Sleeps seven, plenty of storage space, twenty seven million horsepower, dedicated maintenance team and soon to be available second hand…

We went to Florida to see the fourth-from-last shuttle launch and it didn’t disappoint; first a flash from the boosters lights the dawn sky, then there is a brilliant glow as it lifts from the gantry – the sound took about ten seconds to cross the water to where we were. There was a dull roar then a louder crackling thump that feels like being pushed in the chest. It arcs across the sky, chasing the space station (which we saw twinkling across the night sky before the launch) and when it gets high enough it catches the sunrise, the shuttle glinting in the light and its vapour trail illuminated so that it looks like a comet streaking across the sky.