Blue Sky for Last Launch of Shuttle Atlantis for STS-132

We got lucky and were able to get tickets to the NASA Causeway to view the shuttle launch from about 6 miles away.  The sky was blue and it was a beautiful day for a launch.  This was to be the last launch for Shuttle Atlantis.  The crew of mission STS-132 is delivering a Russian module for the International Space Station.

People at the NASA Causeway before launch.  The Vehicle Assembly Building is on the horizon.

Everything was go for launch until the last meeting before launch called the 9 Minute Hold.  A small 1/8" ball bearing was discovered in the payload bay.   The bearing had come loose from a camera.  They were discussing whether or not it created a "No Go" constraint for launch.  When it came time for rollcall, everyone responded, "Go."  The flight director wished the crew of Atlantis godspeed, and the commander made a short speech.  We saw the access arm and fuel tank beanie retracting.

There were sparks from main engine ignition, and smoke began to rise around the launchpad.

Shuttle Atlantis silently rose above the launch tower.

The space shuttle ascended into the sky on a long orange flame.  It was beautiful.  We heard a rumbling sound about 30 seconds after liftoff.

The rumbling sound built up to a loud roar accented by pops, bangs, and claps.

Three pinpoints of light show Solid Rocket Booster separation.

The wind started to blow apart the contrail very quickly.  The top part of the cloud formed into a loop.

Here we are with the dissipating contrail on the left side of the photo.

This could be our last time at the NASA Causeway.  There are only two more space shuttle missions left.

More photos of the launch of shuttle Atlantis for STS-132

Full Moon Tide at Fort DeSoto Park

The tide was so far out that the water was only ankle to knee deep. The water was clear and there was a lot of sea life to see. It was like snorkeling without having to swim in the water.

A spring tide happens every month at the full and new moon and has nothing to do with seasonality.  That's when the tides are at their highest and lowest levels.  This evening's tide is about the season.  It's a springtime low tide and sea creatures have gathered to mate.  Walking at Fort DeSoto Park tonight was like walking through an aquarium.

The trail of a tulip snail was easy to follow through the clear water.  Once springtime is over we'll only find remnants of their striped shells.

We found all sorts of starfish.

There were crown conchs everywhere.  At low tide the smaller animals gather to find their own kind.

At high tide the predators come out to feast. We found a small octopus clinging to a pen shell.

The octopus was in a pool of water around an old stump.  It must have been left behind when the tide waters receded, because we rarely find them at the beach.  There were a lot of other creatures around tree roots in the water such as sea urchins, fish, conchs, and tulip snails.  We nicknamed this area the habitat.  It was teeming with life.

A nearby crab was hunting for munchies.

The pink ruffles on the pen shell are tulip egg casings.  The little pink spots are embryos.

Sunset colors reflected on the water in tiny waves and ripples.  The ultraviolet light reflected as deep blues and purples.  Yellow, amber, orange, and red contrasted against the blues.  The colors flickered in the water like a psychedelic festival.

People continued shelling after sunset.  We laughed when a woman screamed when a fighting conch suddenly emerged from a shell she was carrying.  As we drove home we saw people shelling in shallow areas with blue flashlights.  It looked like blue fireflies hovering over the dark water against a sky still dimly lit with sunset colors.

More photos of April 2010 Full Moon Tides

How to Clean Sea Shells

Predawn Launch of Space Shuttle Discovery STS-131

Space Shuttle Discovery lights up a dark sky just before dawn on Monday morning at 6:22am.  The seven member crew of Mission STS-131 is set to resupply the International Space Station and complete 3 space walks.

I arrived around 4am.  The temperature was 59 degrees F, little wind, some fog in low lying areas, and not a single cloud in the sky.

Closer to launch time, people were pressing together, sort of like at a rock concert (except without the booze, drugs and foul language). They were all trying to get as close to the fence as possible, which is at the edge of the Indian River.

At about half an hour prior to launch, a technical glitch created a NO GO situation.  They were working feverishly to fix it, and had less than 30 minutes to do so.  It sounded something like, the flux capacitor wasn't communicating with the disgronificator, so the converginator was disabled.  Who knew?!

About 20 minutes prior to launch, under a totally clear, constellation filled sky complete with waning moon, something happened that has not happened in the prior five night launches.  The International Space Station passed overhead!  Oh Yeah!!!  It eclipsed the moon.  It was one of those times when you truly had to be there.

All of the people that pressed around me had never seen a Space Shuttle launch before.  Most of them had heard that there was a launch attempt this morning and they changed their plans and came over to witness the event


At nine minutes before launch the countdown clock stopped for the Nine Minute Hold.  NASA personnel at Mission Control in Houston and at Launch Control at Kennedy Space Center in Florida have one more meeting before launch to work out last minute details.  The technical glitch was resolved.  Everyone responded "GO!" during roll call, and the Flight Director wished the crew Godspeed.  The countdown continued.

Liftoff is silent from 9 miles away.  The entire area is overwhelmed by light and then the sound builds.  It was so loud that the ground shook.  Car alarms went off.  All sorts of sea creatures surfaced out of the water in surprise.  There were turtles, dolphins, and alligators, to name a few.

As the Space Shuttle sped down range, there was a separation in the contrail. I've never seen that before. There was a huge gap as if the engines had stopped for 15-20 seconds and then came back on. After the gap, there was a trail behind the Space Shuttle that looked just like a huge comet!  It looked like a picture of a comet that you would see in a schoolbook; something like the ancients would have painted.  It was phenominal!  My pictures do not do it justice. One day, perhaps I'll be cool enough to capture a moment like that!

As the dawn painted a rainbow on the horizon, the top of the contrail was brightly illuminated by the sun. We packed up our camp and headed to the car taking glances at the sky as the sun rose.

As we sat in post launch traffic, we continued to watch the remnants of the contrail change colors in the sunrise. I've never seen anything like it.

Plant Hall at the University of Tampa

The domes and minarets of Plant Hall are the iconic architectural symbol of Tampa.  The building was completed in 1891 as The Tampa Bay Hotel.   I've only gotten glimpses of the place when driving by, and wanted to visit. 

The hotel was built by railroad tycoon Henry Plant when there wasn't much else in Tampa.  It was at the terminus of the western Florida railroad line.  There weren't many passable roads through the swamps of Florida in the 1880's.  The railroads would have been the first Dixie Highway in Florida.

The Victorian facade and portico are awe inspiring.  The Tampa Bay Hotel was open seasonally from December - April.  Famous people such as Sandra Berhardt, Clara Barton, Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders, and Babe Ruth visited the hotel.  It was the beginning of Florida's tourism industry.

The railroads created not only new winter retreats for the rich, but also created opportunities for the orange farmers to reach new markets.  The Port of Tampa grew from the connection of steamship to rail transport.  Local businesses flourished.

This fountain inscribed with the name Henry Bradley Plant is across the street from the main entrance facade.  You can see downtown Tampa in the background.

Henry Plant made his fortune in the North when as a railroad employee he saw an opportunity for express parcel service, which was nonexistent at the time.  He worked his way up to becoming a high profile executive.  After the Civil War he purchased bankrupt Southern railroads that were devastated by the war.  The restored railroad lines went to major cities of the South and connected them to the Northeast.  Florida was still a new frontier.

Fletcher Lounge is a large space used today by the University of Tampa as an auditorium.

Here's a detail of the dome inside Fletcher Lounge.

 

The large Victorian windows of Fletcher Lounge.

I climbed a narrow spiral staircase to explore the area above Fletcher Lounge and felt a little like Alice in Wonderland.   I wasn't sure what I might find around the corner.  This curved hallway on the second floor runs along a rooftop.  It connects the offices near Fletcher Lounge to the classrooms of the Science Department.

Grandiose staircases can be found throughout the building.

There's a lot to see here, including the Henry B. Plant Museum on the first floor, and a park along the Hillsborough River. Parking is a challenge, as it is on most college campuses.  If you visit give a little extra time to find parking.  It's a great place to photograph.

More photos of Plant Hall in Tampa

STS-130 Space Shuttle Endeavour Launch

It was cold and windy on the water. People were huddled together under blankets. Some were on the ground in sleeping bags. Cameras on tripods were ready to take in the last night launch of the space shuttle era.  It's 3:30am and the space shuttle is scheduled to launch at 4:14:08am.

They waited in the darkness for hours listening to the radio and checking for news on cell phones. The previous night had been a disappointment when the launch was scrubbed due to a low cloud ceiling. Tonight, the weather for launch was perfect in Florida, but the emergency landing sites in Europe were all experiencing inclement weather. Less than a half-hour before launch, the weather had cleared in Zaragoza, Spain. Conditions went from red to green and everyone cheered.

Rollcall was about to be called in Mission Control during the last meeting before launch known as The Nine Minute Hold. Everyone polled replies "GO." Once the countdown restarts at T-9 minutes things happen very quickly. The people sitting in the dark stand up, drop their blankets and check camera settings. At T-5 minutes the orbiter access arm slowly swings away from the space shuttle. At T-2.5 minutes the beanie cap at the top of the orange fuel tank lifts and retracts. At T-6.6 seconds the main engines start. 3...2...1...GO!

There's a small glow of amber light at the launchpad as smoke starts streaming out the sides. The light glows dark orange as the space shuttle silently lifts off. We are about 9 miles away and the sound hasn't reached us yet. The light becomes brighter as the space shuttle ascends and suddenly overwhelms the darkness like a rising sun. The entire area is lit as if by daylight and then the rumbling begins. The sound is accompanied by crackles and pops and builds into a crescendo as what looks like a star continues to rise.

Clouds above the space shuttle are illuminated in an eerie funnel shape as if opening a door to another world.

A long flame enters the clouds and the rumbling continues.

No one can take their eyes off of it. Some completely abandon their cameras to watch.

The white star separates from two orange flames as the solid rocket boosters drop away from the space shuttle. The people in the dark applaud and continue to watch as the sound fades and the light dims to a pinpoint. They gather their equipment and leave knowing that they will never see a sight quite like this again.

More of our photos of STS-130 launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour.

A Gallery of Photos: The Last Night Launch

Manatee Faces at the TECO Plant

It was a cold and windy day in Tampa. When we got to the Tampa Electric Manatee Viewing Center the people looked as huddled together from the cold as the manatees. Usually you see shadows of the manatees' large bodies under water. Every so often a tail or snout will emerge. Today a large number of manatees had their heads sticking out of the water.

They were all facing the same direction like a classroom of school children facing the teacher. We have no idea what they were looking at. Their eyes are so tiny considering how huge the rest of their bodies are.  I would think that the cold wind would make them want to stay under water.  Maybe they were resting in the shallows.  They would have been swimming in the same direction from the deeper water to the shallows and maybe they decided to stay put and rest.

This area is a winter sanctuary for the manatees.  They have been in distress due to the long duration of cold weather in Florida this winter.  It is the coldest winter in about 20 years.  Manatees are warm-blooded mammals and can't tolerate water that is colder than 68 degrees for long periods of time.  The manatees gather at natural springs and in warm water around power plants to survive the cold.

More photos of the manatees at TECO.

Launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-129

"3...2...1...GO!"
The crowd cheers.
"There she goes!"
"We have liftoff!"
"Oh, yeah!"
"Woo-hoo!"


"Oh, dude."
"Mom, they're going into outer space. They're going into outer space!"
"That is unreal, man."

Rumbles, crackles and pops build up to a roar.

"Whooah..."
"Ooooh..."
"Look at it go into the cloud!"


"The boosters just split."
"Where?"
"There it is."
"Incredible."

Applause.


"Dude, that was wicked insane."
"Did you love that?"

Video of STS-129 Space Shuttle Launch

Seen from across the Indian River about 9.25 miles from the launch pad.

More photos of STS-129 Space Shuttle Launch.

Florida Aquarium in Tampa

I was looking for a distraction this weekend and decided to go to the Florida Aquarium.


Jellyfish video:


The lights change colors as the jellyfish swim by.


Leafy Green Seadragon video:


The seadragons move so gracefully. They are seahorses with leafy camouflage that blends in with seaweed.


Here's the stingray tank. You can put your hand in to touch them.


Rays like to brush up against each other as they swim by. I like to learn about the creatures we swim with at the beach.


These shore birds are black-necked stilts.


A roseate spoonbill watches the people go by from the mangrove marsh habitat.


A brown duck in the cypress marsh habitat.


There's a new exhibit upstairs about home aquariums.


Goliath Grouper video:


These behemoths like to hang around coral reefs and under bridges.

Banana Flowers at Florida Botanical Gardens

We went for a walk through the tropical fruit garden at Florida Botanical Gardens. The banana trees were in bloom. I never realized how many different kinds of banana plants there are.


Thousand fingers bananas are tiny. They're only about 2 inches long. Bananas are botanically classified as berries. The fruit does look like berries on these plants.


The fruit is the female part of the flower containing the seeds. The bud on the end of the stem is the male part of the flower.


Close up of a banana flower.


You can see how the fruit develops between the flower petals on the Raja Puri banana flower.

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More photos of Florida Botanical Gardens

Holiday Lights at Florida Botanical Gardens in December 2008