the end of an era, so to speak.

I thought I had gotten a really great video of the whole launch... but it turns out that I got video leading up to it... and then video after it. So, I'll leave you with the only photos I have from The Last Mission and hopefully my sister will tag me in the photos she has from the launch on Facebook, if they ever get up there.

 

This sign stated that the bridge crossing the bay directly across from the launch pad would be closed two hours before and after the launch... This is what my family looks like after being awake for over 24 hours and driving all night over 900 miles to get to Titusville, FL... and this was the lovely break in the clouds that allowed the astronauts to take their journey into space that lovely Friday morning...

 

 Waiting on the launch... 

 

The bridge from the pavilion we were sitting in, the launch will be just past that bridge... Mom and dad waiting on the launch... the smoke from the rocket boosters into the clouds... and part of the thousands of people coming off that bridge after the launch...