Countdown

(album: Signals - 1982)

("We're coming up on the 45 minute point in our countdown. Everything's going smoothly.")
("T minus 45 minutes and counting.")
("T minus 40 minutes, minus 40 minutes and counting...")
("This is shuttle launch control.")

Lit up with anticipation
We arrive at the launching site
The sky is still dark
Nearing dawn
On the Florida coastline

Circling choppers slash the night
With roving searchlight beams
This magic day when the super-science
Mingles with the bright stuff of dreams

("We have a, uh, report from the orbiter test center, they are go for launch at the present time... no major problems ... engine final hold.")

Floodlit in the hazy distance
The star of this unearthly show
Venting vapours, like the breath
Of a sleeping white dragon
Crackling speakers
Voices tense
Resume the final count
All systems check
T minus nine, as the sun and the drama start to mount

The air is charged – a humid, motionless mass
The crowds and the cameras
The cars full of spectators pass
Excitement so thick, you could cut it with a knife
Technology high
On the leading edge of life

("T minus 27 seconds; we have ... sequencer start.")
("T minus 20 seconds and counting, T minus 15, 14, 13, T minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4; we've got the main engine start-we have it.")

The earth beneath us starts to tremble
With the spreading of a low black cloud
("America's first space shuttle.")
A thunderous roar shakes the air
("And the shuttle has cleared the tower.")
Like the whole world exploding

Scorching blast of golden fire
As it slowly leaves the ground
Tears away with a mighty force
The air is shattered by that awesome sound

("T plus 30 seconds, 35...")
("Columbia, Houston, you're going 40...")

Excitement so thick, you could cut it with a knife
Technology high
On the leading edge of life
Like a pillar of cloud
The smoke lingers high in the air
In fascination, with the eyes of the world, we stare

("Columbia is now clearing for its precise window in space for main engine cutoff.")
("Launch plus 240 seconds, Columbia now 39 nautical miles altitude, 42 nautical miles down range.")
("Columbia, you're looking a little hot and all your calls will be a little early.")
("Young and Crippen really moving out now, velocity reading of 6200 feet per second.")
("What a view, what a view.")
("Glad you're enjoying it.")
("Columbia, Houston, we have 40 seconds to LOS, after LOS you're looking good for an over-the-hill; we'll see you in Madrid.")
("And we enjoyed the music, Bob; thank ya'.")
("Ah, we enjoyed it; we just wanted to share something with you.")