Editor’s note: Yes, I use the more-modern “a” historical view instead of the older “an” historical view. Get over it!

I was so excited to receive confirmation (and then the press credentials!) for the upcoming STS133 #Nasatweetup…it is just a few weeks away! (Only 150 people were selected to attend…alas, @swimmerjoe was not so lucky!) He and I had a wonderful visit with @AndreaFarmer when she invited us to visit Kennedy Space Center’s Visitor Center. (Well worth the trip!)

However, the last (and only time) I was up close and personal for an actual launch was when I was in middle school (think early-80′s) and I was on movie-maker and director Jesse Wolf’s family’s sailboat on the Intracoastal Waterway. And, if memory serves me correctly (since it was one of the early launches) we were able to go much closer than boats would be able to today…I still have the image of the brilliant comtrail against the blue sky burned into my memory banks!

So, when I heard NASA had released some historic photos via their Flickr.com “Commons” account, I just had to check them out. They show some of the very earliest pictures from NASA, including President John F. Kennedy touring Cape Canaveral.  My favorite? Tough to choose but I think the one of President Richard Nixon braving bad weather with the masses (under umbrellas) to witness the launch of Apollo 12.

Enjoy this walk down memory lane…

[slideshow]