April 5, 1991 started as a cold, rainy, and windy morning. I (J. Horack) hardly slept the night before, and when I finally arose at about 3:30 in the morning, it was raining, and I figured there was no way we were going to launch. Nevertheless, I left the Holiday Inn in Cocoa Beach before dawn, and was at the Kennedy Space Center's Banana Creek viewing site by about 7:00 am. Having been with the BATSE hardware and GRO satellite nearly every day for 4 years, seeing it inside the space shuttle Atlantis only a few days before seemed quite surreal, and I wasn't altogether convinced that we were really going to launch the thing into space.
While watching the countdown clock, we were also watching the clouds, a traditional nemesis to on-time launches, either because of the launch itself, or because of visibility concerns at the landing facility in the event that a problem would occur and the shuttle would have to return to KSC.
When the clouds parted and the clock hit about T - 30 seconds, I finally realized that what was happening REALLY WAS HAPPENING. The launch starts with an almost unbelievable red glow below the main engines (most of the blue light from the engine plumes must be scattered out, just like a sunset appears red). Then one big puff of steam rises from the tail side of the orbiter. This takes about six or seven seconds. Then almost immediately an equally large puff of steam appears opposite the orbiter in about a half-second: the solid rocket boosters had been ignited. Then the sound comes...and it is loud. The SRBs rip the air around you, and you can feel the low frequency sound pounding against your chest.
The shuttle traveled up out of sight, through a cloud deck, the shadow from the plume above the deck clearly visible on the cloud. Then above the cloud deck the orbiter came into view again, climbing ever skyward.
The feeling of seeing four years of your work launched aboard the shuttle is unparalleled in my experience. I can only imagine how those who worked on BATSE for 15 years might have felt. There are moments in one's life when hard work, dedication, and commitment really pay dividends. This was one of them, and I think I speak for all of us on the BATSE team. However, the real fun was yet to come!
| Authors | Robert S. Mallozzi John M. Horack |
| Responsible Manager | Steve Elrod |
| Site Curator | Valerie Connaughton |
