It always starts the same for me. The alarm goes off, I grumble something totally insane like, “It’s only a shuttle launch!” and then realizing said insanity get out bed and get on the road. After the caffeine kicks in I get stoked – I’m going to Kennedy Space Center to work a shuttle launch. The drive over is a breeze and then as I near KSC I realize that I am not the only one that realizes that this will be space shuttle Atlantis’ final flight – the roads are packed, backed up due to a security check point near the Astronaut Hall of Fame.

This delay makes me about 5 minutes late meeting our first spectacular guest of the day – Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex’s Public Relations Manager, Andrea Farmer. This lady is the best, after knowing her for four years now – I still have no idea where she gets her energy from. She is a whirlwind of excited activity and she and her team have turned the Visitor Complex into one of the ‘must-see’ spots in Central Florida. The interview goes well, but being frazzled by the traffic jam and almost being late I forget to let our viewers know that whoever has asked the most questions in our chatroom – wins a four person general admission ticket to the Visitor Complex, (generously provided by Andrea and Delaware North the operator’s of the Visitor Complex). But Ben catches me before I let Andrea go and all ends well.

I had thought that I would maybe do one or two other interviews during the day – however tech issues cropped up that forced Ben behind the camera and except for Cariann’s interview of NASA PAO Allard Beutel I did the rest. Now here comes the little reveal that may surprise most folks – this was more than fine by me. You see, while a shuttle launch is incredible it is not the main draw for me. I go to participate, to contribute and to be a part of the moment. So the more I have to do, the better. The launch? That is just icing on the cake.

If you watched Spacevidcast’s launch day broadcast almost all of the people that I interviewed are either friends or acquaintances of mine. This makes it so much easier on both of us as we can just sit down and have a chat like we would any other day. Both Ben and Cariann seemed pleased with how this turned out and I will try to keep this formula going for the next two launches.

Within an hour of launch a ball bearing was discovered that could have potentially scrubbed the launch for the day. However, the mission team determined that it was not an issue and the countdown went ahead according to plan. There have been few times when I have not gone down past the countdown clock and watched the launch near the turn basin – with a nice cool tent over my head – this was one of those times. The launch was a spectacular affair that took place under blue skies. Those in attendance were treated to a spectacle that they will be tending their grandchildren about. As the SRBs slipped away and the people at watching the launch meandered back toward the press site it was evident on the faces and in the tears of those present that they had just witnessed history.

STS-132 (ISS assembly flight ULF4) is the the last Space Shuttle mission of Atlantis, which docked with the International Space Station on May 16, 2010. It was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on 14 May 2010. The primary payload is the Russian Rassvet Mini-Research Module along with an Integrated Cargo Carrier-Vertical Light Deployable (ICC-VLD). STS-132 is the first US spaceflight since STS-97 to have only veteran astronauts (astronauts that have flown at least one previous mission) on board.

STS-132 is scheduled to be the final flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis provided that the STS-335 Launch On Need rescue mission is not flown.

Below is the 7 hour live event Spacevidcast produced during the launch itself. This is cut in to 1 hour segments to make it a bit easier to jump around. Awesome interviews, community interaction and fun with bandwidth and Skype. Enjoy!

Hour 1 – 1300 UTC / 9:00am EDT

Hour 2 – 1400 UTC / 10:00am EDT

Hour 3 – 1500 UTC / 11:00am EDT

Hour 4 – 1600 UTC / 12:00pm EDT

Hour 5 – 1700 UTC / 1:00pm EDT

Hour 6 – 1800 UTC / 2:00pm EDT (LAUNCH!)

Hour 7 – 1900 UTC / 3:00pm EDT

Spacevidcast epic content for STS-132 is truly epic. STS-132 is the last flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis. After 25 years of space exploration, research, and ISS construction, for the betterment of all humankind, she will land for the last time.

Great flight Atlantis! 4.8 million miles traveled over 11 days 18 hours 29 minutes and 9 seconds! Atlantis completed it’s last flight at 8:48am EDT May 26th 2010, marking its 32nd flight, the 132nd flight of the Space Shuttle program, and the 34th dedicated ISS Assembly flight.

Atlantis may have reached wheel-stop this morning, but we sure haven’t! Spacevidcast epic content for STS-132 is still on it’s way! Stay tuned for post-mission downloadables!

Total size of STS-132 epic content: 2,964.0MB

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SpaceX Falcon 9 times three on your SpacePod for May 11th, 2010

As one spaceship ends its career, another one is just beginning. The SpaceX Falcon 9 is getting ready for launch. An exact date is not yet set in stone, but the last we have heard was a No Earlier Than May 16th launch date. Rumors say May 23rd, but we’ll see how that flight termination system we talked about last week ends up.

The Falcon 9 that is getting ready to launch is but one of three that SpaceX has built or is in the process of building. This first flight is to test the basic system, then Falcon 9 flight 2 is designed to be the first flight under the COTS program and the first flight of an operational Dragon spacecraft.

Dragon is the cargo capsule that is capable of being man-rated but is not yet there, so cargo only for now. The initial COTS-1 Dragon module will orbit the Earth several times then re-enter and splashdown off the coast of Southern California. This is designed to test the basic functions of Dragon as well as the Draco thrusters. And that’s one of the really cool things about SpaceX. Unlike other companies, these engines are all SpaceX designs. The Merlin 1C engines that lift the Falcon 9 are SpaceX engines, not decommissioned ICBMs like on other rockets. The Draco thrusters that allow the Dragon capsule to steer and orient itself in space are also SpaceX designs and not just a part purchased from a defunct Government space program somewhere. It’s sorta fun to watch the test of the Draco Thrusters, almost like they are trying to make a song of sorts.

And then there’s Falcon 9 Flight 3. Heck, flight #1 isn’t even off the ground yet and already SpaceX is working on creating their third Falcon 9 rocket! Production for this rocket has already started with completion of several sections. Ten Merlin engines are being worked on now, nine Merlin 1C engines and one Merline Vacuum engine.

While we will be sad to see the Space Shuttle leave us, it will also be a fun new beginning for commercial space companies like SpaceX. These companies can’t be given a free ride and will need to prove that they have vehicles capable of safe transport of not just cargo but humans as well. But we also can’t just throw up our hands and call it ‘unproven technology’. All technology is unproven until, well, proven otherwise. It is the ‘unproven’ technology that changes the world, not the stuff we already know about.

You may have noticed that I have started referring to these short shows as Space Pods rather than Dailies. There appears to be a bit of confusion between our short daily shows that we do 3 to 4 times a week and hour long live show that we do once a week. Both are produced by Spacevidcast, but each is a different show. During this last week’s live show Ninja Ken or “New Jersey Ken” if you want to be all proper like, came up with the name ‘Space Capsule’. Cariann and I tweaked it a bit to ‘Space Pod’ to be a play on Podcast and boom, there you go. And today’s Space Pod is about STS-132.

Holy Man. When we cut off last week’s show to try and prevent jinxing the launch, a bunch of people complained saying that they WANTED the update! Ok, we’ll give you the STS-132 update, but if it gets delayed for any reason, that’s on you!

At this time NASA is looking to have the final launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis this coming Friday at 18:20 UTC or 2:20pm EDT. While this is slated to be the last launch for Atlantis, it may not be her last mission. For STS-134 Space Shuttle Atlantis will act as the Launch On Need vehicle for a mission we hope we’ll never need: STS-335. Should Space Shuttle Endeavour need a rescue mission, Atlantis will be at the ready to fly up and grab the crew. Since the inception of the Launch On Need program after the loss of Columbia, no shuttle has been required to fly on a rescue mission, so chances are quite good STS-132 will be the last time we see Atlantis fly.

STS-132′s primary payload is a Russian Mini Payload Module. This module will be used to store cargo but also adds a much needed spaceship docking port. With the Soyuz, ATV and Progress vehicles all coming and going from the ISS a forth docking port is needed. Hey, just because *we’re* retiring the space shuttle doesn’t mean no one will be flying to the ISS! Now that it’s basically complete, there’s going to be quite a bit of traffic up there!

The countdown to the final launch of Atlantis begins tomorrow at 20:00 UTC or 4:00pm EDT. Right now it is looking like we are go for the May 14th launch date, but as you shuttle fans know, any minor thing can delay a launch. The current forecast only has a mix of sun and clouds at T-0, so we’re looking good thus far. Then again, this is Florida we’re talking about here. Sunny one second, hurricanes the next.

Spacevidcast.com is the *only* place you can get High Definition streaming, High Quality streaming and Mobile streaming all in one place. Watch the launch in beautiful HD. If your computer or Internet provider can’t take the HD feed, fret not our high-quality feed still looks better than most every other sites out there. On the go? Watch live coverage on your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. Simply go to spacevidcast.com on your iDevice and click play when you see the video. No software to download, nothing to buy. Unless of course you are watching on your computer and want to get rid of those annoying pop-up ads. In that case, Spacevidcast epic is your friend. Oh, and you get exclusive content with that too, so check it out at spacevidcast.com/epic.

Both Cariann and I will be at the Kennedy Space Center Press Site giving you live coverage starting at 13:00 UTC or 9:00am EDT the day of the launch. We’ll have live interviews with awesome guests, cool giveaways and an all around great time. We’re excited to see this historic moment with you. If you can’t watch it in person, we hope you’ll watch it with us on Spacevidcast. And a special thanks to both Ustream for streaming this event in insane awesome quality. No one else has been able to take the quality and load that we offer, and the team over at Ustream.com do an amazing job. We also have a special treat for you. The new countdown and mission data on the screen will be powered by MissionClock. Get your copy of MissionClock before the launch, it is hands down the coolest iPhone and iPad application a space geek can have.

You can buy your copy of MissionClock from LatencyZero here: http://latencyzero.com/lz/MissionClock.html

A look at the upcoming STS-132 mission, the Pad Abort Test conducted by NASA for the Orion escape, Voyager 2 is sending back garbled data, James Cameron wants to see Mars in 3D, Starwalker has been exposed, Bigelow Aerospace is looking to put their real inflatable space station in LEO and a MARS500 Update.