As a young child, like many others, I always wanted to be an astronaut. As this seemed out of my reach, I decided to go to Kennedy Space Centre in Florida and see a live rocket launch. I have done this many times and have crossed it off my bucket list.
When I have seen rocket launches.
Over the years, I have been lucky enough to visit the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida many times. I bought an apartment in Cape Canaveral, which I owned for a few years. I could stand at the front door and watch the rocket launches over the houses between me and the launch pad about 8 miles away. I don't remember seeing a launch when I visited with my mum, dad and sister as a child, but I have seen a lot since then.
Living in Orlando for a few years meant it was easy to drive up to the beach every time a rocket or the space shuttle was due to launch, and I did this to watch the launches from Cocoa Beach on many occasions. On another occasion, I arranged to get on a limited admission bus tour of the Space Centre, which took me and my friend, Neil, right underneath Launch Pad 39b, where the Shuttle used to launch and from where SpaceX now launches its rockets into space.
Space Shuttle launch from Kennedy.
When I owned my house in Orlando, I used to visit two or three times a year and would go out for my dad's birthday every year. We would play golf on his birthday at our favourite golf course, The Savannahs, at Sykes Creek, then go to Hooters at Cocoa for lunch. We also went to see rocket launches at the beach a few times, but on one occasion, I surprised my dad by getting tickets to see a launch from Kennedy Space Centre.
We spent the morning at the visitor centre before it was closed for the day. We were then transported by bus to a raised seating area looking directly across the water at the launch pad. We were told the astronauts were the only people closer to the launch. The launch took off a bit late, and it was pretty late when we headed home. I was glad we visited the Space Centre to see the launch. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I knew my dad, and I would never forget.
John Glenn Space Shuttle launch.
In 1998, I was in Orlando with my friend Martin, and we had the opportunity to see John Glenn become the oldest man to fly in space when he joined the crew of the Shuttle Discovery. We got three tickets to go with our friend Ray, who used to be our taxi driver in Orlando. We went to Titusville to watch the launch from a viewing point there.
We left early and got an excellent spot to park in the private viewing area, and whilst Ray went back to sleep, Martin and I had a walk around Titusville, where we ended up playing killer pool in a local bar before heading back to the viewing area. When we left, the car park was relatively quiet, but when we got back, it was packed. Ray's van was a beat-up old wreck, and he didn't mind that we climbed on the roof of his van to get an even better view over the tops of the cars in front of us.
The launch of STS-95 all went off well, and John Glenn went back to space on October 29th 1998, after initially being the 3rd American ever to go into space in 1968. To this day, I still have my commemorative newspaper and commemorative first edition stamps that we were given when we bought the tickets to see the launch.
Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral Beach.
I have seen many rocket launches from Cape Canaveral Beach and Cocoa Beach. I would often drive up for the day; other times, I would stop for several days.
When I had my apartment at Cape Canaveral, I watched launches from the beach a few times. One time, when my mum came with me in 2011 to stay at my apartment, we walked to the beach for the launch. On another occasion, when I stayed in my apartment for 3 months, I remember sitting in my apartment watching a live countdown on the television. As the countdown got down to 5 seconds, I walked to my front door, went outside and watched the launch from my front door.
Launch Pad 39b.
Neil Scott and Alan Morris at launch pad 39b Cape Canaveral.When I was selling my apartment in Cape Canaveral, I stayed there for 3 months before it sold. I invited my friend Neil Scott to come and stay for a while. While he was staying with me for a week, I got some tickets to tour the Kennedy Space Centre, which took us to places the public usually can't get to. We visited Kennedy Space Centre but also got taken on a bus to go into and around the rocket assembly building and then out to the launch pad the shuttle used to take off from and where the SpaceX rockets would launch.
It was amazing to stand directly underneath the launch pad. Even the bus we got there on was dwarfed by the launch pad and gantry. You can't understand how big it is when standing miles away from it. Being underneath it gave me some idea of how big Launch Pad 39b is.