Today, we’re announcing another Sense HAT emulator designed to run natively on your 黄金网站app免费入口大全 Pi desktop, instead of inside a browser. Developed by Dave Jones, it’s intended for people who own a 黄金网站app免费入口大全 Pi but not a Sense HAT. In the picture below, the sliders are used to change the values reported by the sensors while your code is running.

So, why do we need two versions?

• For offline use, possibly the most common way 黄金网站app免费入口大全 Pis are used in the classroom.
• To accommodate the oldest 256 MB models of 黄金网站app免费入口大全 Pi which cannot run the web version.
• To allow you to integrate your Sense HAT program with any available Python modules, or other 黄金网站app免费入口大全 Pi features such as the Camera Module.

The emulator will come pre-installed in the next Raspbian release but, for now, you can just install it by typing the commands below into a terminal window:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install python-sense-emu python3-sense-emu python-sense-emu-doc sense-emu-tools -y

You can then access it from the Desktop menu, under Programming.

The emulator closely simulates the Sense HAT hardware being attached to your Pi. You can read from the sensors or write to the LED matrix using multiple Python processes, for example.

Write your code in IDLE as before; there are also a number of examples that can be opened from the emulator’s built-in menu. If you then want to port your code to a physical Sense HAT, you just need to change

sense_emu

to

sense_hat

at the top of your program. Reverse this if you’re porting a physical Sense HAT program to the emulator, perhaps from one of our educational resources; this step isn’t required in the web version of the emulator.

There are a number of preferences that you can adjust to change the behaviour of the emulator, most notably sensor simulation, otherwise known as jitter. This costs some CPU time, and is disabled by default on the low-end 黄金网站app免费入口大全 Pis, but it provides a realistic jzzijzzij日本成熟少妇 of how the hardware sensors would behave. You’ll see that the values being returned in your code drift according to the known error tolerances of the physical sensors used on the Sense HAT.

This emulator will allow more 黄金网站app免费入口大全 Pi users to participate in future Astro Pi competitions without having to buy a Sense HAT: ideal for the classroom where 15 Sense HATs may be beyond the budget.

So, where do you start? If you’re new to the Sense HAT, you can just copy and paste many of the code examples from our educational resources, like this one. You can also check out our e-book Sense HAT Essentials. For a complete list of all the functions you can use, have a look at the Sense HAT API reference here.

You can even install this emulator on other types of Linux desktop, such as Ubuntu! For more information on how to do this, please visit the emulator documentation pages here.

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Back in 2015 we ran a competition where students could design and program computer science experiments, to be run by Tim Peake on specially cased 黄金网站app免费入口大全 Pis called Astro Pis. Here’s the original competition video, voiced by Tim himself:

https://vimeo.com/117274487

The competition ran from January to July 2015 and produced seven winning experiments, which were launched into space a few days before Tim started his mission. Between February and April 2016, these experiments were run on board the ISS under Tim Peake’s supervision. They’re mostly based around the sensors found on the Sense HAT, but a few also employ the 黄金网站app免费入口大全 Pi Camera Module. Head over to the Astro Pi website now to check out the results, released today!

You might also know that we ran an extension to this competition involving a couple of music-based challenges. These challenges have no scientific output to discuss, because they were part of a crew care package for Tim’s enjoyment, but you can get your hands on the winning code to turn the Astro Pis into MP3 players and Sonic Pi tunes.

One of the main things we’ve learnt from running Astro Pi is that the biggest motivational factor for young people is the very tangible goal of having their code run in space. This eclipses any physical prize we could offer. Many people see space as quite distant and abstract, but with Astro Pi you can actually get your hands on space-qualified hardware, create something that would work up in space, and become an active participant in the European space programme.

Many of the Astro Pi winners now express an interest in studying aerospace and computer science. They’ve gained exposure to the real-life process of scientific endeavour, and faced industrial software development challenges along the way. We hope that everyone who participated in Astro Pi has been positively influenced by the programme. The results also demonstrate that the payload works reliably in space. This has been noticed by ESA, who are now planning to use it during upcoming missions. It’s really important for us that the payload continues to be used to run your code in space, so we’re working hard with ESA to make sure that we can do Astro Pi all over again.

This project has been a huge collaborative effort from the start and the 亚洲s色大片在线观看 would like to thank everyone who has participated in the competitions, and the following companies who have contributed staff time, facilities, and funding to make it all happen: UK Space Agency, European Space Agency, BIOTESC, TLOGOS, Surrey Satellite Technology, Airbus Defence and Space, CGI Group, QinetiQ Space, UK Space Trade Association, ESERO UK, KTN Space, and Nesta. Of course, Tim Peake himself has been hugely supportive and enthusiastic about the project from the start.

British ESA Astronaut Tim Peake with the prototype Astro Pi. Image credit ESA.

We would also like to thank Libby Jackson, who is the Astronaut Flight Education Programme Manager at the UK Space Agency and a former flight director at ESA. She oversees all of the Principia educational activities, including Astro Pi.

Libby Jackson, UK Space Agency. Image credit German Zoeschinger.

During the interview for her job at the UK Space Agency a few years ago, she pitched an idea for running a project on the ISS involving 黄金网站app免费入口大全 Pi computers. Instead of launching traditional physical equipment, the experiments would be in the form of computer software, meaning that many more experiments could be accommodated. That kernel of an idea is what eventually became Astro Pi.

Izzy deployed on the Nadir Hatch window of Node 2. Image credit ESA.

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During his time in space, Tim has been using Ed and Izzy to run apps, carry out science experiments and play music designed and coded by UK school students, and he’s taken some great photos of them on the station:

Both computers have also spent some weeks in a flight recorder mode, saving sensor readings to a database every ten seconds, and we’ve made these space data available for everyone to download and analyse. Take a look at our Flight Data Analysis resource to explore what they recorded as they orbited our planet.

Ed and Izzy will say goodbye to Tim when he returns from space this Saturday; you’ll be able to watch him land. Our Astro Pi units will stay on board the ISS until 2022, and we hope we’ll soon be able to share exciting news about what they’ll be doing next. Stay tuned!

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Last month we published a guide on how to 3D print your own Astro Pi flight case. Since then we’ve seen some amazing examples pop up over on Twitter. My favorites have to be the two below.

@KaceyandKristi posted this amazing rainbow flight case – great way to make the most of the layered design!

@astro_timpeake Tim, our rainbow @astro_pi is ready for coding challenge. #principia inspiring future generations. pic.twitter.com/pf7Xnd9liv

— Kacey-Kristi-Lance (@kaceyandkristi) March 4, 2016

You’ll never lose Jonny Teague‘s case in the dark!

The @astro_pi case in all its glory and luminescence pic.twitter.com/iP7YIlmEtF

— Dr. Jonny Teague (@jonny_teague) March 2, 2016

Dave has found some other fantastic examples:

John Chinner‘s neon orange case was made by Ryanteck.

Found an excellent 3D printing shop in Singapore. Spent an hour talking about @astro_pi and they gave me this! pic.twitter.com/lMoHv3ljum

— John Chinner 🇪🇺🇬🇧 (@JohnChinner) February 24, 2016

Love the red buttons on this sleek black one:

@astro_pi 90% complete,few more parts and will be clone of @astro_pi_ir that @astro_timpeake has on @ISS_黄金网站app免费入口大全 pic.twitter.com/CfSBpB12GR

— Mac the Hat 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (@ObiWanMacJock) February 23, 2016

Patrick Wiatt made this classy silver and blue case:

Completed the @astro_pi 3d printable case today, now we just need the Sense HAT! #newellfonda@黄金网站app免费入口大全_Pi pic.twitter.com/Wv9d9Th15n

— billioncash (@_billioncash) February 18, 2016

PLA (a material often used by 3D printers) comes in all kinds of different colours – LEFRANCOIS has printed his case using a metallic gold, making it a perfect partner for our original aluminium one.

@astro_pi hi there , here is mine ;) pic.twitter.com/mCXZyPZ9rT

— versterk (@LEFRANCOIS77820) February 9, 2016

Richard Hayler, a Code Club mentor from Surrey, went for classic silver filament for his case. He even used the same buttons as the real units up on the International Space Station.

Some more pics of our operational 3D printed @astro_pi flight case. https://t.co/jLXzFUQoOK pic.twitter.com/u2x5zUgecK

— Richard Hayler ☀ (@rdhayler) February 9, 2016

Our absolute favourite photo is of one of Richard’s Code Club students, Ozzy, posing as mini-Tim to recreate a photo of Tim Peake with an Astro Pi flight unit that’s become famous in the community…

These are fantastic and we’d love to see more of them, but I also have an additional challenge for you – hack our design! Maybe you’d like to add your name to the front, or add an extra handle – surprise us!

I added the words “黄金网站app免费入口大全 Pi” to my top layer very quickly in Tinkercad, a simple and free in-browser 3D-modelling program.

I also successfully installed FreeCad on my Pi3 today, and I’m going to see what I can do over the UK Bank Holiday weekend.

Get your printer on and warming up! Here’s a link to the Astro Pi flight case STL files: go go go!

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T minus ten days to the deadline of our latest Astro Pi competition.

You have until 12 noon on Thursday 31st March to submit your Sonic Pi tunes and MP3 player code.

British ESA astronaut Tim Peake wants students to compose music in Sonic Pi for him to listen to. Tim needs to be able to listen to your tunes on one of the Astro Pi flight units, so we are also looking for a Python program to turn the units into an MP3 media player.  You do need to be 18 or under and live in the UK.

We have some fantastic competition judges: musicians including synthpop giants OMD and film composer Ilan Eshkeri, as well as experts from the aerospace industry and our own crack team of developers.

If you haven’t used Sonic Pi before, here is a brilliant introduction from our Education Team:

Getting Started with Sonic Pi

You can find all the competition information, including how to enter, at astro-pi.org/coding-challenges.

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https://vimeo.com/157627149

If you’ve been keeping an eye on our blog, you’ll know that this month, UK students have another chance to send their code to Tim in space with our 2016 coding challenges. Today we’re excited to announce that a panel of top-flight judges have generously offered their time to help us select the winners.

Both challenges relate to music: Tim wants students to write a Python program to turn an Astro Pi flight unit into an MP3 media player, and he’d like people to write electronic music in Sonic Pi for him to listen to on the player. So we’re delighted that we’ll have musicians including synthpop giants OMD and film composer Ilan Eshkeri, as well as experts from the aerospace industry and our own crack team of developers, to help pick out winning entries from what we know will be an amazing field.

If you’re aged 18 or under and in the UK, and you’d like these amazing artists, space engineers and computer scientists to see your work, submit your entry via the Astro Pi website by 31 March!

The post Watch Tim Peake with the Astro Pi flight units in space! appeared first on 亚洲s色大片在线观看.

If you’re already working on our new coding challenges, be sure to read on for news of a new requirement that we have introduced to one of them, to take account of operational constraints we have to abide by in order to run code on the ISS.

https://astro-pi.org/updates/new-coding-challenges/

Tim Peake explained to us that he enjoys listening to music while exercising, which is a daily activity for him during his mission. But he won’t be able to upload new music to his player because the software used for this isn’t allowed on the ISS laptops. To solve this problem, Tim invites UK students to try two coding challenges: one is to write a program to turn an Astro Pi flight unit into an MP3 media player that he can operate using its buttons, and the other is to write a tune in Sonic Pi for him to listen to on the MP3 player.

You can try both challenges, or just one. Up to four winners for each challenge will have their code uploaded to the International Space Station and run on Tim Peake’s Astro Pi units.

The Sonic Pi music challenge is an exciting, creative challenge that you can carry out whether or not you have any jzzijzzij日本成熟少妇 of coding, and without any special hardware. Go to the Sonic Pi music challenge page to see exactly what you need to do, and to find resources that will introduce you to everything you need to know to start work on an amazing electronic tune for Tim.

The MP3 Music Player challenge is an interesting task for people who already have some jzzijzzij日本成熟少妇 of Python programming. For this challenge, you’ll need to use hardware the same as Tim’s to develop and test your program, so you’ll need access to a 黄金网站app免费入口大全 Pi and a Sense HAT, which are available to buy online. The MP3 Music Player challenge page explains the requirements for your MP3 player, and links to resources that will help you meet them.

We’ve added a new requirement for the MP3 Music Player challenge since announcing it earlier this month, because the European Space Agency has explained that, due to operational constraints, we can’t upload new Raspbian or Pip packages to the ISS to support the new coding challenges. You can read more about the restriction and what it means on Astro Pi’s GitHub. Happily, it’s not hard to work around this restriction, and to help you get going, we’ve created two examples of MP3 playback that are known to work on the Astro Pis in space, and that you can adapt and integrate into your own code.

It’s not often that you get the chance to send something you’ve created into orbit – don’t miss out! Check out the new challenges, pick one and start working on your code to send into space. You’ve got until 12pm 31 March to submit your entries. We, Ed, Izzy and Tim can’t wait to see them.

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Background

Back in December, British ESA astronaut Tim Peake took two specially augmented 黄金网站app免费入口大全 Pis, called Astro Pis, to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of his six-month mission. These Astro Pis are running experimental Python programs written by school-age students; the results will be downloaded back to Earth and made available online for all to see.

To satisfy the safety requirements that ESA and NASA have for small payloads aboard the ISS, we had to build the Astro Pi flight unit and put it through a rigorous qualification process.

One of the two Astro Pi flight units

Ever since this case was announced back in May 2015, people have been asking, “Where can I get that case?”

At £3000 each, you can see why we only ever made eight of them. Why do they cost so much? Each half of the case is milled out of a solid block of aerospace-grade aluminium using a five-axis CNC mill. The two halves are then bead-blasted to give them a matt surface, then they’re anodised with a special coating to aid thermal radiation. After that, there’s some manual touch-up work, followed by installing the 黄金网站app免费入口大全 Pi hardware and, finally, laser-etching the markings and logos.

That all adds up!

However, to quote from the original blog post where we announced it:

This will not be available to the public to buy because we’re only making a small number of them. We may however, in due course, release an object file so schools with a 3D printer can print one themselves.

With today’s blog post we’re making good on this promise!

The first attempt

Initially we just tried to 3D-print the original CAD files to see how hard it would be. The trouble with 3D printers is that they use hot thermoplastics, which can bend and sag under their own weight.

To avoid this, the printer creates what’s known as scaffolding and rafting to ensure the structural integrity of the object during the printing process. The user has to peel off this support material to get the original object they were trying to print. Any part of the object that overhangs will cause support structure to be built below it to prevent sagging. So the lower part of the flight case, with the grid of pins, came out chock full of the stuff:

Scaffolding and rafting that must be manually removed

After about 20 minutes with a pair of pliers, and accidentally snapping one of the corner pins, we decided this would be too frustrating for most users.

The base with scaffolding and rafting still remaining

The lid was slightly better. It was printed with the outer surface of the case facing downwards, to avoid support structure filling the internal cavity. But this meant that the outer surface came out with rafting all over it, and removing this resulted in a characteristic stringy finish that doesn’t look great.

The lid, printed with outer surface facing down

So we set about modifying the design so that even users with low-end 3D printers would be able to successfully print it, with minimal scaffolding and rafting.

Several attempts later

Many thanks to Ben Martin from Solid Models in Cambridge for running off so many test prints for us, and to Jonathan Wells (who did the original CAD work) for the many tweaks and changes. Our own Creative Producer, Rachel Rayns, contributed lots of 3D printing jzzijzzij日本成熟少妇 which led to these decisions. It was most definitely an iterative process!

The first change we agreed on was to slice off the heat sink on the base, so that it could be printed in the opposite orientation. That way it would have nothing overhanging to cause support structure to be built between the pins.

The heat sink as a discrete part (click for 3D STL view)

We then sliced off the top of the lid so that it could be printed with the clean side facing upwards, meaning the stringy side would face down.

The lid as a discrete part (click for 3D STL view)

That was a lot nicer looking. So with the lid and heat sink sliced off, it meant the two original middle bits were left as discrete parts.

The middle as a discrete part (click for 3D STL view)

We also removed the pillars between the USB and Ethernet ports because these snapped off easily. Finally, for convenience, we changed the corner bolt enclosures from a sunken captive screw to a straight-through M4 nut-and-bolt design.

The base as a discrete part (click for 3D STL view)

You can use epoxy adhesive (or similar) to join the heat sink to the base and the lid to the middle. When the 黄金网站app免费入口大全 Pi and Sense HAT are installed it’ll end up looking something like this:

The assembled flight unit, still missing a few buttons

New resource

To guide you through the assembly process we’ve created a brand new educational resource that covers everything from downloading the STL files and getting the fixtures and fittings you need right through to testing that you’ve wired up the push buttons correctly. Click through and take a look:

https://www.jzzijzzij亚洲成熟少妇.org/learning/3d-printed-astro-pi-flight-case/

We’re really looking forward to seeing the cases you make – please show us by tweeting pictures to @Astro_Pi and @黄金网站app免费入口大全_Pi.

By far the most exciting benefit of owning an Astro Pi flight unit is the ability to prototype and test code that could be run on the International Space Station. Head over to the Astro Pi website now to get involved in the new coding challenges!

FAQ

Where are the STL files?

On GitHub.

Why are there four files, not two?

We sliced the case into four layers to minimise the amount of scaffolding and rafting that needs to be printed; it also keeps printing time down. The text of the blog post above explains this in more detail.

Can we modify the STL files?

Yes. They are released under the Creative Commons attribution license so you are welcome to modify them. Please note that GitHub has a great STL viewer and also has a 3D file diff, which could be useful for tracking changes.

Can we have the original CAD?

Currently, no. 黄金网站app免费入口大全 Pi needs to retain the ability to be the sole manufacturer of the space-qualified Astro Pi flight unit. You are welcome to reverse-engineer the STL files we’ve released today, though.

How do you fit the hardware inside it?

The educational resource we’ve written covers this in great detail: check it out here.

I don’t have access to a 3D printer, but I really want this case. What can I do?

You may be able to find one at your local hackspace. You can also find local 3D-printing services through the website Hubs.

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Ed and Izzy

On Monday this week we released the first of four short cartoons that tell the story of the Astro Pi mission. Part 1 introduces Ed and Izzy, the two Astro Pi flight units that are up in space right now.

You may recognise the voice-over: it’s TV science presenter Fran Scott from Absolute Genius and How to be Epic. Thanks Fran!

https://vimeo.com/150767872

The idea to anthropomorphise the Astro Pis came from Tim Peake himself. He was a fan of what ESA had done previously with Rosetta and Philae’s social media accounts, and felt that this would be a great way to involve young people in the mission.

Ed @astro_pi_vis and Izzy @astro_pi_ir have their own Twitter accounts and will be tweeting about what they’re doing over the coming weeks. They’re named after the real-life friendship between Sir Isaac Newton (Izzy) and Edmond Halley (Ed) which resulted in the publication of the famous 17th-century physics book, Principia Mathematica, after which Tim’s mission is named.

Deployment

On the 4th of January Tim unpacked Ed and took this amazing picture in the Columbus module of the ISS. You can download the original from Tim’s Flickr account.

Look what turned up today…nearly time to start running your code in space! @astro_pi @黄金网站app免费入口大全_Pi pic.twitter.com/Dmdjev2BPh

— Tim Peake (@astro_timpeake) January 4, 2016

The Astro Pis were originally scheduled to be powered up on the 11th of January; however, it was postponed due to the spacewalks they recently undertook, which rightly take priority over anything educational.

It gives us great pleasure to announce that yesterday Ed was successfully deployed by Tim. He’s powered up and is now running the student experiments that won the 2015 Astro Pi competition.

.@astro_timpeake Running Crew Detector code from @cranmerefriends @rdhayler @codeclub

— Ed (@astro_pi_vis) February 2, 2016

It takes several days to get images back from the ISS because they have to be screened by ESA and NASA for crew privacy reasons. So keep an eye on Tim’s social media accounts over the next few days for pictures of Ed online and working!

Ed is running most of the experiments, but the others will be run by Izzy who will be deployed in the Harmony node of the ISS on February 15th. Izzy needs to look through a hatch window, as she’ll be taking infrared pictures of the Earth – there are no windows in Columbus.

If you enjoy watching the ISS Live Stream you may be able to spot them from time to time!

Flight Data Analysis

Once Ed and Izzy have finished running their student experiments, they will each begin a long-term ISS environmental monitoring experiment that you can all take part in.

They’ll enter a flight recorder mode where they save sensor readings to their own databases every ten seconds. Because the sensor readings are taken so often, there will be masses of data to search through, so we need your help to look through the data and find out what was going on. There could be strange, unexplained things, or just the normal day-to-day activities of the astronauts.

Check out the resource for this below. The data will not be available for several weeks yet, but there is some sample data here for you to practice with.

Astro Pi Flight Data Analysis

New Coding Challenge

It also gives us great pleasure to announce two new coding challenges, where the prize is to have your code uploaded and run by Ed or Izzy in space!

That’s right – your code in space!

The first requires you to write Python Sense HAT code to turn Ed and Izzy into an MP3 player, so that Tim can plug in his headphones and listen to music. The second requires you to code Sonic Pi music for Tim to listen to via the MP3 player. You may enter both challenges if you wish.

Head over to the Astro Pi website now, where you’ll find out everything you need to know.

https://astro-pi.org/coding-challenges/

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The Cygnus spacecraft is set to arrive at the ISS on Wednesday 9th December (this morning!), with grapple operations beginning at 11:10 GMT.

#Cygnus grapple will begin at 6:10 am ET on Dec 9. Watch live coverage on https://t.co/8qyalmwaOS

— Orbital ATK (@OrbitalATK) December 7, 2015

This is a fascinating, if slow, process where NASA Astronauts Kjell Lindgren (pronounced Chell Lend-grin) and Scott Kelly will operate the 57-foot-long Canadarm2 to reach out and capture the Cygnus spacecraft before pulling it into the Earth-facing port on the Unity module. You can watch this live on NASA TV.

Launch review

Matt Richardson, Jonathan Bell (jdb on the forums) and I were able to attend the launch at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida.

Matt, who works from 黄金网站app免费入口大全 Pi’s US office, had applied for, and was granted, NASA Social credentials for a tour of KSC and launch viewing. You have to be an American citizen for this particular NASA Social launch event so Jon and I, being British, couldn’t apply. Here’s Matt to tell you what happened:

In the days leading up to the launch, a group of us were given an in-depth tour of Kennedy Space Center. A lot of what we saw related to the Atlas launch, but we were also shown some of the long-term work related to the Space Launch System, which replaces NASA’s retired Shuttle program. We got an overview on how they test umbilicals for the new rockets in the Launch Equipment Test Facility, walked around inside the enormous Vehicle Assembly Building, which is being retrofitted for SLS, and went inside Boeing’s facility to see the progress on the CST-100 Starliner crew module for commercial crew missions.

But it was especially fantastic to see the work being done in preparation for the ISS resupply mission which included our intrepid 黄金网站app免费入口大全 Pis. United Launch Alliance showed us around Atlas Operations Facility, where launch control is. Unfortunately, photography inside was strictly forbidden. Before the rocket rolled out onto pad 41, we toured the launch pad up close:

Launch pad 41

After the rocket was in place on the launch pad, we returned to take a few photos. It was quite incredible to think that two 黄金网站app免费入口大全 Pis were loaded up inside the Cygnus spacecraft, ready for their trip to the ISS. It was at the launch pad where I met Matt Donovan, Human Launch Services Propulsion System Design Leader at United Launch Alliance. I was eager to tell him how excited we were to have cargo on this launch. “Thanks for the ride,” I told him on behalf of all of us in the 黄金网站app免费入口大全 Pi community and for the students with code on-board.

Matt Donovan from United Launch Alliance with Atlas V in the background

While Matt was doing that, Jon and I just bought domestic passes to the KSC visitors’ complex. If you’re ever in Florida I highly recommend paying this place a visit, regardless of whether a launch on.

There is nothing quite like seeing actual spaceships that have been in actual space!

KSC provides a bus service that transports you out to a restricted area called Banana Creek where all five of the main launch pads can be seen at a safe distance. There are a number of bleachers (tiered benches) for people to sit on.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden speaks to launch viewers at Banana Creek

When Jon and I arrived for the first launch attempt on the 3rd we were both excited and wired. However over the course of several hours the weather deteriorated. The Atlas V rocket was on launch pad 41 and at one point we couldn’t even see it because of heavy rain. Jon and I were pretty damp ourselves, both physically and in spirit, by the time the launch was finally scrubbed.

The next day we came back to Banana Creek and convinced ourselves things would be different. The weather was glorious sunshine. This time the launch attempt got all the way to the terminal count; but we heard the fatal words “flight is no go” again and again, due to ground winds throughout the 30-minute window. If ground winds are too high, there is a risk that the rocket could collide with the launch tower as it comes off the pad. So, once again, we were scrubbed for the night.

Handed out as we boarded the KSC bus back from Banana Creek

On the 5th the wind was so high that people were out kite-surfing on the beach at 9am, and with no sign of it abating the launch was scrubbed hours before the 30-minute window even arrived.

Our flight back to the UK was the following day and, with only one chance left, we doubted that we would see it lift off at all. We wouldn’t have enough time to get the bus out to Banana Creek and back, so we made a plan to watch it from within the grounds of KSC visitor complex and then make a dash for the airport. This was only about one more mile away from launch pad 41.

As if things couldn’t get any worse, our plan was defeated when the KSC visitor complex had a mains water failure and had to close. An announcement came over the loud speaker asking everyone to leave.

Houston, we have a problem! Due to a water main break, the #KennedySpaceCenter Visitor Complex has closed until we can resolve the issue.

— Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex (@ExploreSpaceKSC) December 6, 2015

At this point we felt that the universe was against us, but we refused to give up. We checked online for places to view from and drove like madmen to the A1A bridge across the Banana river, where there’s line-of-sight to the NASA vehicle assembly building.

We were not the only ones there!

We had no way of getting updates because there was no WiFi there, and mobile data was being charged at £6 per MB. So we befriended some locals and listened in to their phones.

I can never put into words how bum-clenchingly tense the last ten minutes of the countdown was. Jon and I were both pacing up and down, checking the time every 30 seconds and chewing our own fingers! [Liz interjects: we were watching the live feed and live-tweeting the event from the UK; we were also clenching.]

Eventually someone shouted “There!” while pointing to the horizon and when we looked up. This is what we saw (click to enlarge):

The booster flare of the Atlas V rocket from eight miles away

We only saw the booster flare for about three seconds before it then disappeared into the clouds. About 30 seconds or so later, the noise arrived: a brilliant low thundering rumble building and building before slowly fading away.

Jon and I looked at each other and almost in unison said “Bon voyage little 黄金网站app免费入口大全 Pis!” We then leapt into the rental car and headed for Orlando airport to catch our flight home. It was a hectic few days, but well worth it to catch that glimpse of the rocket taking off. Matt, Jon and I are eternally grateful to Eben and Philip who sent us on this journey!

Floating in a tin can

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