Bits'n pieces

Today I go home to Norway. At 3 pm I have to return the rental car. And at 7.30, my flight to London takes off. Hopefully. I have had some great days here. Seen my first launch. My last space shuttle launch. I have the t-shirt. The memorials. The videos and the photos. I haven't really been exploring much, as I normally do when I go travelling, so I didn't feel there was much to write home about in this blog. But I just wanted to write the final entry this time, with some bits and pieces. Small stories about the days here in Florida.

Hotel for champions

When I searched for hotels, I searched for el-cheapo hotels. Like I always do. The Champions World Resort caught my eyes. It was the second cheapest in the list, and it had pretty good reviews. Even better then many much more expensive. I checked out the neighborhood on Google Earth. It was clearly not in the middle of anything but Nowhere. But I didn't mind. I love cheap accommodation, as long as it is clean and safe. One report said that the police found a meth-lab in one of the rooms a couple of years ago. But that was then, not now. So I booked a room for the week. At $200 for a week, it was a bargain in this area. So close to Disney. The evening after I arrived, I was watching tv when I heard some banging on the door a couple of rooms away from mine. "Open up! POLICE!" an authoritative male voice shouted. "Euuuuukei!" I thought to myself and smiled a bit. I didn't hear anything more, and didn't go to the window to check what was going on, so I just ignored it.
Yesterday, when I was driving out from the hotel, a car from the sheriff's office drove out in front of me, with an obviously hand-cuffed guy in the back seat. Arrested at the hotel. Euuukei! Oh, well. The staff is nice and friendly, the rooms are clean, and the housekeeping lady always asks me if there is something more she can provide to make my stay more comfortable. A nice place.

Sinus

On the day of the launch, my overuse of air-con in the car had given me a sore throat. And I was coughing a lot. On Saturday, it had spread to the sinuses. I had a weak pain underneath my eyes, but hoped it would not develop. It did. As I was driving down the beautiful and scenic A1A, it got worse. And worse. When I got as far south as Fort Pierce, my whole face was a throbbing pain. My nose was running. My eyes where shot. And the head-ache was too much to ignore. I thought about it, and found that if this developed, I'd rather go back to my hotel in Kisseemee, so I didn't have to drive for a day with sinus infection and a fever to get back to the airport. Boy was I glad I returned. On Sunday, I had sinus infection, throbbing headache, and a cold. Running nose, running eyes and a hard cough. I stayed in bed. Set the AC to 80F, and lay under the sheets most of the day. Just left to buy some supplies, and let the housekeeping lady do her job. Watched tv most of the time.
Yesterday, I was a bit better. My nose was still running, and I was still coughing. But the sinus infection was gone, and so was most of the headache.

A place called Harmony

On Saturday I had planned to go down the coast to Key West, and I was driving on the 192 west when I saw a sign welcoming people to Harmony. The best little town in the world. 1200 inhabitants. The entrance looked inviting, but I was on my way south, so I figured I would look into it on my way back. But as I wrote in the last paragraph, I returned a few hours later. I decided to check it out. I was thinking that this must be the town Disney designed as the fairytale town. Where everybody HAD to smile and greet each other when they met on the street. But that turned out to be Celebration. I am thinking of checking that out today. It is only a short drive from here.
When I saw the sign, I had to admit the first thought that raced through my mind was : "Stepford wives". When I exited the highway and entered, I expected to see robot dolls smiling everywhere as they tended to their gardens or did their shopping. But the town was more like a ghost town. I drove around, looking at perfectly set gardens and perfectly kept houses. But no life. It was not until I was far into town that I saw a woman bent tending her flowerbed. And a couple of young girls walking together on the sidewalk. Otherwise. Nothing. No children playing. No grownups anywhere. I turned my car around and drove back to the highway. On my way back, I glimpsed a police car. But that was it. Maybe they were all on vacation. Or at work. Or something. But 1200 people was NOT around on Saturday afternoon. That's for sure.

On second thought

On Wednesday, I entered a 7-eleven shop to buy something to drink for my ride to Kennedy. As I was standing in line, I thought about what a drag such a job would be. Minimum wage for standing behind the counter. Scanning the products people were buying. Saying "yessir, yessma'am, how are you? Have a good day" to everybody. Why would he bother? Then I realized that the US has a high unemployment rate at the moment. This may not be a dream job. He may just be scraping by. But he has a job. He is making an honest buck. And that is something I should respect. It is good sometimes to think twice before one concludes. I have at times, when sitting in a fancy restaurant, eating 100$ meals, blessed my fortune of being able to do so. I try not to take it for granted. Anything can happen. Maybe in the future, I am the one who has to choose a crappy job to make an honest living. You never know.

Left? Right! Right? No! Left! Right!

Some signs here are a bit confusing. Not the signs themselves, but the spot they have been placed. Like in passport control at Orlando International. There is a sign posted on a spot where the walkway is divided. It says foreign passports to the left, and American to the right. To me, it seemed like I should take the left walkway. Not so, this was the entry point for passengers from other flights. The sign was for the passport control down the walkway to the right. If it hadn't been for the passengers that streamed down from the left, I probably would have wondered along searching for passport control.
Yesterday, I was driving up space coast, and I was entering a road that lead to KSC. The road split, and the sign said KSC to the left. So I turned onto the left road. Then I realized that hidden beneath the thick grass, was a yellow line. Indicating I was on the wrong side of the road. I got to the crossroad, and tried to drive as far to the right as possible. Smiling to the big eyed drivers exiting onto the road I had just been driving on. I pretended like nothing and hoped a patrol car hadn't spotted me...

Politeness

I am a bit amazed at how polite people are in traffic here in Florida. I don't know if this is just here, or if it goes for all the US. But nobody have every honked their horn at me. In Oslo, if I hesitate more than 1 millisecond to drive after the lights have turned to green, people are on their horns. Here, I have been expecting people to honk several times. But nothing happened. It made my life as a foreign driver a lot easier. Especially when I had to make some strange maneuvers to get to the place I wanted. Even when a woman cut in front of a guy so he had to break so hard his tires where smoking. No horns, just raised hands and shaking heads.

What's in a nickle

On my way to the Space Coast, I had to make a rest stop at a gas station in Melbourne. It was a small gas-station. But it had a restroom in the back. I asked if could use it. The guy behind the counter nodded, and showed me the direction. After I had finished, I thought I had to buy something for using his restroom. So I bought an ice cream. $1.37. I figured this may be the time to loose some change. I had a fistful of it. But I had not learned all the coins. So I picked them up, one at a time. And then I came to one I didn't know what it was. I asked him. "A nickle" he said. "What's a nickle?" I asked. He looked at me in disbelief. I smiled. "I'm sorry! I'm not from around here." He burst into laughter. "Could have fooled me! A nickle is five cents." So now I know what nickles and dimes are. Who says you can't learn anything from travelling?

Fear of the cashier

Once, I entered a store for some quick snacks before I headed on to Kennedy. I stood in front of the cashier when he mumbled something. I said "what?", thinking he had spoken to me. He looked at me, and I could see fear growing in his eyes. "I'm sorry sir! I didn't mean you!" I smiled. "That's alright. I didn't hear what you said anyway!" He looked at me. Fumbled with some dollar bills in his hands. "I was just saying the bills where stupid, cause they wouldn't lie straight in the cash register." I laughed. "Annoying isn't it?". He smiled. "Yes sir!". I don't know what he feared of me. That I would sue him for calling me stupid, or that I might be an Anton Chigurh.

Coincidentals

I was on my way to Kennedy the first day, when I switched on the radio. "You're listening to Space Coast Radio!" and then Creedence Clearwater was played. I was smiling. "Proud Mary" was a hit when Neil Armstrong was walking on the Moon. "How fitting" I thought to myself when I was driving towards KSC. The home of the Moon walkers. Then I saw the sign. "Challenger Memorial Highway". I was driving on the highway that was dedicated to the seven astronauts who died in the Challenger disaster. Later, I exited onto the Columbia Boulevard. Reality check. There has been a number of successes launched from the Cape, but we must not forget the disasters. Not to hampered by them, but to learn from them. One might say they should never have happened. But if we were to make sure nothing bad could happen, nothing good would happen either. "It is the dream afraid of waking, that never takes the chance".

The car

I have few photos of the car. More videos. I have taped some acceleration and driving videos, just for show. But they won't be published here. At least not now. Need to compress them a bit, I think. HD-video takes up a lot of space. But here is a photo I took yesterday. In the rain. Click on the image for a bigger sized image.

Going home

My blog hasn't exactly been flooded with entries this time around. But I hope you have enjoyed reading it all the same. I have enjoyed my stay here. I haven't taken too many pictures. Mostly video this time. There simply wasn't too much to take photos of, except from KSC. Maybe after I come home, I will go through them, and publish them here. They need some freshing up. And I don't have the software here to do it.
In 9 hours time, I will be on the plane heading east. Back to Oslo. Back to normal life. I have now seen a launch. The last one. Sadly enough. I wish I had come before. Maybe seen a few. But we always think we will have another chance. Another time. Some day, there are no more chances. So whatever it is : Do it now! Don't wait till the last chance.

Ragnar
Globetrotter

Liftoff!

"The question I get asked the most is : Where you afraid when you got on board the shuttle to be launched? And I answer : No I wasn't afraid. I was TERRIFIED!" - Mike Mullane, astronaut

T-11 hours and counting

My mobile started beeping. It was 00.30 am. Time o get up. Everyone said it would be chaos. With 1 million people coming to see the launch, the roads would be jam-packed. I had to be at Kennedy by 5 am. I switched on the computer. Had to check the latest status. They had started fueling at the planned time. But it was only 30% chance of actual launch weather. I thought for a second whether to get back to sleep or to go. 30% isn't much. And when I drove back from KSC the day before, it rained cats and dogs and the rest of the animal kingdom. And there was a thunderstorm. One lightning bolt had struck the launch platform. But according to their web-page, a engineering committee had deemed it not to be of importance.
I had a quick the shower, got on my Atlantis t-shirt I bought at the airport, and got out to the car with all my gear. It was already past 1 am. I opted not to use the GPS. I had driven the route now twice, and had it in my head. Drive 192 east, get on I-4 north, exit to 528 east to Cape Canaveral, and stay on it till you reach the sign for Kennedy Space Center. Exit to Challenger Memorial Highway. Exit to Columbia Boulevard and straight on to KSC. Everything was fine until I got on the I-4. I passed an exit, and thought : Wasn't I supposed to exit here? Couldn't remember any sign, but I was sure. At 1.30 in the morning, I have an IQ of -30... So I got off the highway, and tried to return back south to find the exit. But it was nowhere to be found. I was almost back at my hotel before I managed to make a U-turn. This time, I switched on the GPS, and found that I had stopped a few miles short of the exit to 528... The time was now close to 2 am. Three hours until they closed the gates to KSC.
I felt my heart racing. Going through scenarios in my head. Jammed roads. Alternate viewing spots. All bad. I didn't need to worry. People had obviously stayed overnight along the coast. The roads were not jammed. I drove straight to the visitor center. It was 3 am. T-8 and a half hours and counting.

After some security check and ticket check, I was inside. My only thought being : Getting a good spot. I found the place where they had put up a lot of seats for the spectators. I put down my gear. But as I walked around, I saw the lights from the launch pad. It was behind some trees. I wouldn't be able to see anything from where I was. I picked up my gear, and found a spot with better view. But it was close to a loudly humming generator. Not something I wanted on my video. So I wandered further. In the end I found the viewer's lawn. It was as far north as one could get in the visitor complex. No obstructions. And in clear view of the direction of the launch pad, and the large screen. It was perfect. I put down all of my gear once again. And started preparing mentally for what I was going to see. I looked at my watch. T-6 hours and counting. When I sat in my chair, I felt some raindrops. My heart sank. I was tired. I almost fell asleep in the chair. Had a few power naps. And a few Coke's. Didn't help much.

Kennedy Space center is located in a wildlife sanctuary. As this image shows :

T-5 hours and counting

I had a ticket for breakfast with an astronaut. I thought at first that this was with one of the astronauts going up that morning. But the more I thought of it, the more I realized how stupid that would be. They would risk the astronaut contracting some virus or something from the audience. And I was right. It was three time shuttle astronaut Mike Mullane who would entertain us this morning. The breakfast was held in a banquet hall at the Early Space Exploration center. The food was excellent, and Mike was entertaining. With his politically uncorrect speech and good humor, he made me laugh a number of times. Some quotes :
"As you probably understand, during launch, spacewalk and reentry, we cannot say 'can we stop at the next gas-station?' when we need to go. So therefore, we are wearing something called a 'urinary collection device', also known as diaper. But we cannot CALL it diaper, can we? Here we are riding the most advanced piece of equipment in the world, so we HAVE to call it a urinary collection device. Just to make it sound more advanced.
"My first flight was on the STS-27. The second flight after the challenger disaster. And when we got into orbit, you kind of think that 99% of the danger is behind you. It's a false sense of security of course. As Columbia showed us in 2003. But a few days after we had launched, ground control contacted us and asked : 'Umm. Did you guys see anything flying past your cockpit window during booster burn?' And I thought : 'Crap! what is it now?' 'Ummm. We have studied the film of the launch, and, eerrr, the tip of the booster came off, and kinda crashed with the shuttle.' On inspection, 90 tiles where broken. And one of them was a black tile. We honestly did not know whether we would be able to return safely. Luckily, the black tile was on the edge of the hot zone, so even though it got hot, it didn't burn through."
After the speech, there was Q&A, and a boy asked what he needed to study to become and astronaut. Mike thought for a few seconds before he said : "Russian". A gasp of disbelief rolled through the room. "Yeah, I know it is politically uncorrect to say so, but it is the truth. Without the shuttle, the US has no means of transporting astronauts. So if we need to launch astronauts, we need to ask the Russians to take us up there. Russia is now the only once with a manned space programme."

T-3 hours and counting

"Weather is still 30% chance of launch" the speaker from Houston said. On the screen, we saw the astronauts in the "white room" preparing to enter the space shuttle and to be strapped down in their seats. The speaker talked through the procedure, explaining everything they did and why they did it. What every person in the white room was doing and why. It was fascinating, it got the time flying. It is impossible to understand just how much work it is to prepare for launch. No wonder they have to wear dia....errr... urinary collection devices.

T-1 hour and counting

"The weather is now Go For Launch!" The speaker said. Everybody burst into spontaneous cheer and applause. A Cessna Citation was flying overhead. It was a shuttle astronaut who was checking to see the safety of a return flight if the launch had to be aborted for some reason, after booster separation. Helicopters where flying around to check the area. The police set up road blocks. We were go for launch. I was hoping for a last minute clearing of the clouds. The cloud cover was so thick that we would only see the shuttle the first 30 seconds or so before it disappeared behind the clouds. We would see it. We were actually in a Go For Launch state! I was excited.

T-5 minutes and counting

I started my compact camera wide field view video recording. It would be recording everything for 10 minutes or so. I checked my HD video-camera. It was set to go. I set the SLR with telephoto lens to interval shooting. 2 second intervals. I was ready. I heard someone sobbing beside me. A German girl was standing there. Tears running down her cheeks. Her lips trembling. She held her hand before her mouth. "Scheisse" she whispered. I thought of something to say, but couldn't find anything. So I just returned to my gear.

T-1 minute and counting

My heart was beating frantically. My blood pressure was at aorta-bursting level. I breathed heavily. I was trembling. The German girl started sobbing again. I looked at her. She looked at me and smiled bravely. "I'm sorry, it's my first time!". "That's OK, it is my first time too!" I said and smiled. I turned to my gear and realized what a strange conversation that was, between two adults with their clothes on and in public. But it was true. We where "launch virgins".

T-31 seconds and holding

The area fell dead quiet. They had stopped the countdown. Something was wrong. If it weren't for the children screaming for ice-cream or new toys or their parents' attention, I think one could have heard the famous pin drop. I thought : "Nooooooooo! Not THIS close!". My head exploded in thoughts and emotions. I heard nothing until the releasing words "Concur! Go for launch!". We went into a collective burst of joy! "Resuming countdown from 31 seconds in 5-4-3-2-1 T-31 second and counting!".
I was trembling so violently that I had problems thinking about what I should do. I zoomed the video-camera a a bit. "5-4-3-2-1!"

Liftoff!

On the screen we could see the shuttle taking off. I looked at the horizon. After a few seconds, a beautiful flame appeared over the treetops. I almost forgot to follow it with my camera. As it rose, it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. A bright, golden flame that looked so soft you almost wanted to touch it. And it rose, and rose. And disappeared behind the clouds. I burst into screams of joy! Then the sound arrived. Low at first, then stronger. And stronger. And stronger. Even with strong winds towards the launch pad, we could both hear and FEEL the sound. A long, rumbling, smattering sound of thunder. I could feel the ground rumbling, and I could also feel the sound pressure on my body. Like a light tapping. AWESOME! I hope my camera was able to record it. 80 million horsepower in total. That is some serious power!
The smoke from the boosters hung in the air like fluffy, vanilla cream. Beautiful.

Anticlimax

After the launch. I felt like I had come down from a high. I have never tried drugs, but I can imagine this is how it feels. Looking at the old rockets from the 60's. Something that would have been a dream for me, was almost boring to me now. I wanted to see another launch. But this was the last one. My first and last.
I also found that the interval shooting had for some reason not worked. So I only got one image. And that failed to shoot the shuttle...

The only telephoto image. One can see the smoke and part of the flame :

The shuttle launcher is BIG! Compared to the earlier Mercury rockets, this is a giant!

Aftermath

I stayed at the visitor complex as long as possible. Hoping that most of the traffic would disappear by the time I got on the road. But it didn't. I left at 6 pm. The roads where packed. Snailing along. It took 3 hours to get back to my hotel. Normally this would take 1. 1 million people where heading home. I had a sore throat. Airconditioning. I never learn. The next day, I woke up with sinus infection and a cold. But that is the story of another blog entry.

Ragnar
Participant of an historic moment

T minus 2 days and counting

Sitting here in my "el cheapo" hotel in Kisseemee in Florida. Two days away from the launch. Bought the t-shirt. Ready for action. But the road to this point has been a little more stressful than I wanted. Short story follows.

Bright days in Brighton

I had planned to go to Brighton to stay with some friends there a couple of days, and just relax before heading to Orlando. Ashley was busy, so I spent the Saturday down by the beach. Enjoying the sun and the relative warm temperature. When I say warm, I of course mean : Northern Europe kind of warm. Anything above 20 is HOT. And everybody is out in their bikinis. Well, girls anyway. I quite enjoyed it. Walking along the beach. Looking at the carousels, the live performances of artists and whatnot. And after a long and soothing day, I was standing in a public toilet of all places, when it suddenly hit me : Driving license!
When I sat at home on Friday, deciding which cards I needed to go into my wallet, I took out my driving license and thought : "I don't need that, I've got my passport. No need for extra ID"... Even though I had talked about the cool rental car I had booked, I completely forgot about it when I packed my wallet. I was close to screaming in anger and frustration. I walked back to Ashley's house. Needed to walk off some anger. I thought of canceling the car. Going back to Norway. Which card I could "fake" as the driving license (since the people at Avis in Orlando probably don't know what a Norwegian looks like). I got back to the house, and got on the internet to check the prices of a flight back to Norway. It would be almost the price of the rental car. I sat there for a long time. Just trying to figure out what to do. Ashley suggested I grow a beard and use his license. A brilliant idea, with only three minor flaws. 1) I wore glasses. 2) His license was English, my passport Norwegian. 3) The name on his license did not match mine in the passport. He was kidding of course.
After some discussion, I decided to go back to Norway. It was a detour I did not want. And it meant that instead of me getting up at a lazy hour, and getting on a late morning train to Gatwick, I had to get up at 3 in the morning in Oslo, get on the bus to Oslo Airport, take a plane back to Gatwick, wait for several hours on the flight, and then fly to Orlando. A typical, stressful and sleepy journey I had hoped to avoid. But there was no other option. No-one had access to my apartment, so I couldn't have them express me the license either.
I have to admit, when I walked through the streets of Oslo on Monday, it felt wrong. I wasn't supposed to be here. I was supposed to have a lazy day in Brighton. Instead I was forced to sit and wait for a flight to Norway. A flight that ended up being two hours late. So when I finally got home, it was time to get to bed.
To save some back-pain, I opted for storing my backpack on Gatwick airport. This almost ended in tears too. When I got back to my apartment, I thought I'd get rid of the things I no longer needed, like dirty clothes and receipts. After I had gotten to bed, the thought struck me. "RECEIPT!!!". I got out of bed, and found the receipt for my backpack at Gatwick. Put it safely in my wallet. Would have been typical that I went through all this trouble to get my license, and then forget the receipt for my backpack, and thus all the gear I was going to use for the Space Shuttle launch. I am getting old. And senile. No question.

Some images from my day. Before I realized my mistake.

From the aquarium :

Flight across the pond

Virgin Atlantic had the cheapest flight across the pond this time. They were on time. Well on time. And I got a seat just behind the wing. Row 52. Window seat. As they called out the rows for boarding, I was amazed to see how few people showed up. And when they closed the doors of the plane, there were hardly enough people on board to put one in each seating group. So I got three seats to myself. I smiled. Ah! My worst nightmare had no chance of coming true. I reckoned that since I already had had so much misfortune, I would probably be stuck with an "over-sized" family with a kid that would kick and scream the whole 9 hour flight. Not so. Instead I had plenty of space to myself. Rows in front and back without anybody. Loved it.
When I left Oslo, it was raining. So I ended up bringing an umbrella with me. When I got to Gatwick, I was told to pack it into a specially designated bag. I opened the bag. And looked at her with an unbelieving look. "This bag?!" She nodded. "Yes, I'm sorry!". It was big enough to fit a cow. With food for two days and a milking machine. At this moment, I was ready to just throw my umbrella in the trash bin. But I thought : "I carried my umbrella through Vietnam for 4 weeks, and Aeroflot managed to bring it home safely. With its own tag and stuff. It should be interesting to see if this would work too." It did. The umbrella arrived in one piece. So I am covered now, in more than one sense, for a rainy day. Hopefully, it will not be on Friday morning...

The virgin I flew :

The car

I arrived at the AVIS counter at Orlando International. Took out my voucher and handed it to the guy at the counter. "Oh! You have got some sweet ride waiting for you!" he said with a big smile. "Red or black?" he asked. "Red!" I said. I arrived at parking space R36. There it was. In all of its glory. My Dodge Challenger with the Hemi V8. I got in and turned the key. "ROARRrrrrrrrrrumblerumblerumble!" it snarled in response. Ooooooo. Goosebumps! After some fiddling with the GPS, I was on my way. I had opted for Norwegian language on the GPS. Big mistake. The poor lady was trying to pronounce the American names in Norwegian. I had to look constantly at the GPS to try to decipher what she tried to say. So today, I will change it back to English.
The traffic on the highways was light. Luckily. Slightly jet-lagged and with a Norwegian lady misleading me I needed the space. I must have appeared like a drunk driver to others. Normally, I hate getting the "red menace" in cities. But this time, it was fun. I was hoping for a red light. Every time the lights changed from red to green, I floored the gas. I felt a kick in the back. And everybody else was in my rear view mirror in seconds. And the breaks. Oh! I love the breaks. Smooth to begin with, but when you drop your foot, you hang in the belt. Wow, what a feeling! With music on the radio, the AC breezing the short stubs on my hair, and the arm resting on the mid console, I waz cruzn! Into the sunset and towards my hotel.

Hotel for champions

The hotel was the second cheapest I could find. The Champions World Resort. Smack in the middle of nowhere. Mc and 7-Eleven nearby. And just a few miles from what appears to be "the strip" of Kisseemee. The place where every hotel, motel, and ticket office seemed to have landed on a small, cramped piece of property. Driving through there yesterday, it felt like Vegas. Bright, shining lights and signs. Everybody advertising the cheapest tickets to Disney. And buying unused tickets. I tried not to be too mesmerized by it. If I had looked at every sign, I probably would have rear-ended somebody, or run a red light or something. I am not going to Disney World anyhow.
The hotel was OK. Clean, just off the highway. With several pools, and friendly staff. The beds are enormous, and the toilet low. I was trying to find the logic to this. Big beds = good value. Low toilet = YOU ARE A BIG GUY!!!! Maybe not. Maybe I should stop trying to find the logic in things...

Today, I am thinking of driving out to the Cape, to see how long it takes, and to get a feel for where I want to drive to get there. I know I will probably have to get up at 2 or 3 AM in the morning to get there by 5 AM. As the car ticket say I have to. So I am trying not to turn my days around. But rather get to bed early and get up early. So I won't be too tired on Friday.

Two days to go, and I've got the t-shirt! (I found the Mars Planets in Gatwick Airport. They seemed appropriate...)

Ragnar
With a license to drive

On my way

Another year. Another vacation. Another adventure. It is 15 years since I first ventured into the world on my own. 15 years of exiting travels. New people. New smells. New tastes. New cultures. I have always loved it. No matter how tired I have been after I came home, I always wanted more.
Sitting here now in my living room, I smell the fresh smell of summers rain. The birds singing as the daylight dims outside. I feel the tingling in my body. The tingling I get every time I am heading out. But this time, the country is not strange to me. I have been there several times. The USA. But the country is not the goal this time. It is something spectacular.
On the 8'th of July, 11.26 AM EST, the space shuttle Atlantis will end an era. No more space shuttle launches. The four astronauts riding the flame this time will be the last flying the ultimate plane.
It is quite special to me. When I was a kid, I read everything I found about space and astronomy. And when I was 11, they launched the first space shuttle. We were given time off at school to watch the first attempt. I still remember it like it was yesterday. My eyes fixed on the tv. The classmates talking was just a faint whisper in my ears. I probably felt like those who watched Neil Armstrong on the Moon. "One small step". Hypnotized.
The launch was postponed. We went back to our classrooms. But I was on a space flight in my mind for days afterwards. On April 12'th 1981, the shuttle was finally launched. I watched all the newscast, read all papers about the launch. About John Young and Robert Crippen. About lost heat shield tiles. The anxiety, the thrill, the success. I swallowed every bit of info. To me, manned space flight started on that day. Gagarin, Glenn, Armstrong. They were just something in books. This was real. Before my eyes. Live.
5 years later, a cold winters eve. 28'th of January. I had decided not to watch the news that particular evening. And instead, I took a long walk. I had a lot on my mind, and I didn't particularly care about the "PR" launch of a school teacher. When I got back in the house, my dad looked at me and said the words that rang in my mind for weeks to come. "The space shuttle has exploded!". I turned to the TV. The images of the shuttle disintegrating in a giant fireball. The two solid rocket boosters veering off on their own. I trembled. It was unreal. This was not supposed to happen.
February 1'st, 2003. I was attending the annual general assembly of my astronomy club. A guy who knows more about space than anybody else I know, was holding a lecture on space activities the past year. He ended it by talking about the current flight of the Columbia. And that it was now as he spoke, descending back to Earth. One of the guys attending got a phone call. He left the room. A minute later, he came back, and whispered something into the ear of the club leader. He got up, and said he had some terrible news. The space shuttle had crashed. There where no survivors. The room fell silent. The lecturer almost collapsed on the floor. In shock. On the screen was the picture of the crew. We had a minute of silence to commemorate the crew. I looked at each of the crew members. This wasn't supposed to happen.
Now, 30 years after the first lifted off pad 39A, the last shuttle will be launched from the same pad. It has been a long programme. 135 launches. Two ended in disaster. It has launched space observatories, satellites, parts for the space station. And scores of astronauts. I once had a dream of becoming one of them. I still dream of venturing out among the stars. Fly me to the Moon. Maybe someday, I will. But for now, I will settle for waving goodbye to those fortunate enough to ride. And pray for their safe return. Their journey is a dangerous one.
During my travels, I have often been afraid. I have at times found myself in situations where things easily could have gone seriously wrong. But I have been thinking: if I died on my travels, I would die doing what I love the most. Would that be a bad thing?

Welcome to the world according to me. Hope you'll enjoy it!

Ragnar
With a license to dream