OMSI ‘s Shuttle launch

We had lots of fun this weekend trying to watch the Shuttle Launch at OMSI.

Endeavor was scheduled to launch on Saturday afternoon as ST-127, the 8^th to the last shuttle mission ever. Seven astronauts on board the shuttle will meet up with 6 astronauts already on the IST, making this group of 13 the largest rendezvous ever in space. This is the first visit to the IST since the crew size increased to 6. Endeavor will be installing a laboratory 'patio' to the IST.

OMSI had planned to show the launch in the Planetarium, free of charge. The plan was for them to project NASA TV. Although we could watch the launch at home on NASA TV, Alex has never been in the Planetarium, and he said he'd like to watch there. In addition, because this is the 8^th to the last shuttle mission, I want him to be able to remember seeing a shuttle launch . . . watching in the Planetarium would be much more memorable than watching at home.

Saturday afternoon upon arrival at OMSI, we discovered that the launch had been postponed due to thunderstorms near the Shuttle's emergency landing facility in Florida. This is where the shuttle would have to land if something went wrong early in the flight. Later on, the thunderstorms reached the launch pad. It was reported that there were 11 lightning strikes within ½ mile of the launch pad, and one bolt actually struck the launch tower itself.

We mulled about the OMSI lobby for a while, spending quite a bit of time watching the large marble track and looking at the IST model; we then went home.

The launch was rescheduled for Sunday afternoon, and Alex said that he'd still like to see it at OMSI; we loaded up the van and headed out once again.

This time, we got into the planetarium and took our seats. It is fortunate that we arrived early, because the seats filled, and there were people standing and sitting around the perimeter of the room. OMSI was streaming NASA TV over the internet, and projecting it onto the dome in two places. In addition to the NASA TV, there was a Planetarium employee narrating. About 5 minutes into this, the video froze. We sat patiently as the OMSI computer was rebooted over . . . and over . . . and over . . . I asked Tiffany to stop counting on the 10^th reboot. Finally, at about 2 minutes to launch time, OMSI announced that they were not going to be able to get the connection back, but that the launch had also been delayed once again. Once again, the delay was due to thunderstorms within 20 miles of the launch pad, and would be a 24 hour delay.

Although Alex did not get to see a launch in the Planetarium, he did get to see the Planetarium, and he did learn a good lesson about the shuttle . . . it NEVER launches on time.