The night was off to a good start, I had interviewed Trina Patterson, Ron Regan, Trey Brouwer and astronaut Michael Bloomfield. When the time came for me to interview Bernhard Harris however, I couldn’t communicate with my producer that it was time for him to throw back to me. I told Dr. Harris’ assistants to go ahead and move on to their next interview while I cleared the tech issues. Normally? You would have just lost your interview because scheduling is tight – however Griffin Communications, (the folks Dr. Harris was working with) are some stellar folks and they made sure to clear a few minutes for me to interview Dr. Harris. For that I owe them a special debt of thanks.

The second astronaut interview of the evening was with Michael Bloomfield; he was fun and made for a great interview. However, there was one person in particular that I wanted to get a sit-down with, (and in so doing became the hero of my producers). George Diller, hardly a name that ignites the flames of recognition. However, I had a way to leave no doubt in the minds of Spacevidcast’s guests who he was, (if he would consent to it). So, I asked if he would open with something first and he agreed. We sat down and I introduced him and asked him if there was something he could like to say to our guests. He smiled and said;

“3-2-1 and liftoff of Spacevidcast!!”

George was an amazing interview, having worked with him when I was an intern I wasn’t surprised. Although I didn’t realize that he had been with NASA for 29 years!

The Twinkle and then the Glare

Shortly before launch, the International Space Station made a pass overhead – a shining, slowly-moving star that hinted at what was to come in just twenty minutes. Then the launch ticked closer, I hung out with the ladies of ATK, Jessica Rye and Trina Patterson as well as Mark Kirkman of Interspace News. NASA had asked one of its writers to keep people from loitering in front of the countdown clock and they could not have picked a better man for the job. He was – an imposing figure. The ladies said that he was an excellent NASA-bouncer, I told them, that when I worked in corrections and we had a problem in our pod – that he was the type of guy you wanted as backup.

The countdown drifted to zero and then the intense silent glow of the shuttle lit up the early morning hours followed by the deafening road of a vehicle punching gravity in the face caused shock waves to blast across the water of the turn basin, set off car alarms and rattled everything not tied down – good morning Central Florida – this is your wake up call! It was Trina’s birthday and a friend texted her – “Happy Birthday, amazing candles!”

The Dragon at Dawn

The plume left by the roaring road of fire in the sky was hit way up in the stratosphere by sunlight as it peeked over the horizon. This gave it an amazing light-blue glow. However this was nothing. I returned inside to provide Spacevidcast with a wrap-up and while doing so I noted the light of dawn was coming in through the windows of the press site, but that wasn’t all. The plume had been wrapped around into an amazing pattern high in the sky, which resembled a dragon.

The post-launch press conference was a nerve-wracking experience for me. I had been the person carrying the microphone to the reporters when I was an intern. This time however, it would be me that was asking the question – on NASA TV. I asked why it seemed that Discovery flew so often. The question was chosen from one of our guests and while the answer in hindsight was obvious, the NASA mission managers liked it and turned it into the cap of the Q & A session. Mike Moses hinted that NASA Flow Director Stephanie Stilson had arranged for it to be that way.

The Best Traffic Jam Ever

Sleep would be a long time coming as I spent nearly four hours, (on a trip that takes two) on the road. However, from my perspective that was a good thing. Hundreds of thousands of people had come from around the world to watch Discovery take off. In short, the jammed Florida roadways were a display of support for NASA and America’s manned space program. To me it was a symbol that we as a nation understand and stand behind the people that are building our future in space.

On the way home, just outside of Orlando, a sign even more overt was overhead that it had indeed been a good night – a skywriter had drawn a smiley face in the crystal clear skies above. Exhausted and ready for bed I passed by Fantasy of Flight where a bi-plane buzzed I-4 and ‘waggled’ its wings. Happy at the successful conclusion of the night’s events I headed home – Go NASA.