Welcome to Reach for the Stars
December 10, 2011 - MAC Launch XVII has been postponed until the 2012-2013 School Year
Due to a low number of applications this year, Reach for the Stars has decided to wait until the start of the next school year and see if there is enough interest in the program. There were just not enough participants to make the process viable.
If you are interested or know a student, teacher or principal who is interested in participating or just learning about MAC Launch, please email peter@reachuplink.org.
May 17, 2011 - New Shuttle Launch Page
We've added a new page to share our shuttle launch experiences.
MAC Launch XVI was a successs!
The photos are up!
STS-134 Launches on May 16th! We were there!
The final launch of the space shuttle Endeavor took place on Monday, May 16th at 8:56 a.m. EDT. Andy and Peter were there, watching from a vantage point on the NASA Causeway at the Kennedy Space Center. The view was magnificent just 6.5 miles from Launch Complex 39A. The arrival time before dawn afforded a beautiful display of four planets hanging above the eastern horizon, awaiting the sun. It rose on time about 20 minutes later. The countdown proceeded almost without a glitch. The closeout crew discovered some tile damage around the hatch but quickly repaired it. The excitement built as Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach polled his team for their Go/No Go decisions. There were no constraints. The crowd cheered and joined in the count from T-10 seconds and cheered as the skies lit up with the incandescent light of the Solid Rocket Booster(SRB)s.
There is no way to capture the quality of the light from those engines. It is nearly too bright to look at directly and it is difficult to comprehend how much power is being displayed as this vehicle weighing four and a half million pounds at launch rockets toward the clouds where it disappeared 20 seconds after leaving the pad. The sound took 45 seconds to reach us. We stood there, cheering as the intense reverberations like one continuous crackling explosion washed over us. Take the best 4th of July Grand Finale, amplify it by a brazillion and you might come close to the sight and sound of a space shuttle launch. There will only be one more and we plan to be there.
MAC Launch XV is one for the record books!
The photos are up!
Click here to go to the Site.STS-127 and STS-128 Photos.
Peter and Agnes were the official MAC Launch delegates to the Inter-Galactic-Planetary-Orbital-Send-Off Committee (IGPOSO?) for the launch STS-127 and STS-128, or something like that. Be sure to check-out the photos!
Click here for the STS-127 Photos.
Click here for the STS-128 Photos.
MAC Launch XIV was a Success.
Our MAC Launch site includes pictures from our week at Space Camp!
Click here to go to the Site.