Yesterday I got an email that made me one of the 100 happiest geeks on the planet. NASA — yes NASA — selected me to be one of 100 people to participate in their first-ever Space Shuttle Launch Tweetup. I was planning on going to this launch anyway (it will be my first), but now I’m going to get to go behind the scenes, meet astronauts, shuttle techs, engineers, and other crew members, tour the facilities, and then GET TO SEE THE LAUNCH FROM THE PRESS SITE. You know, the one you see on TV with the great big countdown clock?

I’m still hyperventilating a little, and I expect I will be until it’s over. The tweetup is scheduled for November 15-16, to coincide with the launch of Atlantis on STS-129, which is a mission to bring gyroscopes and other parts to the International Space Station.

I have been a huge geek for space travel — and the space shuttle — for as long as I can remember. Ashamed as I am to admit it, I can actually quote Space Camp (I first saw it at a drive-in somewhere in the middle of the country on a road trip with my dad. It was part of a double feature with Aliens of all movies). My first “where were you when …” moment was Challenger in 1986, and it was devestating. I remember getting books from the library about the shuttle, and trying to learn all the different components and parts, from the solid rocket boosters to the robotic manipulator arm. Unfortunately, I quickly learned I didn’t have a head for facts and figures like that, so I settled for being a hopeless space romantic. I never lost that sense of awe from the sight of that magnificent, elegant ship rocketing away from the planet on a column of fire and smoke. But I have only ever seen it on television. To see it in person was a dream I wasn’t sure would ever come true.

When I found out the shuttle fleet was going to be mothballed in 2010, I decided I had to go for it. Luckily, I had been bumped from a Delta flight in January, and had a $200 airfare voucher good for one year, which I used to buy tickets to Florida, where I’ll be staying with my good friend (and Save Hiatus writing partner) C.A. Bridges (@cabridges), who also happens to be one of the lucky few who were selected for the tweetup.

I was content enough just knowing that I’d get to see a launch in person, but I never expected I’d get to experience it like this. The press site, where we’ll be to view the launch, is just three miles downrange from launch pad 39A, where Atlantis currently sits. The closest public viewing area is at least 5 miles away.