Countdown

Coming up on 45 minute point in our countdown Everything going smoothly T-minus 45 minutes and counting

Coming up on t-minus 40 minutes T-minus 40 minutes and counting This is Shuttle launch control

Lit up with anticipation We arrive at the launching site The sky is still dark, nearing dawn On the Florida coastline

Circling choppers slash the night With roving searchlight beams This magic day when super-science Mingles with the bright stuff of dreams

We have an AEO abort go for test Tester says they are go for launch At the present time we know of no major problems as we enter this final hold

Floodlit in the hazy distance The star of this unearthly show Venting vapours, like the breath Of a sleeping white dragon

Crackling speakers, voices tense Resume the final count All systems check, T minus nine As the sun and the drama start to mount

The air is charged A humid, motionless mass The crowds and the cameras

The cars full of spectators pass Excitement so thick you could cut it with a knife Technology high, on the leading edge of life

(T minus 27 seconds We have gone to redundant sequencers start T minus 20 seconds and counting T minus 15, 14, 13

T minus ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four We have rocket main engine start We have main engine start We have liftoff)

The earth beneath us starts to tremble With the spreading of a low black cloud

(The shuttle has cleared the tower)

A thunderous roar shakes the air Like the whole world exploding

(Rocket is en route)