^ thank you!

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/view/view_shuttle.html

7/31/2007 9:23:21 AM

Quote :

"are there any good suggestions of specific locations to go to watch the launch?"

You can see it clearly over the water from anywhere on Cocoa Beach, if you look to your left when facing the ocean you can see the cape going way out into the water, most of the pads are just out past the VAB (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_Assembly_Building)which you should be able to make out. If you have binoculars you should be able to see the shuttle on the pad anywhere from downtown Cocoa Beach North.

If you want a beachside bar, Coconuts on the beach is alright and has a huge deck. It's right in downtown Cocoa Beach. You could also try Cocoa Village which has lots of nice bars and restaurants and a huge park right on the river.

If you're looking for a restaurant my family is a big fan of Grills at Port Canaveral, its kinda of a dingy waterside restaurant but its got a pretty good atmosphere and the seared tuna, burgers, fish special and sweet potato fries are good. It's a really good place to get really drunk and hang out at if it gets delayed and it's pretty close to the space center so should be fine for watching the launch but would get pretty crowed on launch day.

Unfortunately the areas kind of a tourist trap and despite a lot of searching Grills is about as good as it gets on the water.

If you just want good eats try Corky Bells in Titusville or Cocoa, not sure what it is there, (US-1 just North of 528 on your left if heading North) which has great fried seafood. Chowders is just off US-1 in North Melbourne and has good Chowder and Crab Legs a little further south (like 2 minutes) is the Conch Key Grill which has good bar food (those two are on the river and would give you a decent view of the launch, if not that close, there's also the Rotary park right by there which is a good launch viewing site). If you want to go a little bit more up dollar and feel like venturing south you can try the Yellow Dog Cafe in Melbourne (or maybe its Palm Bay) which is also on the River but would be further away. Or Cafe Coconut Cove in Melbourne Beach. If you want to go really up dollar you could try the Chart House in Melbourne.

Also the site above recommends Jetty Park, which is a good viewing point but they'll charge you a couple bucks to get in to the park, as people have said its pretty hard to miss so I wouldn't pay to sit someplace and just watch it.

[Edited on July 31, 2007 at 11:35 AM. Reason : ...]

7/31/2007 11:29:55 AM

it was awesome. the sound was incredible.
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/cities/region.cgi?country=United_States®ion=North_Carolina
go there, click on your city, and you can find out when you'll be able to see it and the ISS

8/13/2007 4:29:03 PM