There are usually a few people with radios tuned in to the local news and NASA broadcasts Euan so it's pretty easy to keep track of where the countdown is up to (or down to??) We were in a different spot on Friday when the launch was scrubbed with about a half hour to go. There was a big van there with a tannoy system that was broadcasting the shuttle transmissions and NASA countdown comments.

The sound coming from the shuttle was amazing. It takes maybe 20 seconds for the sound to reach you so you watch the shuttle lift off and start climbing through the clouds and then when it is well up in the sky you start to hear and feel the rumbling of the engines.