Working at Kennedy Space Center, we get to see them up CLOSE:
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1 week later
1 month later
Just got home from the launch. I sat on console watching telemetry data back here at Kennedy Space Center. There were some problems early in the countdown, but ULA was able to work around and get the launch off on time. This being a planetary mission we only have a few weeks to launch or have to wait another couple of years for the next window to Mars. Insight was already delayed from a couple of years ago. Atlas V is still an awesome rocket. That makes 78 out of 78 Atlas V launches with mission success!
5 months later
2 months later
Quoted from MustangPaul:Damn, I went to the Space X site and I couldn't fine the launch, all I could find was the Dec 5th launch.
This launch was by ULA, not SpaceX.
Quoted from xsvtoys:That bit of black smoke didn’t seem right, not sure if that had anything to do with it.
The Delta IV always has a lot of flames that look strange. They are expected according to their own press releases from previous flights.
https://www.ulalaunch.com/missions/delta-iv-nrol-71
This is a HUGE rocket. NASA used a Delta IV Heavy to launch to the Sun recently. Notice the major amount of flames well before the rocket lifts off.
2 months later
I worked supporting the launch in a very minor role last night here in Florida. It sure was exciting. The primary mission seems to be going well from all the information released online. The landing was amazing and the seas were a little rough. Getting the first stage back is quite a good thing for a test mission like this because it will allow a full post flight inspection. The main purpose of landing the first stage is to save money by reusing them, but the benefits to verifying the design extend well beyond that primary reason.
It was also good to see Ripley make it to orbit on a nice smooth ride.
1 month later
I watched from my front yard. Could even see the two boosters flying back to land and ran back inside to see them touch down.
2 months later
3 weeks later
Nice video someone took from Kennedy Space Center of the Falcon Heavy. This one has decent sound and captured the sonic booms. Notice that even this close the sound takes a while to arrive.
Quoted from mcluvin:That's cool as hell. I could not do 2:30 in the morning though. One of these days....
Haha yeah. I slept until the rumble woke me up and then ran outside to watch from the front yard. I got to see the separation and the returning boosters firing. The sonic boom was really loud.
Europe about to launch:
Edit: Oops! Looks like major malfunction and mission failure. Like Pinball, launching isn't easy... 
3 weeks later
10 months later
5 months later
Two pictures from today in Central Florida. First I spotted the Falcon 9 while eating lunch. It was across the water in Port Canaveral where the landing barge goes in and out of.
Second is the trail from an Atlas V that just launched a few minutes ago. This picture is from my front yard.
20201113_113746 (resized).jpg20201113_173452 (resized).jpg 1 week later
Those of us on the west coast need to watch for the launch tomorrow morning. Check the SpaceX youtube or NASA TV networks.
4 months later
We were eating dinner tonight in Port Canaveral and snapped a couple of pictures of the latest SpaceX booster on the barge. This one is looking particularly toasty after many landings.
SpaceX uses a crane to lower the booster onto a large flatbed truck and carry it back to the hangar.
20210327_190115.jpg20210327_195051.jpgQuoted from bobmathuse:They launch to the south; better viewing from east of the point down the coast, though access may be limited.
Jolama Beach would be a good spot!
3 weeks later
SLS is a HUGE rocket. It just arrived today at Kennedy Space Center. I can't wait to see this launch from up close. I will be there in the VAB parking lot.
Quoted from mbwalker:Good for you! Pictures are mandatory!
How are you involved?
I work at the Space Center on an unrelated project. That frees me up to stand around and watch the SLS launch.
2 weeks later
Quoted from Ericpinballfan:SBIRS GEO-5Atlas V 421 Florida launch in about 10-20 min. Sorry for late notice.
https://www.spacelaunchschedule.com/
We watched it launch on youtube today and headed out into the front yard after lift off to watch it with our own eyes. This one had two solid rocket motors strapped on so it was really moving fast. I didn't think to snap a picture with my phone until it popped into the clouds. The wind direction and clouds also led to less than normal rumble and noise at my house. Even still any day you see a launch is a good day - especially one as important as this.
20210518_133841 (resized).jpg 2 weeks later
Quoted from Pinballlew:Wish I was in Florida, love night launches live. T-30 minutes
This one was pretty cool. It was a little hazy/foggy out so the rocket was a blurred light in the sky. The cool thing about a night like this is the moisture seems to transmit the sound really well. It shook my house to the foundation tonight!
1 month later
"California prepares for more West Coast space launches - UPI.com" https://www-upi-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.upi.com/amp/Science_News/2021/06/01/Vandenberg-Air-Force-Base-launchpads-SpaceX-California/1251621611862/?amp_gsa=1&_js_v=a6&usqp=mq331AQKKAFQArABIIACAw%3D%3D#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16268696071328&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.upi.com%2FScience_News%2F2021%2F06%2F01%2FVandenberg-Air-Force-Base-launchpads-SpaceX-California%2F1251621611862%2F
6 months later
Incredible Falcon 9 launch tonight from the Space Coast in Florida. The rocket headed south giving us a broadside view lit up by the setting sun. I was able to see stage two all the way to the horizon and watch stage one turn around and boost back to the launch pad clear as a bell. Even got a nice sonic boom as it was landing on land instead of the barge. Definitely a good one to watch the replay on youtube.
Attached a picture of the re-entry burn of stage one taken from my front yard.
VideoCapture_20220131-182747 (resized).jpg
3 weeks later
Quoted from mbwalker:Just found out the first stage on Antares is mostly made in the Ukraine. Engines too.
Actually the engines are made in Russia ironically.
Quoted from mbwalker:I remember seeing the documentary where they (Russia) had stored a bunch of Soviet engines in some old building and those were eventually found, sold, and brought back to the states and refurbished/upgraded. RD180 engines, if I'm not mistaken. Maybe even closed cycle too.
Its all in the wiki page posted above. The NK-33 was the engine used on the Russian moon rocket that failed miserably on all 4 attempts to launch. They had a bunch leftover which were hidden at the end of the cold war. Orbital ATK attempted to use them 4 decades later on the first few Antares missions to no avail as the last attempt tried to bore its way through the earth to China. They switch to newly made RD181 motors from Russia and those seem to be working fine. The similar RD180 is the motor used on Atlas V.
6 months later
1 week later
1 month later
It really lit up the sky here and was loud as hell for a long time. Definitely a beast. As for cameras, there are actually 24 cameras on board. There is only so much bandwidth for transmitting to the ground during ascent, so the offloading the critical data from sensors around the vehicle in real time takes priority in case there is an accident or something. A vehicle this big on its first flight there have to be thousands of sensors everywhere. The initial camera views if any might be low resolution and will be downloaded later at full 4K or whatever resolution. I am sure there will be incredible videos to follow. Sure it would have been nice to have one or two live HD cameras I agree, but the whole broadcast was a little lacking if you ask me. I would trade a video camera for much simpler things like some cool telemetry showing speeds and maybe an announcer who was a little more informative during the countdown.
Quoted from mbwalker:How far away were you?
I was in my front yard. Probably about 15 miles as the crow flies. Still close enough to be able to read by the light and feel the rumble. This is significantly bigger than the SpaceX rockets and the solid motors burn more brightly. If it was a daytime launch, I probably would have driven on base to see it up close. I saw the SpaceX heavy launch recently from up close and was REALLY close to the dual stage landing for that mission.
1 week later
2 weeks later
1 week later
Well launching rockets is not easy. This video gets really uncomfortable as they are showering praise on how great this rocket design is as the trajectory is clearly heading to the ocean instead of space.
https://www.space.com/arianespace-vega-c-launch-failure-december-2022
2 weeks later
Just watched the Falcon 9 take off and landing from my front yard. I should have had my camera ready for this one. Nice clear night and the re-entry burn passed right by the moon! The landing burn was also clearly visible through the trees.
1 month later
1 month later
This Starship thing could be interesting. It certainly is HUGE. We will see if they can launch today. Lots going on so don't be surprised if it doesn't go today.
1 week later
Quoted from mbwalker:Falcon Heavy is up next tonight. 7:29 PM eastern
Looks like that moved to tonight. Must be a really heavy satellite, it says online that none of the three first stage boosters will have enough fuel to fly back and be recovered.
3 months later
2 months later
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