Nominal

Saturday 9:17pm EST Just finished a special report with Bill Weir and Lisa Stark, watching the launch of Discovery.  As so often in the past, you’re not sure you believe it when, after a day of lousy weather, they nevertheless get into the last few seconds of countdown–and then, at T-minus six seconds, when the engines actually light. After four years, a producer remarked to me afterwards, one forgets just how beautiful a night launch is.  The astronauts agreed: "Nominal MECO" (short for Main Engine Cut-Off). A couple of minutes ago the three men on the space station were told, "You have some company in space."  Michael Lopez-Allegria, the one American on board, answered, "We’re going to turn on our porch lights so they can find us."