if - launch

Illustration Friday, topic: launch.

Growing up in Florida I've had the opportunity to watch a lot of shuttle launches. I've seen them on tv, at home, at the beach, and even as far away as Sarasota. It's not all that exciting as a sight itself. It's really just a dot in the east going up and leaving a short lived plume of smoke in its wake. But when you remember that there are people on that dot, and it's going to space AND coming back, it's just way cool. The final flight of the space shuttle program will be made by the shuttle Atlantis as mission STS-135 and is tentatively scheduled for July 8th. If you're in Florida don't you dare miss it.