Hi! My name is Amanda Goluszka, and I am the Weather Intern this summer for KPRC2 News. I am a senior Meteorology major at the Texas A&M University, and will be obtaining my degree in December.
Meteorology has been my passion since I was 5 years old, which is a big reason why I went to see a weather satellite launch last month! For more science-based information on the satellite, check out GOES-U Goes Up!
I flew out to Florida to witness the launch of the new satellite. My boyfriend joined me for the trip as we flew out Monday, June 24th early in the morning, landing in Orlando in the afternoon. We had one layover in Memphis where we stayed on the plane during the change, which was a first for us. The Orlando Airport is the largest airport I have ever seen! After landing in Orlando, we waited in line for an hour to get our rental car. By the time we picked up the rental car, it was time for dinner, and we drove out to Daytona Beach to eat at Crabby’s Oceanside. They had delicious food and we were treated to a beautiful sunset!
We stayed at a hotel on the east side of Orlando, and the staff were extremely friendly. The hotel manager is also named Amanda! We woke up fairly early on the morning of the launch… Our alarms went off at 6am! After getting ready, we had just enough time to eat the continental breakfast at the hotel before heading out to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), where we spent the morning and afternoon prior to the launch. Our hotel was about 30 minutes away from the KSC.
The drive was great! Sitting in line to get into the space center just to park… Not so much. It took us almost 45 minutes to drive from the light on Space Commerce Way to the ticket booths when paying to park.
After parking the car and walking to the front of the Visitor Center to purchase our tickets to get in, we were already so sweaty! It was hot and humid! We had an issue with purchasing the tickets at the self-service ticket booth - there were so many of those, and ended up going to the Information center, where we brought up the issue about the tickets. One thing that really caught our eyes, was the countdown clock for the launch!
Once we were able to get in, we saw the Rocket Garden, where we ran into a member of the National Weather Service office in Tallahassee. He brought his family to watch the satellite launch at the Saturn V building and informed us that to watch the launch from that building, it would cost an extra $250/person. To college students, that’s a lot! We continued our trek around the space center, where we eventually ran into the member of the GOES-U Launch Team that I referenced in the “GOES-U Goes Up!” article. He had also brought his family, where he joked that his “family is his launch team”, and graciously took our photo in front of the Space Shuttle Atlantis. We went inside the building that contained the Atlantis shuttle, where we were packed in a line like sardines. I will admit, the videos that we watched and being able to see the shuttle in person was very surreal. Towards the end, we ran into Mr. Anfinson - also referenced in the “GOES-U Goes Up!” article, and spoke to him for almost an hour. He was very passionate and excited about the advances this satellite will help with space weather.
Throughout our experience at KSC, we continuously asked where the best view to watch the launch would be. Several spots kept coming up: Playalinda Beach, Cocoa Beach, Titusville, and an area by Port Canaveral. Spoiler alert: we went to Titusville.
We had enough time to stop at a little diner for lunch prior to the launch. The Moonlight Drive-In ended up being our favorite place to eat at during our short trip. I had asked our waitress how she felt about the launch, or if people were just used to hearing them in the area. She mentioned that most people are fairly used to launches, and most just tune them out.
As we were leaving lunch, we started mapping out our destination of where to watch the launch from. We decided on Playalinda Beach, but as we made our way over to the area, we were turned around by security from KSC as the area was restricted. When driving to Playalinda Beach, we crossed over the A Max Brewer Memorial Parkway bridge, which we had noticed had a perfect view of the launch pad. Ultimately, we drove back to the bridge and watched the launch from underneath it. GOES-U was successfully launched from Launch Complex 39A, roughly 10-15 miles from our viewpoint. All of us watching from the bridge cheered with excitement after watching it launch.
Our excitement after witnessing a successful launch was so evident! We could not contain it!
Heading back to the hotel, we got stuck in a strong storm. It took us almost an hour to get back, and once we did, we were both exhausted. Dinner that night was at Waffle House after we finished packing to get ready for our flight back the next morning. We both agreed that the trip was too short. I cannot recommend more to go see a launch in the future.
Fun fact: this launch took place almost 15 years to the day from the last weather satellite launch that I had witnessed as a kid! That satellite was GOES-O, or commonly known as GOES-14, launched on June 27th, 2009. This satellite is functional, but is currently on-orbit storage. See the photo below from my dad’s old iPhone back when we saw the launch!