I had an appointment to meet an Air Force public affairs officer at 4:30 pm. He was going to escort a small party of press into the Kennedy Space Center to observe the launch of an Atlas 5 rocket from the adjourning Cape Canveral Air Force Station.
This space launch vehicle would bear the "secret" X-37B space plane, the Orbital Test Vehicle, into a low Earth orbit.
In order to not be late I got to the rendezvous point at 4 pm and then waited in the deserted car park near the southern entrance to the space centre.
At 5 pm I began to fret that I had either misheard his voicemail message that had set up the appointment, or that the launch had been postponed.
From 5:30 pm other media arrived, expecting to meet him at about that time. Some used mobile Internet to check the launch had not been postponed.
All were relieved when our escort rocked up at 6 pm and issued Air Force security badges. He briefed us on procedures, and then led us into the Kennedy Space Center in a convoy of our own cars.
As we got into our cars a few photographers were grizzling that we were going to the KSC Press Site and not closer to the Atlas pad. Said one: "The moment of lift-off is the money shot. If I don't get that, I can't sell anything." Like most of the other photographers, I was just very happy to be allowed in to see the rocket at all.
Previous page Diary Contents Next Page The Space Show Southern FM
Text, images and audio Copyright to Andrew Rennnie, 2010