Blast off
A few months ago I found myself in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for my best mates wedding. I went on a shoestring, while all my mates were doing all the theme parks I was back at the flat reading my book. However, being rather geeky, one thing I was not going to miss out on was a trip to the Kennedy Space center... And luck would have it, there was a launch on. Nothing special but it was still a launch. So my friends and I did all the usual stuff then eagerly hung around for the lauch... delayed 10 minutes. Fair enough, delayed again. Hmm... ok. Waiting around still. The sun is setting and the crowd is getting bigger. Delayed again, at this point it is quite late and we have to leave. All of us quite disappointed so we head back to the car.

And as we get to the parking lot... a confirmed launch time, 5 minutes. So we all run to the car and wait. Then it happens.
First a bright flash lights up the sky, followed by a roar then a big cloud of smoke billows out turning the flash an orange colour then there it is! A ball of fire riding a pillar of smoke. Absolutly stunning moment, completely speechless. One of *the* top highlights of my life. We all stand there in silence staring at the sky until there is nothing left to see.
(Fishbone-didi, Sun 8 Aug 2010, 5:51, Reply)