Space Shuttle

How far North or South of the shuttle launch site can you be and see a launch from the beach?

Depends if you want to see the ignition blast on the launch pad, or just see the rocket fly thru the air. To see the lift-off, you need to be within about 15 miles or so. Most people just find a place to park along US1 in Titusville. If you can see the huge Vehicle Assembly Building, you will see the lift-off. As far as seeing the rocket in the air, you can do that from over 100 miles away, depending on the cloud cover. We were at the Magic Kingdom last December and saw the shuttle take off. It was a night flight, so the ball of fire in the sky was easy to see. I've also seen photos taken from as far away as Cabbage Key (near Captiva/Sanibel) and you could see the smoke from the rocket.

We have seen a couple of flights, mostly evening/nighttime, from Lehigh...just the smoke/flame for a short time. We are about 25 miles east of Ft. Myers and have a fairly clear view...when there are no clouds. Our Key West daughter has seen a couple from the beaches of KW...just the smoke trail though. I would love to see one up close sometime.

Just for the heck of it, I used Google Earth to measure just how far I usually park from the launch pad. From US1 Titusville to the Shuttle launch pad is about 12 miles. At that distance, the shuttle is just a small pimple on the horizon, but you can see it. From the fire tower on cabbage key to the launch pad is 167 miles.

FYI, the next launch is scheduled for Tuesday, August 7th, at 7:02PM.
If you're in the area, you'll know it!
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/launch/index.html

I can see all the rocket launches from my house in Melbourne Beach. I can't see lift-off because it's over the horizon.

Be sure to be watching from the beginning of the launch window. You'll see the shuttle before you hear it. The further away you are, the longer it will take for the sound to reach you. Bring binoculars

Be prepared for the launch to be delayed by days or weeks. It happens often.

One year we were in Cocoa Beach and saw it. One thing to remember just because they have scheduled a launch, doesn't mean it will occur. The year we saw it, it was scheduled for Monday and didn't occur till Thursday. We were lucky, because it just happened to be the day, we decided to go to the Beach and not Disney World.

I have seen two launches. Both in Titusville across from the Searstowne mall.
From this viewpoint you can see liftoff and thrust. You can also feel the ground vibration. This actually occurs several seconds after liftoff. Watching it is really neat. I saw the last successful flight of the Challenger and watched the Atlantis liftoff.

If you get much farther away then the Titusville area, I suspect that you wont see the liftoff events.


Joel

In Cocoa Beach you do not see the immediate lift off.

We were on Hilton Head Island, SC once and we saw this great ball of fire moving so slowly into space. It was the space shuttle.

We had the good fortune to see a launch in April, 2001 when they still allowed the public out on the causeway. You needed special passes to get there, and since we have a friend who works at Kennedy Space Center she happened to be able to get us one. It was amazing. We were at the site 3 hours ahead of the launch. Watched the alligators and dolphins paying out in the water and listened to the broadcast from launch central.

A couple of years later dh were able to view another launch, this time because it had been delayed one day. If it had gone on time we would have missed it. This one was an early morning launch and we watched it from the beach in Cocoa (I think). Another fabulous experience.

Discovery Beach

We saw the shuttle Endeavour take off at 4:00 am from our 8th floor balcony on Cocoa Beach. Once the blast lit up the night sky I was surprised to see crowds of people on the beach. I have never seen a crowd of people on Cocoa Beach before! However, this was the first launch after the Challenger tragedy. People waved flags and cheered; it was very exciting!

We heard the rumble of the shuttle (compare to a Harley Davidson in the distance) for at least a half an hour afterwards. It was quite impressive.

I thought it odd that our resort did not publicize the time of the expected launch along with their activities. Don't you think most people would be interested? Of course we always know there could be delays but that's why we kept tuned to the NASA channel on cable.

Don't miss it if you have a chance!