NASA Tweetup At Kennedy Space Center For Launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-129

NASA invited me to the John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida to attend a special NASA Tweetup (#nasatweetup) for the Space Shuttle Atlantis launch of the STS-129 mission to the International Space Station. The Space Shuttle launched on Monday, November 16th at 2:28pm EST from launch pad 39A.

Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-129

Space Shuttle STS-129

Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB)

NASA Astrovan

Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-129

NASA Snack Mobile

Space Shuttle STS-129

Space Shuttle STS-129

NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly

Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-129

Space Shuttle STS-129

Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-129 Patch

Here are my launch day photos & video that I uploaded live from the press center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, which is located 3 miles from the launch pad.

Space Shuttle STS-129

Space Shuttle STS-129

Space Shuttle STS-129

Bill Johnson

As part of the NASA Tweetup, we took a tour of the Kennedy Space Center, stopping by the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF), Apollo / Saturn V Center and ended up with an amazing visit to a close up view of launch pad 39A with the Space Shuttle Orbiter in place on the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) ready for take off.

While touring Kennedy Space Center, we drove by a gigantic eagle’s nest (as big as king size bed) which has been home multiple generations of eagles for over 45 years. KSC is part of Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, which is also home to alligators, wild boar, black bear, manatee, Florida panthers and over 330 species of birds.

Kennedy Space Center

Kennedy Space Center

Kennedy Space Center

Kennedy Space Center

Space Shuttle STS-129

Mike Massimino

Photo Gallery: NASA Tweetup Space Shuttle STS-129

NASA photographer Carla Cioffi has been shooting a bunch of great photos of the STS-129 NASA Tweetup and uploading them to NASA HQ Flickr account.

More Coverage:

The Associated Press

Central Florida News 13

Space.com

Star Stryder

photos by Scott Beale

UPDATE: Photos from Kennedy Space Center, Apollo / Saturn V Center and International Space Station Center.

Scott Beale
Scott Beale

Scott Beale is the founder of Laughing Squid and is based in New York City. When not running the blog, Scott can be found posting on Threads and sharing photos on Instagram.