STS135 Launch Tweetup - Part 1 of 2 - Falcon 9 tour, RSS rollback, VAB tour and Elmo

July 7, 2011, two days before the last Space Shuttle launched, I got to be both part of the NASA Launch Tweetup and the Space X Falcon 9 launch facility tour. This Rocket will be launched NET late March, 2012 as the first commercial transportation to the ISS. This is Falcon 9 #3 first stage - a long video inside and tour of the launch pad.
The Rotating Service Structure Rollback is all stills as is the Vehicle Assembly Building tour.
The astronauts in the tweetup with us were Doug Wheelock (@Astro_Wheels) and Mike Massimino (@Astro_Mike), two of NASA most engaging and amazing astronauts.
Oh, and of course Elmo!! I'd really hoped to meet Kevin Clash (the voice and life of Elmo) but they were very much in demand :(
This is part 1 of 2 - there's another 38 mins of stuff I still have to put together!
Since I probably ought to name the tune under the stills for the last 4 minutes, let's call it "Falcon Groovin" Just me kicking around on my 12 string and fretless bass.
Follow me on Twitter @VAXHeadroom

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