This August, I went to the SpaceX CRS-33 launch. We got to see our team's experiment go to space and see data from the ISS. My experience from the launch was awesome and I want to talk about it in this blog. During the weekend we drove from the airport to the hotel to spend the night. In the morning we drove from the hotel to Kennedy Space Center(KSC) to look around. I loved seeing all of the rockets and spaceplanes there including the SpaceX dragon and Falcon 9 rockets, space shuttle Atlantis, and parts of the Saturn 5.
During my tour of the KSC we got to see our experiment on the launchpad from the center. It hit amazing to see it on the launchpad. After hearing about the experiment for months it was different to see it(even if it was in a rocket) in person. We also got to see the new Starship launch tower in Florida which was stunning.
After our tour of the launch facilities we went to the hotel. Surprisingly the hotel was 100% space themed which was a funny thing that I enjoyed. That night a large proportion of students in the Higher Orbit payload went out for dinner. After dinner, I got 2 hours of sleep before spending the night waiting for the launch. One of the cooler experiences higher orbits allowed me to have is to meet professionals in the field the night before the launch to hear about their experiments on the same mission as ours.
Around 1 hour before the launch we went to the viewing center. We took a bus over to the banana creek viewing center to watch the launch on a falcon 9 rocket. As my first night launch it was amazing how the rocket lit up the sky like it was day and how it lit up the sky. The sound was amazing and I was in awe watching it.
On the flight home I spent the entire time tracking it on the SpaceX website and watched the docking online live. Unfortunately we had to fly home early so I could not do the rest of the activities with the team the next day due to the fact I had school, but I enjoyed all of the launch and the opportunities higher orbits had provided me and I could not have had these opportunities without them.
Written By Stellar Student Grayson Talbot