Fifth time is a charm. Kathy, my friend Mike, and I have been driving 3 hours back and forth from Cape Kennedy to see a Space X Falcon 9 rocket launch, but the flight encountered a host of problems. The first day the launch was scrubbed because of torrential rain. The next day the launch was scrubbed due to upper atmosphere turbulence. The 3rd day the scrub was due to 35 mph wind gusts. The following day, the 4th attempt, was aborted 33 seconds before launch because a Royal Caribbean cruise ship “Harmony of the Seas” entered the restricted zone. Finally, yesterday, we got to witness the launch. Very cool to see the first stage booster separate and fly back to Cape Canaveral and land.
Over the five days we tried many locations to view the flight and finally saw it from Kayak Beach near Port Canaveral. There are thousands of people who go to these launches, so it is quite stressful with traffic, parking fees, unfamiliar roads, etc. Should you decide to see a launch ask others for advice – and beware because there are many people who profess to have information but don’t have a clue what they are talking about.
The first two photos are the initial launch. The third is the rocket about 20 seconds in flight. The last photo is the first stage booster landing back on the Cape at a landing pad that is to the right of the launch pad.
