Endeavour STS-118 on Pad39A

blue man

Side 1 red crew egress stairway added after John Glenn's flight 100th space shuttle launch STS-092.
I was in Launch Control Center when this photo was taken.

Not a good place to park your car!

Hahaha

must be looking to escape the Group

Endeavour STS-118 on Pad39A by jurvetson.

At Kennedy Space Center, 1am. Getting ready for Launch.... The astronauts had just bid farewell to their families.

(best viewed large)

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Comments

Vanita says:

Pinch yourself for me.
Wha..!?!
To make sure it's real...
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

PhOtOnQuAnTiQuE says:

Lucky you. Where are you or will be standing for the take off ?
Will be folowing, like the rest of us through the net : )

H-7hours22minutes : ) YiiAAAAAAA =O
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

Erik Charlton says:

Awesome!!
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

CarlaVioleta says:

Wow, great shot! The lights both in the structure and in the rocket are amazing... like Vanita said... is it real??????
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

hydro5757 says:

So beautiful. . .Hope everything goes well! Thanks for sharing!
HYDRO
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

Yes, yes, yes it is very real...

And it's huge... Erik: it has Z motor cluster we've been looking for... ;-)

PQ: I'll be on the roof balcony of OSB II (Orbiter Support Bldg 2) which is next to ground control. =)
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

schoschie says:

*drool, drool*
Excellent photo!
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

_sarchi says:

"" by _sarchi [?]

nearest I got to anything with a cone

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Seen on your photo stream. (?)
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

!MimosaMicheMichelle! says:

The photos are beautifully real!
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

The Sage of Shadowdale says:

Excellent shot - with the preparations looking so impressive, the take off must have blown you away! (figuratively speaking)

I've been following your stream for some time now (over 6 months now) and I have to ask: who are you?!?!? other than a venture capitalist (yes, I've read your bio and had a flick around the DFJ website), self-confessed geek & ex-HP design engineer (because you get yourself in the most amazing situations/places and rub shoulders with somevery influential people).
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Discovered using FlickrFox. (?)
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

horizontal.integration says:

Lucky you! =)
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

jurvetson says:

thanks y'all. Sage - too kind. Yes, I was blown away. More body rumble than the earthquake of '89....

I just used the uncropped version of this photo as my desktop. There is some amazing detail in there at original size on a big screen...

Oh, and shhhh... but the trick to getting this shot is to sneak off from the group and climb the Reuters remote camera ladder.

Otherwise there is a fence in the foreground which obscures the bottom of the view. It is the same patch of fence through which the families of the quarantined astronauts share their final pre-flight sentiments. Our vehicle was held back for a bit as they took a bit longer than usual.
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

juanktru says:

WOW!! Great Photo!!
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

jeffrey.mills says:

now this just hardly seems fair ...

ok, all jealousy aside, this is very awesome. very well done.
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

rajjain1505 says:

hi
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

Mik's says:

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called **Over the Excellence** (Only Invited shots - 1post/1comment), and we'd love to have your photo added to the group.
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

pmarella says:

fantastic shot~)
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

da70 says:

Nice shot.
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

formerly_of_devon says:

Brilliant lighting of the shuttle. Your own rig? ;-)

TWTME
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

chicka boom says:

Congratulations! This image is currently (or was recently) one of
Flickr's Top 10 most interesting photos for 8 Aug 2007. (It is/was on
page one of the calendar view.) Would you please add it to the Top 10
Interestingness pool? It would be a great addition!
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

jan-willem wolf says:

Really awsome picture!!!!!
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

jouf says:

well taken, gives a great sense of scale
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

deja says:

Wow, this is awesome ! Great picture !

This photograph became an
Please post it to the InstantFave group!
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

arrigetch says:

Awesome
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

rashundrayton says:

WOW, this is amazing. Great capture

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Seen in Canon EOS 5D Group (?)
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )