Having a blast at our Florida beach party
The countdown started at T-minus 20 seconds on the beach loudspeakers as hundreds of holidaymakers wearing orange ‘We Are Go!’ T-shirts turned towards the northern horizon of Cocoa Beach in Florida.
As the countdown reached zero, an incandescent white torch burst into life about 15 miles away and a Delta IV rocket made its way into the early evening sky, scorching a trail of smoke on a searing arc as we craned our necks to watch its thunderous progress.
The United Launch Alliance spacecraft finally disappeared into the highlevel haze, while on the ground the spectators were treated to party music, children’s games, competitions and T-shirt giveaways.
This was the latest Rocket Launch Party, a new initiative on the Sunshine State’s Space Coast to highlight the ever-growing popularity of the Kennedy Space Center.
It’s a unique way to enjoy one of the eye-catching takeoffs from Cape Canaveral, which now shares its facilities with several private contractors. It is also the home of the next phase in Nasa’s mission to send astronauts to Mars.
Each party is announced several days before lift-off on the Space Coast Facebook page (facebook.com/visitspacecoast), and visitors are told where to turn up for the free festivities.
It is all part of a $1.5m initiative by Space Florida, the government organisation set up to develop the aerospace industry. Space Florida’s Frank DiBello said: ‘We want people to experience the wonder of a launch as Nasa, SpaceX and the others continue to ramp up their launch rate, and create awareness of Florida as the place to do it. At the same time, we are trying to sell the dream of space travel for the citizen astronaut, which we want to see here at the Cape.’
DiBello estimates $1.9bn is being invested in the halfdozen or so programmes to put tourists either into space or low-Earth orbit. Cape Canaveral has never been busier, with the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex now offering the live-action gaming of Cosmic Quest, and opens its Heroes And Legends interactive exhibition later this year.
It might be only one small step for Man, but it’s a giant leap for tourist-kind.