When I went outside this morning to view the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery, I did not intend to then come in here and write about it, but here I am. I just love watching shuttle launches.

And that’s a big problem.

The space shuttles are going extinct, and I’m just not “okay” with that. I wasn’t around for Mercury, Gemini, or Apollo, so the only real experience I have had in my life with manned space flight has been with the Space Shuttle program. As far as I am concerned, the program is not ending: it is dying. The shuttle has been an old friend of mine since I was four (and a half) years old. I’m going to miss my old friend.

Now, I can accept that we have to move on to better technology. Maybe something that will take us to the moon. Or Mars. Something like Constellation!

Oh, wait…

I don’t have the opulence of words that those like Stephen Force have to express thought and emotion, so I cannot adequately describe the launch in any way that would do it justice. It was simply stunning. The glow over the trees when the boosters lit, then the ever-lengthing plume of fire as she accelerated, and finally the SRB seperation leaving just a lone, bright star in the sky bursting into Earth-orbit. Breathtaking.

There was also this “halo” of … something … that seems to trail behind Discovery as she peirced the very atmosphere. I don’t recall ever seeing it before. It may have been an artifact of the early morning launch, and I may never get to see it again. I only wish I had a camera capable of capturing the image. For now, I have to settle for imprinting it in my memory.

Have a great flight, Discovery. We will be waiting for you to return home safely!

P.S. If you take your crew on a long field trip to, say, the moon, I won’t tell.

Sometimes all it takes is to ask. If you don’t ask, there is virtually a 100% chance that you won’t get what you want. Your chances may not increase much if you do ask, but sometimes that is all it takes.

In fact, that’s all it took for Janelle Wilson (@janellewilson on Twitter) to get what she wanted: a simple request. Janelle, a science teacher in Georgia, is a huge fan of the space program. As a member of the Space Tweep Society, she thought it would be fun to have a tweetup at Kennedy Space Center during her upcoming vacation to Florida. Janelle reached out, and the ball was rolling.

I got word of the mini-event through Twitter. Ah, yes, Twitter – that wonderful nugget of internet space that just keeps connecting me to more cool people and more cool events than I ever imagined possible. I expressed my interest, and with Janelle’s boldness, asked if perhaps I could bring my family along for the event.

The answer was, “Yes.”

Unfortunately, my youngest son came down with a fever and was unable to attend, so he and my wife stayed home. With my daughter Morgan and other son Alex rearing to go, we headed out to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex to meet with the rest of the group. Of course, @flyingjenny and her husband @apacheman, both of whom work at the Kennedy Space Center on various parts of the shuttle program, were there to greet us. Andrea Farmer (@AndreaFarmer on Twitter) with the Public Relations office at the Visitor Complex, who was instrumental in arranging the tweetup, was also in attendance. I said it before and I’ll say it again here: NASA really “gets” social networking and has embraced it fully.

The schedule was simple: check out the soft opening of the new Exploration Space: Explorers Wanted attraction, ride the Shuttle Launch Experience, and then enjoy the rest of the day as we each chose. The new Explore Space exhibit is really something. The entire room is very hands-on, with presentations about the next steps of our manned space flight all around. NASA has always been forward-thinking, and this facility really shows you that this philosophy is holding strong.

After finishing there, we all huddled around in a circle with our preferred Tweeting devices out spreading the word to our respective world of followers about what we had just experienced. Now you may be thinking, “Why bother mentioning the silly Twitter Huddle,” but for us new media folks, this is huge! See, when I am with a group of folks that understand social media and the desire to bring others along for the ride, there’s no pressure. There’s no one waiting on me to finish messing with my phone so that we can move on to bigger and better things. The integration of what is going on right now with those of my followers that find it interesting is the bigger and better thing. It’s why we do social media.

We finished dancing the Twitter Hokey Pokey and headed over to the Shuttle Launch Experience. I have experienced this particular attraction before. Twice. For those that have not, it is certainly a must see. The experience does a great job of explaining what a real shuttle launch is all about, and it gives riders a nice taste of the eight and a half minute ride to orbit. If you aren’t fired up about NASA’s space program after taking a ride on this baby, then you and I just can’t be friends. No hard feelings, you and I just aren’t compatible in that way. You go hang out over there, and I will stay over here with my space buddies, and everything will be just fine.

After the return to Earth, we all went about on our own. Some people had to leave for work and other planetary obligations, but a few of us pressed on. My kids and I decided to ride the bus tour, mainly because we wanted to see the epic Saturn V Facility. We were joined by Janelle Wilson and her father Bill Harrier (@bharrier on Twitter). We had a great time chatting and learning a little bit about each other’s interests, families, and jobs. After the very short time I had to spend with them, I now consider them friends.

My children and I went through the Saturn V Facility, and for the first time we actually got to enjoy the presentation of landing on the moon, Lost Contact (a must-see). We got separated from Janelle and Bill at this point, but that really doesn’t matter. Now we stay in touch through Twitter.

Thank you Janelle and Bill for spending the day with my kids and I, and especially for Janelle’s simple request for a Tweetup. Thank you Jenny for getting the ball rolling and escalating the request. Thank you Andrea and all of the NASA Public Relations Team for making this, and so many other events like it, possible, giving us mere mortals a taste of the magic of space.

Twitter once again brings people together in a tangible, special way. In describing the way people connect on several of the more well-known social media networks and how they bring people together, someone once said that Twitter introduces you to the people you want to know. It did that day. And it still is.

Social media.

Those two simple words are so powerful that just mentioning them almost inevitably brings something to mind. I bet you just had something pop into you brain after you read it. It may be Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, a podcast, someone you got back in touch with, a new circle of friends, or any number of other circumstances or tools that result from that ever-so-powerful beheamoth that is social media.

So it’s really too bad that so many people, companies, and organizations don’t get social media. Mind you, there are no “experts” in social media. It’s too new. No one even knows at what level or skill set one becomes an expert in social media because the field is still in a state of infancy. That said, there is a right way and a wrong way to handle social networking and social media. NASA is one of the organizations that really understands this.

During the early days of the Mars Phoenix, NASA started a Twitter account for the mission. It was an experiment from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The mission was a huge success, and so was the Tweeting. It became very clear to NASA that there were people interested in the day-to-day happenings of the mission, not just the big news items that mainstream media picked up. With 45,000 followers, @MarsPhoenix final transmission was:

01010100 01110010 01101001 01110101 01101101 01110000 01101000 <3
1:12 PM Nov 10th, 2008 from web

MarsPhoenix

The binary message translates to one simple, yet very powerful, truth – triumph. And it was a triumph! Since this mission, NASA has been creating Twitter accounts for all sorts of missions and astronauts.

Some time ago I caught wind of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity being presented by the incredible staff a NASA Headquarters. After the success of various Twitter accounts, several other social media tools, and even a couple of Tweet-Ups, NASA decided to go all-out with a Tweet-Up at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This Tweet-Up would be a two-day event open to only 100 Tweeps. There would be a special up-close-and-personal tour of the complex, a visit to Launch Complex 39A where Atlantis was perched beautifully on the mobile launch platform, and the chance to watch from the press site as Atlantis blasts off on her way to the International Space Station.

I applied, and a few days later I got a response from NASA Headquaters. I promptly posted this:

Your’s truly has been invited to attend THIS: http://www.nasa.gov/collaborate/tweetup.html I will try to give you all my very best coverage!
3:11 PM Oct 20th from web

DaveFlys

I was so happy I could pop! Now, I am a Florida native and I’ve lived on the Space Coast all of my life. I have seen many space shuttle launches, even some from very close. This, however, would be my first chance to watch from the press site. The only people who get to be closer to the launch of a mighty Space Shuttle are securely strapped in to the orbiter’s crew cabin, which sits about one third of the way down a fully-fueled external fuel tank.

Even more importantly, though, would be that I get to experience this event in the company of some of the most enthusiastic, energetic, and vocal people on the internet. These are people that “get it”: they get the space program, and they get social media. Even now, after the event has long-since passed, I have a hard time wrapping my brain around the experience.

To say that the folks at NASA Headquaters did a good job planning this event would be an understatement of cosmic proportions. Seriously, they thought of everything, including WiFi access in the conference room and at the press site and – get this – AC power strips on the tables for the scores of electronic devices that the participants were bound to bring with them. NASA expected the participants to use every form of new media they had at-hand to bring the experience to their fans, friends, and followers.

It worked.

At one point during the opening presentations in the conference room, there was so much buzz on Twitter that the hashtag #NASATweetup topped out at 3rd on Twitter’s trending topics. That’s nuts. Think about it: barely one hundred people at an event were able to generate enough excitement on social media networks that, for a short time, we took over the internet.

We got to meet some of the most influential people in NASA’s social media efforts including the people behind some of these pioneering Twitter accounts. We got to be within a few hundred feet of Atlantis as she was sitting on the pad. We got to rub shoulders with some of the people who work on the Space Shuttle every day. We got to wave the astronauts off as the drove by on their way to the pad. We got to watch – no, we got to feel Atlantis tear open the sky with such power that the atmosphere itself could not get out of the way fast enough.

And we got to share the whole experience with the world.

For NASA, it was an epic undertaking. So massive was the event that they had it in mind to never do anything like it again. That is, until they saw the effect it had on, well, everyone. Hundreds of lives were changed, far more than just those that were there to see it in person. When the folks at NASA saw the full impact that this tweetup had, they knew it would not be the last one. And it hasn’t been.

To NASA, thank you for being a pioneer in social media. Thank you for engaging people on a personal level by not limiting yourself to traditional media channels. Thank you for the opportunity to share such a spectacular event with so many like-minded people. And thank you for giving us the venue to share it with so many other people.

This is what social media is all about.

This is a special episode of PFPL. David is on-location at NASA‘s Kennedy Space Center Press Site for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-129 to the International Space Station.

This QuickCast was recorded the day after the launch of Atlantis and the STS-129 crew. One of the Tweetup participants, Chris Floyd, flew his own Mooney Ovation 3 from Northern California all the way to Florida. Chris is one of the guys who really “gets” general aviation, and he takes great pride in spreading his enthusiasm and excitement to others. This QuickCast is cockpit audio of the last few minutes of a flight David took with Chris in his gorgeous Mooney. And we do mean gorgeous.

Thanks Chris for taking me up! -David

Follow Chris on Twitter: http://twitter.com/cmfloyd
Chris’ blog and videos: http://chrisfloyd.wordpress.com/

NASA has really embraced social media. As part of this, they have arranged several Tweet-Ups with various agencies. NASA has many astronauts, support personnel, and even several missions that are active on Twitter. Find a list of the Twitter accounts and other social media endevors here: http://www.nasa.gov/collaborate, and find more information about this Tweet-Up at http://www.nasa.gov/tweetup.

Direct download: STS-129_QuickCast_03.mp3

This is a special episode of PFPL. David is on-location at NASA‘s Kennedy Space Center Press Site for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-129 to the International Space Station.

This QuickCast was recorded only a couple of hours after the launch of Atlantis during the bus ride back to the KARS Park I parking area. With the shuttle launch – and the feelings it inspired – still fresh in everyone’s mind, David asked everyone in the rear half of the bus for their first impressions of the launch. This episode is, simply, their answers.

NASA has really embraced social media. As part of this, they have arranged several Tweet-Ups with various agencies. NASA has many astronauts, support personnel, and even several missions that are active on Twitter. Find a list of the Twitter accounts and other social media endevors here: http://www.nasa.gov/collaborate, and find more information about this Tweet-Up at http://www.nasa.gov/tweetup.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Geeky ‘tweeters’ to report on shuttle launch (msnbc.msn.com)

This is a special episode of PFPL. David is on-location at NASA‘s Kennedy Space Center Press Site for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-129 to the International Space Station. NASA has really embraced social media. As part of this, they have arranged several Tweet-Ups with various agencies. NASA has many astronauts, support personnel, and even several missions that are active on Twitter. Find a list of the Twitter accounts and other social media endevors here: http://www.nasa.gov/collaborate, and find more information about this Tweet-Up at http://www.nasa.gov/tweetup.

Guests:

• Adam Fast: http://twitter.com/adamcanfly
• Chris Floyd: http://twitter.com/cmfloyd

It’s launch day for Atlantis on Space Shuttle mission STS-127. Again. It was launch day on Monday, and it was launch day on Sunday before that, but both launches were scrubbed for weather. Lightning, high winds, clouds, and precipitation all have to be considered before a “go” is given for the launch. Since Space Shuttle launches are manned, the weather at the backup landing facilities must also be considered in the event of a failure that prevents the orbiter from reaching orbit. I found this 16-page document which seems to lay out all of the weather-specific requirements for launch. Feel free to peruse it.

So why would mission managers and rocket scientists, presumably some of the smartest people on this planet, decide to set a launch window right smack dab in the middle of a thunderstorm-infested summer afternoon? Sounds like a pretty simple decision, right?

Not so much.

See, there’s no weather in space. The targets that we are trying to hit in space, such as the International Space Station in STS-127, don’t exactly care what the weather is like in Florida when they are passing overhead. Consider a hunter trying to shoot a duck while it is flying. The hunter has to lead the flying duck so that his bullet meets the duck mid-flight. If that duck’s flight path takes it behind a tree, the hunter won’t have a clear shot and may miss the target. The hunter only has a narrow “window” of opportunity in which to hit his target.

When the NASA engineers select the time for each mission’s launch window, it has very little, if anything, to do with the general weather pattern at the launch facility, and everything to do with hitting the target in space. If weather gets in the way, they can’t just wait until it clears. Instead, they have to wait until the next time the target is in the appropriate position relative to the launch site.

It’s all about tragectory, not Florida’s summer afternoon climate.