Launch Question

Myself and a friend are planning a trip too the KSC in Florida, ether October or December Shuttle Launches. Is there a way too find out the regular weather paturns for those 2 months ?
I hate too make the trip, and be rained out for a week.

Also, how close can I get too the Shuttle Launch site too get a good viewing place ?

Bill

I've never been to a launch, but we've been thinking about it. You can find information at--
http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/launches/index.asp

I think the grandstands would be awesome, but you should also be able to see the launches pretty well from A1A that runs along the coast. However, I don't know how early people arrive to set up their RVs, coolers, cameras, telescopes, etc.

I've been to a couple lauches in years past, and was
also looking into launches this fall. Security seems to
been significantly increased since I was there, so I
am not sure how close they will let the public these days.

Another concern is the possibility that the launch is
delayed for weather, technical stuff, etc. You might want to
arrange a week-long visit with nominal launch date
near the start of the week.

This site is a gold-mine of info:
http://www.sworld.com.au/steven/space/shuttle/guide.txt

From what I can tell most public viewing these days
occurs from the NASA "Causeway" viewing area on the
Banana River about 6 miles from the pad.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&ie=UTF8&ll=28.518515,-80.619328&spn=0.013782,0.0159&t=k&z=16&iwloc=B
I think the way that works is that you get special launch
tickets from NASA, park near the Visitor Center, and then
take some NASA busses to the viewing area. I am not sure
if tickets are available to the public these days. I once
viewed from there, and there is a nice un-obstructed
view of the pad. You can get some nice shots with a
telephoto lens or small scope.
There is some info here:
http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/launches/index.asp
http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/ltt.pdf

There are also commercially-run tours.
http://www.orlando-tours.com/tours/tourDetail.cfm?tour_id=38

The "Press Area" with grand stands is about 3 miles from
the pad, but I suspect you cannot get in there now without
a special invite from NASA. I once watched from there.
It was great, but almost a little too close --
after launch there was a dash to get everyone back on
the busses and out before the toxic fumes arrived. And
jokes about refigerator-sized pieces of burning rocket fuel
falling from the sky....
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&ie=UTF8&t=k&ll=28.60381,-80.668547&spn=0.003443,0.003975&z=18

In the "good old days" you could get a vehicle pass,
drive a car full of friends in, and park along the
Static Test Road about 4 miles from the pad. But they
seem to have stopped doing that.

There is some info about off-site viewing locations at:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/view/view_shuttle.html
Titusville is about 11 miles to the pad.

Thanks guys for all your help.
Bill