Sept 8, 2000

In late August 2000 I was sent to Cocoa Beach Florida to work at NASA Cape Canaveral for a few weeks to work with another vendor to troubleshoot a storage network problem at their data center.

Ended up being there for three weeks but it was one of the best trips I’ve ever had while traveling for work. It was hurricane season so hotels etc were cheap. Ended up at a place right on the beach.

I was working on equipment in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) in a small data center. Outside in the main area of the VAB, the folks at NASA were preparing the Space Shuttle for a launch later that week.

During one of the weekends, I was asked if I was interested in going up on the gantry to see the Shuttle up close – oh hell yes!! We had to get suited up in jumpsuits with the wrists and cuffs taped up so nothing could fall on any equipment while up there. Took a cage/elevator to the top, it was pretty high up looking down on the shuttle but absolutely amazing to be there and see it so close in person.

The following week I got invited to the actual launch. Went and hung out with the NASA employees and got to the see the launch from closer than we even the press is allowed, he’s the video of it below. That was truly spectacular to see an actual launch in person.

This was mission STS-106 Space Shuttle Atlantis. Click here for details https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-106.html

Here’s the photos I took of the shuttle being prepped in the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA.

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