The shuttle Atlantis lifted off from Launch Pad 39A at 6:11 a.m. EDT on May 19, 2000. The primary mission is to dock with, service and supply the International Space Station.

The launch was spectacular! We were 10 to 12 miles away across the Indian River in Titusville for the launch but it didn’t matter. We had front row seats. The shuttle’s main engines and external solid rocket boosters (SRBs) could be seen the instant they were lit but the chest-pounding roar was delayed due to the distance between us. We finally heard the craft 30 to 45 seconds into the launch.

As Atlantis gained altitude the large contrail shrank until it could not be seen. Only the bright engines were left making the shuttle appear as a brilliant moving star. A short time later the SRBs separated from the spacecraft and could be seen clearly as they tumbled slowly down into the Atlantic. As the SRBs fell closer to the horizon the speed of their fall and the denser air close to the surface caused two vertical contrails to form. The super large smoke cloud hung in the sky for almost an hour after the launch. What an amazing experience! If you ever have the chance, I hope you will see a shuttle launch for yourself.

The STS-101 mission lasted 9 days, 20 hours and 9 minutes. In that time, Atlantis traveled just over 4 million miles. That’s equal to about 160 earth orbits or 16 trips to the moon. The STS-101 crew delivered logistics and supplies, and prepared the station for the arrival of the Russian Zvezda Service Module.

As soon as Atlantis landed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida processing began for its next flight. Atlantis returned to the International Space Station with another crew just three months later. That flight was STS-106.

The pictures below were taken with a hand held Nikon FM SLR camera, Tamron 35-80mm zoom lens and Kodak Royal Gold 400 speed film. The exposure times were 1/125 at f/2.8 – f/4.