I'm planning on being at the Phoenix launch...
Any tips about the perfect location, lodging, spirit?...

Contact Ben Cooper!

Bob Shaw

Go to his website launchphotography.com and he describes all the best places for viewing. Since Phoenix is a Delta II, Jetty Park is the best place. And near by in Port Canaveral, Grill's is the place to go. I will be nearby

The best place would be to look for a good M113 and drive it to up close to Delta II.

Rodolfo

Good on you Ustrax.
I'd like myself to be on the landing place. Can you please confirm the final selection

The FUNDAMENTAL rule for planning to see a launch is to schedule the first day of the launch window at the start of a vacation, and be prepared to vacation every day at regional attractions, till either your money, vacation time, launch window, or sanity run out!

Thanks guys for the Ben Cooper and Grill's references...
I believe all the lodging facilities must be all occupied with anticipation for the launch, no?
Maybe even now may be late for reservations...

edstrick, yes I thought about it, I have a month, it would be quite a blow to have to return home without watching it due to delays...

For the shuttle yes, for a Delta II no. ELV launchs come and go and few people take vacation to see one of them. Only the people working on a specific launch are staying in the hotels (but there are 100's more rooms than workers)

Thanks for the precious informations Jim.

This is exactly the strategy I used (successfully) for the Space Shuttle launch in 1989 of the Galileo probe to Jupiter. Flexibility (and calling the hotel immediately after a delay) is the key. I scheduled my arrival in Florida for the first day of the launch window and had to keep changing hotel reservations due to asssorted delays. Luckily, the shuttle finally lifted off on a glorious morning of the last vacation day. A few hours later I boarded the plane for home happy as a clam (or a rover finding water altered rock).

Be sure to have a thoroughly practiced and thought out backup plan (redundency) and lots of patience.

Wrong web forum (NSF.com is more appropriate), but imagine booking a room for the previous shuttle mission (STS-115). With all those delays, that must've been frustrating

Heck-- Imagine all the rooms that will be booked prior to the last shuttle launch in 2010