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OT - Did anyone else see the Space X / Falcon 9 launch last night?


Phil O'Keefe

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No but I saw one launch and land at Cape Canaveral Florida a few days ago. It's the first time I've seen a launch with the first stage landing. Worth the 200 mile round trip.

 

Always wanted to see a launch. Now that I live in Alabama, Cape Canaveral is a lot closer than when I lived in Maryland. Maybe I might get down there this summer, take the grand-kids. They would love to see that.

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Momma Mack was yelling at me...'you have to come out and see this...!!!'

So I did...and I said 'holy crap, baby, it's the North Koreans!!!'

I have had the pleasure of seeng many missile launches in the 80s [for work] and a few at 'Vandy'...but the trail, maybe because of the fires and smoke between us and Vandy made it pretty amazing to watch...

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No but I saw one launch and land at Cape Canaveral Florida a few days ago. It's the first time I've seen a launch with the first stage landing. Worth the 200 mile round trip.

 

I saw a shuttle launch from about 30,000 feet once - the pilot was throwing the aircraft all over the sky so we could get great views.

 

I then saw the same mission land at Edwards a couple of weeks later.

 

The very first launch I ever experienced was when I was 15 - I had just moved to Florida, and there was an unannounced / unscheduled launch (IOW, military bird) that they sent up from Patrick AFB... and when it went off, the house started shaking, and I heard the rumble... and I thought we were having an earthquake. Being as it was Florida and not my native California, everyone laughed at me. :lol::o

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No but I saw one launch and land at Cape Canaveral Florida a few days ago. It's the first time I've seen a launch with the first stage landing. Worth the 200 mile round trip.

 

It's amazing technology that they're developing - it's like a 50s sci-fi movie to see a first stage come back down and "land" on the launch pad like that!

 

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Bob Katz recorded a launch from a special press area that was closer than real people are allowed to get. He said it was really, really loud, and had some really low frequencies. He may still have the recording on his web site. As I recall, he used a car battery to power an inverter, and recorded to an Alesis Masterlink.

 

Oh, here it is:

 

https://www.digido.com/portfolio-item/we-have-lift-off-now-in-surround/

 

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I totally missed this one by just a couple minutes. I was headed back to the office after being out in the field all day and I even looked at the sunset for a few moments. Then after I got settled back in the office, I saw this on Twitter and rushed outside, but the sky was already black :( I've seen these rocket launches before though, maybe like 3-5 times in my life. They're breathtaking even when you know what they are. Vandenberg launches about 8-10 rockets every year, most of the launches are late at night though. The time of day depends on what kind of orbit the satellites should go to. If a launch is scrubbed, they make the next attempt exactly 24 hours later. The ethereal trail is caused by the sunset: At that high an altitude (the rocket trail is also visible from Arizona), the sun is still shining on the rocket and the exhaust trail - but on the ground, the sky is dark. This is why the trail "glows." Whenever there's a launch in the middle of the night, you can't see any trail and the fire from the rockets look almost like an airplane in the sky, so it doesn't look nearly as remarkable.

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Always wanted to see a launch. Now that I live in Alabama, Cape Canaveral is a lot closer than when I lived in Maryland. Maybe I might get down there this summer, take the grand-kids. They would love to see that.

 

If you've never seen one, it's well worth watching. I've watched a few from Jetty Park in Port Canaveral, and it's quite a show. It would be quite educational for the grandkids too.

 

Don't forget to visit the Kennedy Space Center visitor complex too while you're down there.

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I got into that special press area for a night shuttle launch.

 

I asked the guard where was a good place to watch a night launch, she looked around, opened the barricade and said go on it.

 

There we were, on the bleachers, with the big clock, and the press with their tripods and cameras. The space shuttle was all lit up, and close, and huge, and 10 seconds before the launch (Leilani remembers 3 but either one is the same), the launch was aborted.

 

I never got that close again.

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When we lived in Maryland we used to go the Goddard Space Flight Center as well as the Wallops Island Flight Facility. Tried a couple of times to get there for a sounding rocket launch, but they always seemed to get postponed. Of course being retired now I don't have to worry about getting back home to go back to work. We can afford to stay a few days longer to accommodate a launch delay!! :lol:

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For 15 years [mid 80s to late 90s] I lived less than two miles from the infamous Rocketdyne Santa Susannah test site. They NEVER announced the engine tests, and they were frequent, even some at night. Eventually, my then B-i-L worked up there, and he would let us know if there was a test scheduled in the next few days. There was no mistaking the noise and rumble, but the first few times were unnerving...my kids grew up with it, and after the 94 quake they said they first assumed it was 'Santa Sue'...

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