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• Obtaining a Car Pass (cancelled after '9-11')
• Shuttle frequencies (partly as graphical JAVA applet)
• HAM frequencies for listening to and watching NASA Select
• Hints on photographing launches
• Viewing launches of Expendable Launch Vehicles
• Internet sites to get additional NASA information
• How to get the latest two line element sets, and
• Information for teachers on how to access NASA information.

The space shuttle press kit is at http://www.osf.hq.nasa.gov/shuttle/(sts#)/, substituting the mission number where (sts#) is shown (e.g., http://www.osf.hq.nasa.gov/shuttle/sts69/).

For up-to-date and detailed information call the following:

1-407-867-4636: Visitor Information Center information and next launch.

(407)-867-4636: Space Shuttle mission information.

(407)-867-2314: Space shuttle status line.

NASA Causeway Site Passes

The KSC visitor center might offer bus rides from the visitor's center to the Causeway Site. Information is available from the KSC Visitor Center Web Site

Other Viewing Recommendations

Also you can try Jetty Park at Port Canaveral (you will be south of the launch looking north).

Regardless of where you are going to see it, arrive early (at least 2 hours before launch). Be prepared to get into some real heavy traffic, it will also take some time to get out of the area. Bring along some food and drink, umbrellas, sun glasses, sun screen, portable TV/radio, binoculars, VCR, whatever.

When watching a launch, listen to FM Station 91.5 (it is a local religious station) or AM 580 out of Orlando. NASA Select Television is carried on Spacenet 2, transponder 5, channel 9, 69 degrees West, transponder frequency is 3880 MHz, audio subcarrier is 6.8 MHz, polarization is horizontal.

TV: Local stations such as channels 56, 2, 6 & 9 sometimes have live coverage. They usually just interrupt the program that is in progress for the final 2 minutes of prelaunch, and then a couple of minutes after launch. Same for landing.

Radio: Some local radio stations to listen to are 91.5 FM, 99.3 FM, 101.1 FM, 1350 AM and 580 AM.

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Amateur TV Repeater of NASA Select

Chris Best (clbest@ddi.digital.net) writes:

"I belong to a local ham radio club called the Launch Information Service and Amateur Television System (LISATS for short). We operate ... an Amateur TV Repeater where we, during shuttle missions, re-broadcast NASA Select ... . We also have a computerized bulletin board (VIDEO) at the repeater site which cycles through screens of interest to hams, one being a projected launch schedule (shuttle and expendable). The LISATS repeater can be viewed by anyone with an outside antenna and a cable ready TV in the launch area. Please checkout:

http://ddi.digital.net/

links to local amateur radio clubs. The two primary points of contact for LISATS are myself (ham radio callsign N4KCI) or Ernie Baldini (ebaldini@ddi.digital.net, K4RBD) who is the prefered Amateur TV expert."

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Photographing Shuttle

For information on photographing nighttime launches, KSC has released a set of detailed instructions and advice that you will find very useful.

andreas@il.us.swissbank.com has some hints for photographers:

Get the longest lens available. I used a 300mm shooting from Titusville and was still too far away to clearly see the shuttle. However I could take beautiful shots of the engine's firetrail and the smoke.

Put your camera into continuous shooting mode (unless you have a VERY high speed camera like a Nikon), as the whole spectacle will be over within no time. I shot about 1 roll of film (36 pictures) until the shuttle was gone for good while almost constantly pressing the button.

Use a LOW speed film (ASA 50) as the light is so bright (Remember: NASA launches only under good weather conditions), that even with a long tele lens you still have enough light left for short exposure times (I had 1/1000 with F 5.6 and a Kodachrome 64). That way making detail enlargements is also easier, meaning less grainy.

Try to AVOID a tripod, as the shuttle moves "upwards to the right" (at least from Titusville with the standard 28 degree inclination). You are more flexible if you use a onepod or even better one of those professional harnesses, that you wear like a jacket and that support your long lens (like a tripod attached to your upper body).

During the night before the launch you can see (at least sometimes) a search light illuminating the launch pad. With a tripod and a very long exposure time (> 20 sec's on Kodachrome 64) you'll get nice pictures as well. Make several shots with different times according to general night time photography rules.

Jim Blackwell (hrsblackwell@stars.gsfc.nasa.gov) has these hints:

I can also say something about photographing night launches. Basically ... use a 1000 ASA film and shoot at 1/1000th of a second at F/8. For STS-61 I was at the VIP site at 5.15 km and used a 70-210 mm zoom at the 210mm setting. For STS-67, I was at the NASA Causeway (about 10 km I think) using a 500 mm f/8 lens. I used ... a 1000 ASA film which is fine grained. I would also advise anyone to remove any filters they may have on their lenses as they can get nasty internal reflections and that a tripod is a must, especially with the 500 mm. I also used a cable release and a motor winder on the camera.

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Expendable Vehicles

These are usually launched from the southern part of the base, best viewing is at Jetty Park or south along the beaches of Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach. Not as crowded as shuttle launches, but still give yourself some time to arrive early. Jetty park can fill up so plan an alternate. Again bring your stuff.

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Landing Information

Unfortunately the KSC landing strip cannot accommodate a "viewing public" because it is situated on wetlands, however gt3597a@prism.gatech.edu suggests:

If you do happen to try and view the landing at KSC, do not despair when you realize actually how far away US 1 is from the runway. Even a moderately powered set of field glasses will provide good views of the Orbiter as is decelerates into the KSC area. That twin sonic boom is very unique and ... well worth the drive by itself. You will actually be able to see the Orbiter as it comes into the KSC area and turns on the heading alignment circle better than during the final approach.

Don Diego (don.diego@nosurf.com) also suggests:

The best viewing site for the Shuttle landings is the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF). There are bleachers available about 140-180 metres from the runway. What a great spot. Not only is it the best possible viewing site, you get to hob knob with astronauts and VIP's. VIP invitations now sent out by NASA headquarters are for launches and landings (see following section on VIP passes). Other passes from NASA may also invite you to the landing if you are a shuttle worker or involved with the payload. Unless you have very good connections, the general public cannot have access to the SLF.

As with the launch facilities NASA Select audio is provided on site as are restroom facilities and vending areas run by NASA.

For a realistic spot there's really only one choice. On US1 in Titusville across the Indian River from KSC. Hope it's not early in the morning, otherwise, you're going to be facing directly into the sunrise. I've tried on several occasions to try to catch a glimpse of the orbiter coming in as I was in Cocoa Beach or the city of Cape Canaveral but you're just too far away.

Whether you get lucky enough to get on KSC or have to settle for the US1 site you're in for a real treat. A landing is every bit as exciting as a launch. During a launch it's Boom, Zoom and in two minutes it's gone. But with a landing you have time to soak it all in. The key is picking it up visually as soon as possible. The thing to remember is at 15,000 meters ... the orbiter can be seen directly over the landing sight. Look straight up and watch for the puffs of smoke coming from the Reaction Control System (RCS) jets. Once you pick those up you should have no difficulty following it around the HAC and all the way down. ... The shuttle doesn't land silently. ... An object that big ... cutting through the air at that velocity has a unique wind rushing noise.

US1 in Titusville can be accessed from SR50 from Orlando or I-95 from the North or South. Local radio stations that have the best NASA coverage for any NASA related event are WMMB AM 1240 or 99.3 FM. Prior to any operation events can be followed locally on TV channels 2, 6 or 9. Or pick up a copy of the local newspaper The Florida Today. Some hotels in the area also carry NASA Select.

(Steve Handler (cityfarm@aol.com) advises:

There are three ways to see the Shuttle landing at Edwards AFB, listed in order of restrictiveness of access and availability.

1. The East Shore area on the lakebed:

Take Hwy. 14 to Avenue F and follow the signs or take Hwy. 58 to 20 Mule Team Road and follow those signs. This area is opened about 2 days before the scheduled touchdown. The viewing area is an unimproved area so don't expect many amenities. I think that there are sanitary facilities and that food and drinks can be purchased. It's suggested that you bring food and water. Nothing is required for access to this area. If any viewing is allowed this site will be open. The only times they don't open it is for the DoD's classified missions.

Burns Fisher (fisher@skylab.enet.dec.com) says:

The view you get depends on exactly what course the shuttle comes in on. If the shuttle lands on the ascending node of its orbit you only see the shuttle coming straight in and landing in front of you...but not too close. For a descending node landing the view is much more spectacular as you see the shuttle turning and passing right above you (described as "a *gorgeous* sight!").

2. The hillside viewing area:

This is ... just above Ames-Dryden, and requires a special pass ... for one vehicle with any number of passengers. You can't enter the Ames-Dryden complex but you can walk down the hill to the cafeteria ... etc. More amenities, including radio transmissions from the Shuttle and JSC. Some of us believe that this area has the BEST view of the landing. ... Hillside, like the East Shore, is open for all unclassified missions. The passes can be obtained by writing, as detailed below or abtained by Ames-Dryden employees.

3. Official guest:

Access to the Ames-Dryden complex. You get to watch the landing from the ramp, which is right on the lakebed. (The Shuttle lands some distance away, depending on which runway it uses.) The crew speaks to the crowd just before they return to JSC. There are special aircraft displays (including the SR-71, F-15, F-18, X-29, etc.) in the hangars. The radio transmissions are broadcast. This method is only predicted for a few missions this year. Opening the Facility is fairly labor-intensive and very disruptive, so we won't do it for every possible mission.

You can write ... to obtain these badges and parking permits. To obtain a hillside pass or official guest badges, write to:

NASA Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility
Public Affairs Office
P.O. Box 273
Edwards CA 92523-5000

Do this early, because there is a limited amount of space. If you get these and then discover that you can't attend, please try to pass them on to someone else who can use them. Incidentally, there is NO charge for any of these.

Come see the Shuttle land -- it's great. Wear warm clothes!

If the Shuttle lands in the morning, it will be cool to downright cold. Forget the myth that the desert is always hot, it may be in the low 60s even in the summer at sunrise. It's frequently freezing in the winter. If it's much warmer, it's because the wind is blowing.

However, if you're an Official Guest and will be hanging around until the Astronaut Departure Ceremony, it may be warm by then. Wear layers.

Especially, wear warm footwear. Official Guests will be standing around on the cold, cold ramp and all your body heat will seep out of your feet into the concrete heat sink. Running shoes work well. Hillside Guests will be sitting up on metal bleachers. The portions of their anatomy in contact with the bleachers (feet and seat) may get _real_ cold.

Here is a list of Radio Frequencies for the White Sands Missile Range:

Military Police: 36.100 141.250
Laser Operations: 173.5625
Drone Operations: 164.500 172.400
Cooling: 168.000
Maint: 34.490
Missile Tracking: 412.875


Range Control:

Channel 1 36.510

Channel 2 34.850

Telemetry: 38.450, 38.710, 38.950, 40.100, 41.450

Photography: 30.090, 41.430, 139.440

NASA operations: 34.310, 164.100, 169.075, 169.400

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VIP Passes

Astronauts families and other VIP's are situated at the VIP site 1.5 km north- east of the VAB and away from the press. The site ... offers great viewing of a launch and is near the site for the new Apollo exhibit site which will enclose the Saturn V that is now near the VAB. You can see the backside of Pad B and therefore don't see the initial ignition very well. These passes are available by NASA invitation only and cannot be normally "requested".

People at the VIP site are taken there via bus from the parking lot of Spaceport USA. About ten minutes after the launch the buses return and take the VIPs back to Spaceport USA. From there, VIPs must contend with the traffic themselves ... .

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NASA (and Related) Internet Services

Anonymous FTP Sites

Image info provided by (in part) Daniel M. Israel (crdmi@vulcan.giss.nasa.gov) and Kevin C. Marsh (kmarsh@ja6.jsc.nasa.gov):

• ames.arc.nasa.gov:/pub/GIF
• dftsrv.gsfc.nasa.gov:/pub/images
• ecf.hq.eso.org
• explorer.arc.nasa.gov:/cdrom
• explorer.arc.nasa.gov:/pub/SPACE/GIF
• explorer.arc.nasa.gov:/pub/SPACE/JPEG
• ftp.jpl.nasa.gov
• nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov:/cdrom/image
• pubinfo.jpl.nasa.gov:/images
• images.jsc.nasa.gov
• images.jsc.nasa.gov (via gopher)
• sseop.jsc.nasa.gov
• toybox.gsfc.nasa.gov:/pub/images

World Wide Web Pages

• http://shuttle.nasa.gov/ - Shuttle Mission Homepage
• http://www.hq.nasa.gov - NASA Headquarters
• http://www.osf.hq.nasa.gov - NASA Office of Space Flight
• http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/ - Kennedy Space Center
• http://www.nasa.gov/ - NASA Homepage
• http://www.nasa.gov/nasa_hottopics.html - * Hot Topics *
• http://www.nasa.gov/nasa_subjects/nasa_subjectpage.html - NASA Information Sources by Subject
• http://www.arc.nasa.gov/ - Ames Research Center
• http://naic.nasa.gov/ - Dryden Flight Research Facilty
• http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/GSFC_homepage.html - Goddard Space Flight Center
• http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ - Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/ - Johnson Space Center
• http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/html/home.htm - NASA-JSC Digital Image Collection
• http://www.larc.nasa.gov/larc.cgi - Langley Research Center
• http://www.lerc.nasa.gov/ - Lewis Research Center
• http://www.msfc.nasa.gov/ - Marshall Space Flight Center
• http://www.sti.nasa.gov/ - Scientific and Technical Information Program
• http://www.nasa.gov/nasa/nasa_affiliates/nasa_institutes.html - NASA-affliated Institutes and Organizations
• http://www.nasa.gov/nasa/other_agencies.html - Other Space Agencies
• http://delcano.mit.edu/ - MIT Spacenews

Marshall Space Flight Center Spacelink

You can also access: THE NASA Spacelink, Huntsville, Alabama, 24 Hours. ... (information about NASA's space program, press releases, shuttle status reports , press kits and images).

WWW:            spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov
Anonymous FTP:  spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov
Modem Call:     (205) 895-0028  (8-N-1)  (Up to 14.4 bps)

Science, Technology and Classroom Demonstrations

Call Argonne National Laboratory 708-252-8241, or Internet newton.dep.anl.gov or 130.202.92.50.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Anonymous ftp to pubinfo.jpl.nasa.gov or jpl-info.jpl.nasa.gov (137.78.104.2); or by dialup modem to +1 (818) 354-1333, up to 9600 baud v32/v42bis/MNP5.

NASA Press Releases

NASA press releases ... are available automatically by sending an E-mail message to domo@hq.nasa.gov. In the body of the message (not the subject line) you should type ONLY "subscribe press-release" (no quotes). The system will reply with a confirmation via E-mail ... . A second automatic message will include additional information on the service. Direct Questions to +1 202 358 4043.

NASA Headquarters

Anonymous ftp to ftp.hq.nasa.gov in directory pub/pao (has press releases, shuttle status reports, and shuttle press kits).

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Orbital Elements

Two-line Elements (TLE) (and translated orbital data) for ongoing Shuttle missions are available at the URL http://www.osf.hq.nasa.gov/shuttle/vis/. These are only available while missions are actually in orbit, and are updated daily (or more frequently as circumstances dictate).

Two-line Elements (TLE)(and translated orbital data) are available for the Mir Space Station at the URL http://www.osf.hq.nasa.gov/mir/Welcome.html#2line and at the URL http://www.osf.hq.nasa.gov/mir/mirvis.html. These are updated daily unless there have been no changes.

The most current orbital elements from the NORAD two-line element sets are carried on the Celestial BBS, (205) 409-9280, and are updated several times weekly. Documentation and tracking software are also available on this system. The Celestial BBS may be accessed 24 hours/day at 300, 1200, 2400, 4800, or 9600 bps using 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity. Orbital data available on T. S. Kelso's BBS is also available by FTP at archive.afit.af.mil, in the /pub/space directory. The elements are also routinely posted to the sci.space.news news group. Another good source of Space shuttle 2-line orbital elements is the RPV ASTRONOMY BBS (310-541-7299). Thanks to T. S. Kelso (tkelso@afit.af.mil).

ftp://spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov/Instructional.Materials/Software/Tracking.Elements also contains the latest orbital elements. There is also tracking software available here for both Macs and PCs.

There's a list of some 4100+ elements posted weekly at ftp://kilroy.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/space/elements/satelem.

You won't find the elements for ALL the objects out there, but you will find a much larger list at ftp://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/pub/sat/satelem. The files are UNIX Z-compressed and have over 3000 objects. To decompress them, just leave off the .Z when ftping them.

For the latest information about the Shuttle orbital elements Internet mailing list, you may subscribe to receive these via e-mail by sending a message containing only "subscribe STSTLE" in the body of the message to "listproc@spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov".

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Teaching Material

teacher information: NASA PA - ESB Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899

for the "NASA Report To Educators" and other NASA publications : Educational Publications Services Mail Code XEP NASA Headquarters Washington, DC 20546

space exploration related inquiries : NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Teacher Resource Center JPL Educational Outreach 4800 Oak Grove Drive Mail Code CS-530 Pasadena, CA 91109 (818) 354-6916 Fax: (818) 354-8080

workshops and materials: National Air and Space Museum Smithsonian Institution Education Resource Center, MRC 305 Washington, DC 20560 202) 786-2109 Fax: (202) 786-2262

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Original Author: Steven S. Pietrobon : steven@sworld.com.au

NASA-Curator: Woody Smith : woody@luna.osf.hq.nasa.gov December 12, 1997

Adapted for the ROCKET-SITE (germany) by :
U. Penski : penski@uumail.de
last content update : July-14-2006
last layout update : July-18-2003