Cleared for Launch by NASA

When I was a kid, my cousin and I went to space camp. I thought it was the coolest camp anyone could ever go to. In part because of the movie Space Camp and also due to the fact that I worked hard to pay my way to attend. We spent a week in Hunstville, Alabama learning how to be astronauts and deciding if that was the path for us (or just having fun with the zero-gravity rides and mock missions). Turns out, it wasn't the path for either of us, but that love of space has always had a place in my heart.

When people think of NASA, they think of Florida and Texas. I remember attending elementary school in Florida and going outside to search the skies for the rockets after the launches. I didn't realize how unique that was until we moved to Colorado and could only watch them from the TV, never seeing them in the sky. 

How many of you knew there's a NASA flight facility in Virginia? We didn't, until 2:30 this morning when Ben went to check the anchor we dropped at 10:30 last night in the dark. (The first anchoring where we were yelling back and forth to each other because we couldn't see well and there were some shoals nearby we were trying to avoid.) He came back, got into bed, and let me know the anchor was still in place, despite all of the rolling waves we'd been experiencing through the night.

All of a sudden, there was a white light illuminating our bedroom hatches. Knowing we were the only boat anchored in the area, it called for our attention. Ben got up and noticed it was another boat, so he went onto the deck. I heard him talking on the radio so I got up to see what was going on. The guy on the other end asked what our intentions were, how fast we move, and told Ben we'd be in the way of the shuttle launch. That's when Ben told me that NASA needs us to move within the next hour. He and I looked at each other, both barely awake, in disbelief that this was actually happening. He radioed back to clarify why we were moving and the guy on the other end confirmed it.

While all 3 kids were still asleep, we started the engines and lifted the anchor. We weren't sure how long they'd sleep since their beds are over the engines. The night before was a late one because the next safe inlet (Toms Cove) was several hours away, so we were hoping they would be asleep for a while considering the long day ahead of us. If you know Ben, you know this 2:30 start to the day meant that we could get so many more miles in today. We wouldn't be anchoring in a new place in the dark. 

Looking west to Virginia from the Atlantic Ocean
Sunset was around 8:45 PM, so we had about 90 minutes of boating in the dark, on the open water. I quickly found out that is not my thing.

Despite me telling Ben 4 hours prior that I did not want to ever ride in the dark again, I didn't have much of a choice. What are the chances that we happened to wind up in this cove where NASA launches from, on the eve of a shuttle launch?! We were escorted out of Toms Cove, in the dark, by NASA 4 hours before the expected 0700 Minotaur 1 launch. 

Moose and Roo slept until after 7 AM, but Bear joined us closer to 3 AM in the cockpit. She and I cuddled together bracing ourselves for the waves in the dark, not knowing which ones would be big, which would be small, or where we were. In my head, I kept a countdown until sunrise when we'd be more aware of what was going on around us. We kept nodding off while waiting for the launch that was delayed because of storms in the area. (Storms that we likely experienced in the ocean, but didn't notice because of the darkness!) Needless to say, we couldn't wait to get to bed and hopefully sleep longer than the past 2 nights!

Around 9 am, we watched the live coverage (this link cuts to the chase and just shows the launch) on YouTube, dragged the kids out onto the deck, and then saw the rocket soar up in the sky. Having my kids experience a launch like I remember doing as a kid made my space-loving heart so full. 

I guess space camp was the closest I'll be to witnessing the real thing.

Look for the faint white squirrelly vertical line- that's the path of the Minotaur I!