After a few days at HIMSS in Orlando last week, I treated my daughter and myself to a once in a lifetime opportunity.  We went with some friends to Cape Canaveral to view one of the last space shuttle launches.  This was the final launch of Discovery and the mission known as STS-133.  After a day at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center, we rode a bus to the East Causeway to view the 4:50pm launch.

A few seconds into the the climb, I called at Rachel to turn around for the snapshot below.  There are two launches left, and then the USA will be without a manned space program.  The end of an important era...