Night Launch by wysiwig
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Description
I thought I'd show you a night launch. My company also launched spy satellites. If I told you anymore I'd have to kill you {:-o) But if you heard that the satellite could identify a soldier's unit by reading the insignia on his uniform from 500 miles in space, you wouldn't be far off. Such flights were often held at night.
The first year we went down to the cape we were not allowed on base during a launch. NASA and the air force didn't want a bunch of civilians running around during operations. And we weren't allowed to tell anyone in town where we were from or what we were doing or buy any mission related items from the Kennedy Space Center gift shop. I have found that the rules and logic are seldom compatible.
So one day I went down to the local Walgreen's and bought a black baseball cap. I had the store apply six, white, letter S's in a circle on the crown. When I walked into work that night I ran into the head of security who had the reputation for being all business and a bit of a hard ass. When she asked me what the letters meant I told her that, since we could not buy any souvenirs I had made my own. The six S's stood for Super Secret Space Shuttle Spy Satellite. She walked away and a co-worker walked up and asked me what I had done to her. When I asked why, he said he'd never seen her laughing before.
The next year we were allowed on base for launches. This picture and the previous one were taken from three miles away with a 1,000 mm lense.
Comments (20)
Faemike55
This picture is very impressive! so is your story!!!!!! Thanks for the late night chuckle!
mariogiannecchini
Complimenti ! Ottimo scatto , molto interessante ! Congratulations ! Excellent shot, very interesting !
myrrhluz
WONDERFUL!! I do love your sense of humor! Amazing capture! This series has been a real favorite for me!
JuliSonne
Greatly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
beachzz
GREAT story---and an absolutely amazing foto!!
babuci
Good story and a fantastic capture.
durleybeachbum
Fab pic, and what a great tale!
mermaid
lol on the story and your creativity....smile... and a fine night shot you did!
Tea_Rex
A fun recollection, Mark. & an impressive portrait of the launch. To be a kid in the States during the Apollo missions was an experience there are few comparable words for today. Those launches were like Christmas morning to my brothers and me. Twenty/thrity years later the sweetest thing about being in Central Florida has been watching the shuttle launches from wherever you happen to be. Those rare night lift offs can still give me goose bumps. It's really great that you had such experiences! Being part of the space program, at all levels, is real "dreamy" stuff at any time in your life. Congratulations for that! Terry
flavia49
fantastic shot!!!! and a very, very funny story!!!
kbrog
Great shot! :)
wingnut55
impressive work with such a long lens at night, i hope you still have the hat somewhere.
elfin14doaks
Very cool on all accounts. Some of the hardest people still have a sense of humor.
psyoshida
ROTFL. I love it!!! And you say after 30 years you didn't get much out of it! Pooh! I don't believe a word of it, never did. What a wonderful life being a part of that for even a day. Great stuff, wonderful spy photo.
lucindawind
awesome!!!!
auntietk
LOVE the hat! :D Great photo, too. Excellent presentation!
sandra46
spectacular shot, and absolutely fascinating story, i'm grateful you're telling us it!
0rest4wicked
Fantastic Mark... wheres your super snooper night vision goggles. :~)
hipps13
too bad for secrets makes life harder to believe cool capture this is as I do love the night have a great week warm hugs, Linda
emmecielle
Fantastic capture! :)