Space coast

We live just 30 miles west of the iconic Cape Canaveral. Yes, its the same one from where NASA launches its space shuttles (not anymore though). This means believe it or not we just have to peek out into the sky from our backyard to watch the launch. So we are used to the launches and the landing  accompanying "sonic boom". This one time we were  returning from an outing and saw people gathered on the side of the road not far from our neighborhood to watch the shuttle launch. We decided to park our car by the curb to join the fun. The whole sky lit up as the shuttle went up roaring..

Talking about sonic boom, I still remember during our initial days here, the day we heard a loud explosion outside and were too scared even to peek out from our house fearing that it might be gunshots. When we came out, the street was deserted...it was late evening...no sign of anything unusual. Then suddenly we remembered the shuttle was scheduled to land at NASA that evening and what we heard was the sonic boom. 

A sonic boom is the sound associated with the shock waves created by the supersonic flight of an aircraft. Sonic booms generate enormous amounts of sound energy, sounding much like an explosion.(courtesy Wiki)

Last week we were still in our bed at around 6 am when we heard the boom again. Now we have become more used to this sound and we immediately knew NASA's shuttle is back safely. Though NASA's space shuttle mission ended on 21st of July, if you are crazy about space and shuttles you can still visit the Kennedy space centre to view all the launch pads.

You might have seen the place even if you have never been here, in that not so hit SRK(Shahrukh Khan) movie 'Swadesh' where the bollywood stud plays a NASA Engineer. I still don't understand how he manages to make his stupid movies hit but good ones go unnoticed. 

Growing up I was a big fan of the show 'I dream of Jeanie' a comedy sitcom from 60s which is a popular rerun in some channels. That show was also based on a NASA astronaut finding a Jeanie bottle during a turbulent landing. The Jeanie possesses some magical powers that she uses to make things appear/disappear just by blinking <twingg>.

Rhea, being a Florida born loves beach and goes absolutely crazy when she is in water. We always have a hard time to get her out of the water. Hence Cocoa beach is a family favorite outing that we enjoy every spring and summer.