Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Very nice pic of the comet but it looks like that poor thing didn’t have a chance because you don’t see it exit on the other side of the sun. If you watch closely you can see it accellerate as it approaches the sun.
On March 8th Kathy and I and some friends were very close to a Falcon 9 rocket launch that carried a group 4-10 Starlink satellites into orbit. We were so close in fact, that the deafening rumble set off car alarms around us. The first stage is then reused. Sometimes it lands on a barge way out in the ocean. Then it is towed back to Port Canaveral and trucked back to a refitting building before it goes back to the launch pad.
On the 13th we went to visit some other friends at Satellite Beach which is close to Port Canaveral. We went for a walk on the beach and saw the first stage from the launch we saw the previous week returning to port. There must have been
some bad weather which delayed its return. In the photograph, the deck of the barge is below the horizon but the two dark “side walls” can be seen on either side of the rocket. You can’t see them but there was also a tug towing the barge and three Coast Guard ships circling to keep other boats away. The objects on the far left are high-rise buildings at Port Canaveral.Yes, the SpaceX website that Bob references is fantastic. It has real time coverage and really interesting commentary on the history, engineering, and current launch details – before, during, and after the launch. Despite the plethora of information and nice photos, the NASA websites are not very well curated and are very tardy in posting current information on flights. Stick with the SpaceX website and not the NASA sites for any info on SpaceX technologies and launches.
Fifth time is a charm. Kathy, my friend Mike, and I have been driving 3 hours back and forth from Cape Kennedy to see a Space X Falcon 9 rocket launch, but the flight encountered a host of problems. The first day the launch was scrubbed because of torrential rain. The next day the launch was scrubbed due to upper atmosphere turbulence. The 3rd day the scrub was due to 35 mph wind gusts. The following day, the 4th attempt, was aborted 33 seconds before launch because a Royal Caribbean cruise ship “Harmony of the Seas” entered the restricted zone. Finally, yesterday, we got to witness the launch. Very cool to see the first stage booster separate and fly back to Cape Canaveral and land.
Over the five days we tried many locations to view the flight and finally saw it from Kayak Beach near Port Canaveral. There are thousands of people who go to these launches, so it is quite stressful with traffic, parking fees, unfamiliar roads, etc. Should you decide to see a launch ask others for advice – and beware because there are many people who profess to have information but don’t have a clue what they are talking about.
The first two photos are the initial launch. The third is the rocket about 20 seconds in flight. The last photo is the first stage booster landing back on the Cape at a landing pad that is to the right of the launch pad.
Kathy used a Sony a-350 DSLR 70-300 zoom telephoto. I estimate the distance from our location to the launch pad was about 13 miles. Get this, she shot those photos with no tripod; just hand-held.
Stay tuned because we are going to Cape Kennedy this Thursday to watch another Space-X launch carrying an Italian satellite. This time we hope to be at a designated viewing location on the cape which is at a distance of only 6.2 miles. That’s as close as civilians can get. More later!
I’m officially a rocket nerd. On Tuesday evening, from the tennis court outside our condo in Kissimmee, my wife, Kathy, and I watched a Space-X depart from Cape Kennedy carrying dozens of StarLink satellites. On Friday, we drove 60 miles to a Walmart parking lot in Titusville to watch the launch of a Space Force Atlas V carrying two surveillance satellites departing from Cape Canaveral. Kathy took the photos. Note: you have to click on each photo to see the rocket detail.
Drove to Kissimmee Florida. Our condo is 73 miles from Cape Kennedy, but I was still able to capture this image with my cell phone camera of the night launch of SpaceX carrying the StarLink G4-6 satellite group from our tennis court! The moon is the white object at the top center. The SpaceX rocket is the orange flash on the left just above the fence. You can see the thin vapor trail streaming out behind. The tiny white dot above the fence and to the left of the “No Smoking” sign is an incoming airplane.
It was so beautiful. We even saw the first stage boosters release then watched the second stage carry the satellite package well into orbit.
I went to Root River Park after the astronomy club meeting to view the recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi. Check it out! It will probably still be visible the next few nights. I found it quite easily but it took me some time to verify that I was looking at the correct object from the bunch of printouts and star maps that I took with me. After much mixing and matching the best maps came from this Sky and Telescope website: //https_skyandtelescope.org/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fskyandtelescope.org%2Fastronomy-news%2Frecurrent-nova-rs-ophiuchi-just-blew-its-top%2F
Last night I got a great pic of Neowise (see RAC Facebook page). I found a really nice spot to get the photo. Head west on 75th Street NW, past Douglas, to the intersection of County Road 5 NW. Its quite flat, good horizon, and a nice little gravel pad on the SE side of the intersection to pull off. You're out in the dark country side and far enough west so the lights of Pine Island don't interfere with the comet. It's not a big enough place to set up a telescope (or even park many cars) but it's a cozy spot for a camera and tripod.
Saturday night should be relatively dry and the sky should be crystal clear. It looks to be one of the best nights in a while. I'll see you there!
