NASA rocket launch on Friday night, Sept. 6, around 11:27-11:31 pm

[ebubar]

@PotomacCyclist 63312 wrote:

I’m posting this because the launch is taking place at the Wallops Flight Facility in eastern Virginia. The launch is being carried out by a NASA contractor, Orbital, on behalf of the U.S. Air Force.

The rocket will be visible in the D.C. area, assuming that the skies are clear. The launch window is between 11:27 and 11:31 pm. The rocket should be visible less than a minute later and remain visible for perhaps a minute. The latest forecast is for clear skies tomorrow night, but maybe a little chilly (60s).

Detailed charts and maps are available at the Orbital website: http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/MissionUpdates/MinotaurV/index.shtml

So if you happen to be riding late Friday, or just walking around, look to the ESE sky around that time.

Here’s a depiction of what you might see from the Lincoln Memorial:

http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/MissionUpdates/MinotaurV/images/Lincoln%20Memorial.jpg

I’m repeating this post because rockets are flippin’ awesome!

[rpiretti]

Should we do a “Rocket Ride” tonight?

[cyclingfool]

I saw this story earlier today. I’m already planning on riding my bike over to the bridge on US 1 in Alexandria between Slaters Lane and Monroe Avenue for a nice, hopefully unobstructed view of the proceedings. Of course, for me, that’s only about 4 or 5 blocks away, so it’s a sleaze ride in terms of NBC.

[Arlingtonrider]

I wonder if it would be viewable from the pedestrian bridge over I-395 in Shirlington. I’d be game to go if anyone else is.

[consularrider]

@Arlingtonrider 63411 wrote:

I wonder if it would be viewable from the pedestrian bridge over I-395 in Shirlington. I’d be game to go if anyone else is.

Way past my bedtime.

[Drewdane]

I tried to watch, but no dice. I don’t know if I was looking in the wrong direction, or if there was too much light pollution, or if was simply not visible from Falls Church, or what.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Drewdane 63458 wrote:

I tried to watch, but no dice. I don’t know if I was looking in the wrong direction, or if there was too much light pollution, or if was simply not visible from Falls Church, or what.

I watched it from the nearest 66 overpass, looking toward the city. If you didn’t know what you were looking at you would’ve thought it was a plane or helicopter…was not really bright.

[cyclingfool]

@TwoWheelsDC 63459 wrote:

I watched it from the nearest 66 overpass, looking toward the city. If you didn’t know what you were looking at you would’ve thought it was a plane or helicopter…was not really bright.

Yeah, I pinpointed my vantage point ahead of time and then drew a line on Google Maps straight to Wallops Island. MY guess based on that was spot on. The view from Rte. 1 bridge at Monroe Ave. in Alexandria was good, and while I was first to arrive to watch, another dozen or so people eventually were out to watch it by launch time. It was pretty neat.

[PotomacCyclist]

[video=vimeo;73990411]https://vimeo.com/73990411[/video]

[kkentium]

I biked out to the Lincoln Memorial with some friend and watched the launch. Really great crowd out there. Afterwards, we all went for a midnight ride around the monuments, was really really peaceful and beautiful at night.

[cyclingfool]

@PotomacCyclist 63518 wrote:

[video=vimeo;73990411]https://vimeo.com/73990411[/video]

Thanks for sharing the video! I plan to check it out when I get home and away from d*&ned corporate firewalls and restrictions on streaming media.

[PotomacCyclist]

Another launch is scheduled from the Wallops Flight Facility in eastern Virginia, on Tue. Sept. 17 at 11:16 am. The launch will be televised on NASA Television:

http://www.nasa.gov/content/nasa-tv-coverage-set-for-orbital-sciences-demonstration-mission/#.UjQlpsYqiSp

The mission is a demonstration of Orbital’s cargo resupply carrier (Cygnus), which will deliver supplies to the International Space Station. Although the skies over D.C. will be clear on Tuesday, I don’t know if the rocket will be visible this time since this will be a midday launch.

If the mission is successful, Orbital could become the 2nd private company (along with SpaceX) to send supplies on a regular basis to the space station. (The ISS would no longer be reliant on just Russian rockets, as it was after the Space Shuttle program was shut down.) Perhaps some of those future flights will be at night, and visible in the D.C. area.

[PotomacCyclist]

The launch is delayed for 24 hours. New date and time: Wed. Sept. 18, 10:50-11:05 am.

[PotomacCyclist]

By the way, this fella didn’t enjoy the last rocket launch so much:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3689[/ATTACH]

It’s an undoctored photo from one of the NASA cameras at the Wallops site. The frog got caught in the blast from the engines, and the camera caught his last moments. A spokesman from the Wallops Facility authenticated the photo as real. (The right side is a close-up of the picture on the left.)

[Author]

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