Recapping the NASA Social Europa Clipper launch event
The NASA Social Europa Clipper launch and behind-the-scenes event went off without a hitch earlier this week. The weather was perfect. The sky was the perfect sky blue. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the 24-hour whirlwind I encountered at Kennedy Space Center. I’ve reflected on the experience quite a bit since then, and I know I have a lot to say. But that will come later. First, I want to share a recap of both Sunday and Monday. It was all just so perfect.
The NASA Social participants
Originally, close to 50 people planned on participating in this NASA Social event. Due to hurricane Milton (did I mention that Milton’s a jerk-face?) and a whole host of travel issues and other complications, including an even more uncertain launch date than usual, only 11 of us arrived in time for the behind-the-scenes activities on Sunday, October 13. Two more joined us on Monday. That’s 13 participants overall* – an relatively small group.
Behind-the-scenes – Sunday, October 13
Roundtable conversations
After we were bused onto the Kennedy Space Center grounds, we took a few moments to check out the view from the Press Site.
Then we were led into a conference room and sat around a large conference table. Several NASA folks who are connected with the Europa Clipper mission joined us for a Q & A session. But before they answered our questions, we all took the time to formally introduce ourselves to the group.
I’m not gonna lie. The room was intimidating. Not only was I in the presence of literal rocket scientists and subject matter experts, but the NASA Social participants’ list of achievements were also quite impressive. The room was full of children’s book authors, entrepreneurs, nonprofit founders, social media stars, PhDs, veterans, and livestreamers with thousands upon thousands of subscribers.
And there was little ol’ me, an old-school Dad Blogger who was blogging before blogging was cool and continues to blog after blogging stopped being cool.
Have you ever heard of “Imposter Syndrome”? According to WebMD, it’s “when you doubt your own skills and successes. You feel you’re not as talented or worthy as others believe, and you’re scared that one day, people will realize that.” And let me tell you – it’s very real. Very, very real. Because I started to feel that it as we went around the room. I only sat in that feeling of fakeness for just a few moments, but it was there.
Time passed quickly after our introductions and before I knew it, our panel of NASA experts had to leave for other things. I would love to have the opportunity to talk to them more. Maybe some of them will eventually be guests on THE MattDanToddcast Podcast. That would be awesome.
Then Ada Limón, the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States, sat down with us and shared with us about the poem she wrote for Europa Clipper – In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa. You might remember that this poem was engraved onto the Clipper in Ada’s handwriting. Pretty cool, right? She shared her struggle with composing this poem and answered our questions. Then she read her poem to us and even signed copies of an illustrated children’s book version of the poem.
Bus tour of Kennedy Space Center
After the incredible meetings with NASA team members and Ada Limón, it was time to load onto the bus again and visit Launch Complex 39A – the site where the Apollo missions, Skylab, the space shuttles, and launched.
Oh, and Europa Clipper was there.
Fun fact: Those black side boosters on the SpaceX Falcon Heavy? They’re the same ones that were used to launch Psyche on October 13, 2023 – one year to the day before we were there. Europa Clipper, however, was the last hurrah for these specific reusable boosters.
After spending time in awe of the Europa Clipper, it was time to move on. We had one more stop before completing the tour – the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building. It’s the last spot where the public sees astronauts before they board their spacecraft. It’s a historic spot. It was inspiring to stand there. I’ll share more thoughts about my visit to this spot in an upcoming blog post.
Star Party reception – Sunday, October 13
That evening, we were invited to attend a reception for the Europa Clipper team, their families, and other special guests. It was inspiring to see the joy and relief on people’s faces as they celebrated the launch of this massive and complicated spacecraft. There was laughter, applause, and tears.
And another reading of Ada Limón’s beautiful work of art.
Then, fittingly. we went outside and stargaze.
Rumor has it that Jupiter was visible at around midnight. Since I’m an old man party pooper, I didn’t stay around that late. I had a rocket launch to witness and I was not going to oversleep!
Europa Clipper launch (NASA Social’s version) – Monday, October 14
The bus took us to the Press Site around an hour before launch time. I experimented with some panoramic shots. If you know what you’re looking for, it turned out pretty well. But the launch site was a bit too far off for it to show up easily on my phone’s panoramic setting. But it was fun to try.
As the anticipation built, I found my spot near other participants and some media. Many other members of the press stayed near the building because they had the equipment to adequately zoom in. I didn’t. But that’s OK. I had a pretty spectacular view.
With just a few minutes before launch, NASA’s social media team gathered somewhere behind me. They had been running their social channels most of the morning, but ran down to witness the launch live. You can hear them in the background of the video.
Here are the livestreams from AstroCanuck and MooHoodles. They had much fancier equipment than I had.
Wow.
Just…wow.
So. freakin’. cool.
I zoomed in on a few screengrabs from this video. Here’s a closer look:
I was surprised at how bright orange the flames were. You don’t really see that on the broadcasts that much. And it was loud, y’all. And the reflection in the water? Oh…chef’s kiss.
It was, in fact, the perfect day. I cannot thank the NASA Social team enough for giving me this opportunity and for being such amazing hosts. And all of the other NASA Social participants? They’re pretty amazing. You should check them out (their social media handles are in the endnotes below).
These two days certainly lived up to the hype!
I asked Christy if we could just go ahead and retire so we could just spend the rest of our lives watching rockets launch. Will we retire in Florida? Doubtful. But I’d love to watch more rockets launch. It’s such an incredible experience and I don’t see how it could ever get old.
But for now, GO CLIPPER, GO!
endnotes
* NASA Social Europa Clipper participants, including their Instagram and Twitch or YouTube handles (if available)
- Alastair (@eretvr, Twitch)
- Sharife (anubis_the_greyt)
- Tom (astrocanuck, Twitch)
- Randy (anoutdoorintrovert)
- Sylvia (sylvia_longmire, YouTube)
- Aidyl (real_dr.g)
- “Moohoodles” (moohoodles, Twitch)
- Kyle (spacepoint2030, YouTube)
- Jen (jenswanbooks, YouTube)
- Pablo (astronomikatv, YouTube)
- Robin (alaskastateparks)
- Luis (theluismoros)
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