How to see the shuttle off
Posted: Tuesday, June 05, 2007 8:55 PM by Alan Boyle
Thousands of onlookers are expected to turn out for the launch of the shuttle Atlantis, now scheduled for Friday, and you'll find plenty of information about the best viewing sites around NASA's Kennedy Space Center. But if you're not inclined to fight it out with the crowds, you can elect to watch the liftoff on TV, on your computer or even on your mobile phone. Here's a viewing guide:
- Web video: When it comes to online video coverage of the countdown and the mission, you can't do better than NASA TV on the Web. Here at MSNBC.com, we'll be streaming NASA TV via our video news portal - and serving up the highlights as video-on-demand clips, just in case you missed the launch (or wanted to catch a replay). NASA will be doing a prelaunch "Ask an Astronaut" Webcast at 11 a.m. ET Thursday. While you're waiting, you can play around with NASA's "Mission Planner" game.
- Blog countdown: We'll keep you up to date on all the developments leading up to the launch, of course - but during the final hours, you'll also want to check the minute-by-minute mission status report at Spaceflight Now. Florida Today's Flame Trench is also worth watching, and NASA is planning its own Launch Blog as well.
- Television: MSNBC will have the highlights on cable, but NASA TV will have the full launch commentary beginning at 1:30 p.m. ET Friday (assuming that the launch schedule holds, of course). If you have NASA TV on your channel lineup, great. But if you have HDTV and access to the HDNet channel, you'll definitely want to make the switch at 6 p.m. ET. The high-definition coverage is so good that NASA used it last year to check for debris damage during Atlantis' previous launch. Maybe someday we'll see shuttle launches on a Remote Media Immersion via Internet2 - but in the meantime, real-time HDTV is the next best thing to being there.
- Mobile coverage: You can get news alerts and online updates via a variety of mobile-phone services, including MSNBC's offerings. For multimedia coverage tailored to space subjects, you can turn to Space2Phone - which plans to serve up live video coverage of Atlantis' launch. (You'll also find a host of phone wallpapers and ringtones that would delight the heart of any Trekkie ... or is that Trekker?)
By the way, Spaceweather Phone may not offer live launch video - but it does provide mobile updates on solar flares, sunspots, space station flyovers and other highlights for skywatchers. And if you're looking for the plain facts about the final frontier, you can steer your Web-enabled mobile device over to SpaceRef Mobile.
All this virtual shuttle-surfing is nice, but if you have the chance to experience a launch in person, you shouldn't be content with just seeing it on the screen. No plasma screen can capture the incredible brightness of burning when the shuttle rocket engines light up. No surround-sound system can replicate the deep rat-a-tat rumble rolling from the launch pad.
Do you have some stories to share about past launches - or tips for viewing launches to come, either in person or remotely? Feel free to add them as comments below.
