Nell Greenfield Boyce

The rocket is just arcing up into the sky.

There's a tremendous noise and just a bright, bright star-like, streaking star in the sky as it goes up and up.

The sound was like physical.

You could feel your body shaking.

And there's a long, straight cloud, white cloud coming down from the rocket, which is still

Very visible, high up in the blue sky.

There's four astronauts on board, and it's amazing to think that they're on top of this thing.

And it's just going up and up and up, and we can still hear it.

It's like a very loud flag-flapping sound, and all eyes are on this thing.

The countdown is going really smoothly.

There haven't been any of the problems that have been an issue for NASA in the past.

So we've been watching the fueling very carefully.

We haven't seen any of those hydrogen leaks that have been pesky.

So everything is looking really good.

It's very smooth.

And the weather is also looking very cooperative.

And it's starting to feel real.

Everybody's like milling around.

The press center is really crowded.

And so I would say there's an air of hopeful anticipation.