The launch slip of STS-134 from April 19 to April 29 has prompted a significant re-examination of travel planning for the 300 SSEP students, teachers, administrators, and family members that were heading to Kennedy Space Center for the launch. The key issue is that rescheduling of travel for 3 communities is not an option either due to the costs involved or conflicts with their academic year schedule.
NCESSE, in partnership with the NASA Nebraska Space Grant Program, has therefore decided to provide support for two groups traveling down to Florida: 1) The STS-134 Pre-Launch Plan (April 18-21), and 2) the STS-134 Launch Plan (April 28 – May 1).
A key element of the new STS-134 Launch Plan (April 28 – May 1) is whether KARS Park on KSC property will still be available to us. If not, everyone would be on their own to find a public location to view the launch. Our new plan for KARS Park that we proposed to NASA would be to arrive on April 29 at 11:00 am EDT for a 3:47 pm EDT launch. NASA’s response:
4/5:
“I don’t anticipate there being any problem with getting your folks into KARS park (with Pavilion 2) on April 29th. I have a call into the coordinator and will get back to you with confirmation and with the changes in their operating hours.”
4/6:
“Please continue with your planning. My KARS Park POC is out of the office and I have been unable to reach her, but I strongly believe you are working towards the correct times.”
Based on these messages, we believe that we are a go for the new KARS Park plan. Given the clock is ticking, and rebooking costs are going up, we therefore strongly advise anyone participating in the SSEP launch viewing to CHANGE THEIR TRAVEL PLANS NOW for the April 28 – May 1 period if you have not done so already.
Note: only individuals that are accounted for on the Launch Viewing Agreement signed by your community may come to KARS Park as part of the SSEP group.
IMPORTANT: The Launch Plans for STS-134 page is now fully revised to reflect: 1) The STS-134 Pre-Launch Plan (April 18-21), and 2) the STS-134 Launch Plan (April 28 – May 1). There are many changes on this page, and we urge attendees traveling to either program to carefully re-read the entire page.
Jump to the Launch Plans for STS-134 page.
The SSEP on-orbit research opportunity is enabled through NanoRacks LLC, which is working in partnership with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory.
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