Will I Witness a Space Shuttle Launch Afterall?
April 2, 2011 6 Comments
At the end of February, I’d accepted the reality that I’d never get to accomplish my goal of witnessing a space shuttle launch. I’d tried, and failed, twice. And since the Space Shuttle program is quickly coming to an end, I decided to just give up on ever witnessing a launch. The first time I tried, I bought my plane ticket to Orlando and the launch was postponed. It would’ve cost us more to reschedule our flight than book another, so we went to Florida anyways. We went to Disney and Sea World (before I knew better), and I had a lot of fun, but it would’ve been awesome to have seen a launch.
My second attempt wasn’t as ambitious as my first.
Instead of booking a plane ticket just to sit in a random parking lot in Titusville, I tried getting tickets to the Kennedy Space Center. I wasn’t lucky enough to “win” the lottery for a chance to buy tickets. Did you catch that? A lottery, for a chance to buy tickets. Even if you’re fortunate enough to win the lottery, there isn’t any guarantee that there’ll be a ticket available for you to buy. So, I didn’t win the lottery, and figured the story would remain the same for the remaining launches.
That’s when I wrote the article, my head hung in shame, and admitted defeat.
Almost as soon as I’d published the article, an email from Kennedy Space Center showed up in my Inbox with all the details of when I could register for a chance to win the lottery for a chance to buy tickets for the next launch. Only half hopeful, I signed up yet again. Later that week, I got another email saying I’d been selected…I’d won the lottery!
The next week, tickets went up for sale.
I was too late to get causeway tickets, but I was able to get two tickets for the Visitor Center (and I’ll even be dining with an astronaut.) The Visitor Center is about six miles from the launchpad, so I won’t be able to see the Shuttle until it clears the trees, but that’s better than watching it on TV or from some parking lot in Titusville.
It looks like I’m on my way to Florida later this month, though I still haven’t purchased my plane ticket in case they delay the launch again. I’d hate to have a ticket to Orlando with no reason to be there.
The moral of the story? Never give up on a goal even if it seems doubtful. You just never know when you’ll hit the lottery!
About Steven
I promise you, that even from a distance this is a really cool experience! We witnessed a shuttle launch from Cocoa Beach that night before my brother got married. It was amazing!
That’s fantastic news! I hope you really enjoy your trip (and that it doesn’t get delayed). Any ideas on how to get cheap flights on such short notice?
@Abby – I use Bing Travel for most of my searches. They seem to be the most reliable in getting the lowest price consistently. I poke around a couple of other search engines like Kayak but they almost always yield the same results within a few dollars of each other. There are probably other ways, but I’m really a travel noob and don’t get into travel hacking like some other people. It’s too labor intensive. If I traveled more often, it’d probably be worth checking out some of the tactics but for now, I’ll just stick with trying to find deals using the traditional methods.
@Elle – I’m really excited about seeing the launch! I know it will be pretty amazing! :)
Wow! This should be a great experience; can’t wait to read your after post. Great lesson for the rest of us Bucket Listers.
Congrats! Hopefully the weather will cooperate and they’ll launch on time. And you’ll have a great seat for it too!
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