The most momentous launch since the Apollo era was about to begin, and along Florida’s space coast, a secondhand exhilaration was working its way through the assembled crowd, as though all of us, and not just the astronauts, would soon ride out of Earth’s gravity well on a pillar of fire. The space faithful had started arriving at the A. Max Brewer Bridge in Titusville before dawn, under the light of a full, yellow moon. They had set up their folding chairs and tripods at the high point of the bridge, to get the best line of sight, and stayed fixed in place during a brief rain, and again later, when a concerning wind blew across the lagoon.
On the launchpad, the rocket stood more than 30 stories high, illuminated by banks of stadium lights. As the day wore on, a tailgate atmosphere took hold in the park at the foot of the bridge. For miles, cars had pulled onto nearly every available stretch of grass. Families spread out on picnic blankets, and college-aged kids wheeled out coolers. They threw footballs and baseballs back and forth and drank beer.
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