He drove 1,100 miles from Detroit to Titusville, Fla., with his mother-in-law and three children — Gwynn, 7, Vance, 5, and 9-month-old Vera — and spent the night in a tent in pouring rain to make sure his family had front row seats to this once in a lifetime event.
The rumble of rockets has drawn crowds to the Kennedy Space Center for 50 years: for the launching of Mercury, America’s first space program; to the Apollo and the journey to the moon; to the Columbia, the nation’s first space shuttle’s flight, and now its last, the Atlantis on July 8.
“I was honored and thrilled I was able to see it,” Bell said. “It was worth the drive and the wait.”
Bell says his family were also profiled on CBS Evening News as to why they joined thousands of other spectators to say goodbye to the shuttle at Cape Canaveral.
Bell said he was not only excited to watch the shuttle takeoff, but he was overjoyed he had the opportunity to share this moment with his children.
“My kids loved camping out, and when they seen the shuttle takeoff their eyes lit up in amazement,” Bell said. “My son said it looked like a big stick pooping out fire.”
Bell’s son, Vance, hopes to become an astronaut, and this moment in history has him dreaming of his own adventures in space.
“I want to be king in space,” he told CBS correspondent Kelly Cobiella. “I’m going to be the first king on the moon.”
Bell had a fear that the launch wasn’t going to happen due to the weather, but even the view at night of the launch pad made his trip worth it. The shuttle’s final blast-off has left Bell and many others thrilled at space history, but they also left with a bit of disappointment knowing this was the last space shuttle launch in the U.S.
“It was a once in a lifetime trip,” he said. “I’m happy that I fulfilled a promise to myself, and it feels pretty good to be able to cross something off my list.”
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