Original thread heading can almost be repeated in two weeks: Space X Falcon 9 set to launch a joint NASA / ESA satellite at 11:31 a.m. Weather should be good, so no visibility issues likely, only drawback is day launches are less striking than night ones. We'll probably step outside to look for it.

Smooth all the way, right down to the recovery landing (I captured the NASA video stream on my PC while I was outside watching). From my viewpoint about 100 miles to the east of it, the humidity in the air meant I could only see the exhaust flame for about 20 seconds and the plume for the first 30 or so; after that, it vanished into the haze. The on-site reporters said it was clear enough there that they could see stage separation naked-eye. The normal public viewing site has been closed for some time due to Covid; there are other places near the base to watch (e.g. the farm fields west of Lompoc), but those don't have a good view of the pad itself, though they're close enough for great viewing once the rockets are above the tops of the hills around the base.

There was also a launch in New Zealand yesterday, led by Rocket Lab, a company down the coast from here in Long Beach:

https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/03/23/testbed-for-nasa-moon-mission-rides-to-orbit-with-six-other-satellites/

Still no exact date for the next launch near here, the Delta 4 Heavy at Vandenberg with the spy satellite. Just says "April". Won't want to miss that one, though, those are huge.

Update on the Delta IV Heavy National Reconnaissance Office Launch at Vandenberg - - "no earlier than April 26."

That Delta IV Heavy NROL-82 launch at Vandenberg is now tentatively set for April 26, time still unannounced. Launch complex SLC-6, at the extreme southwest corner of the base. Too far south for ideal viewing from the Lompoc fields; try getting a bit of elevation if viewing from near town. They launch to the south; better viewing from east of the point down the coast, though access may be limited.

Unfortunately, I've discovered that Vandenberg closes Jalama Beach and forces all visitors and campers out during launches. The beach park person said Vandenberg closes the road to Jamala Beach all the back at CA Hwy 1, so the hills near there are inaccessible, too. The road southward towards the coast from Lompoc, San Miguelito (?) gets closed off, too. The next nearest coastal point eastward is all the way to Gaviota, about 25 miles line-of-sight from the pad. Lompoc is closer, but the rocket will be going away from there, vs. going sort of perpendicular to your line of sight from Gaviota.

Vandenberg Delta IV Heavy launch window has been released: Monday, April 26, between 12:39 and 15:57 (afternoon launch).

I'm looking into both that and the road closure plans, will post here if I get a response.

There's also a Vandenberg launch now tentatively schedule for Friday the 30th. It's the first launch of Firefly Alpha, yet another player. If you'd care for some not-so-light reading, here's a link to their "Payload User's Guide", i.e. if you want to launch something into space with them, what you need to know about their equipment, what they can do with it, the conditions your payload will be subject to, etc.

https://firefly.com/wp-content/themes/firefly_aerospace/files/Alpha_PUG_2019-08-30_v2.pdf

Delta IV Heavy launch time on Monday now set for 1:46 p.m. Forecast shows 60% chance of weather violation due to wind and or clouds leading to 24-hour (or more) delay.

Live launch updates and webcast available at: www.ulalaunch.com and http://www.youtube.com/unitedlaunchalliance
"Bars + tone" at 12:55, program start 1:25.

Watched it from home; too much into the sun to see the launch exhaust, but sadly I was able to see the plume from the explosion when it blew up just under 2 minutes in. I'm sure they'll keep on trying, at least their first launch did get off the ground.

If you're not very close, stick with watching online. A daytime Atlas V launch will not be that visible at any distance, probably not even Santa Barbara. Lompoc, sure, but much beyond that, don't bother.

Pete Davidson has cancelled, allegedly due to scheduling issues caused by the delay. No replacement passenger named yet.

Vandenberg Friday launch was delayed to 10:30 pm Tuesday.

1. Re Vandenberg: Word from my local expert is that the Delta 4 launch will be a limited-distance-visibility event due to the semi-transparent orange exhaust and daytime liftoff. When it hits 6-7 miles up and goes through that atmospheric layer, a good but short contrail should be visible far away, but otherwise don't expect to see it from the usual 100 miles off, more like 25.

2. Re Artemis, that likely hurricane now forming in the eastern Caribbean may force them to roll it back inside in the next few days as a precaution. That would impact the launch date; how much tbd.

Took off half hour later than original schedule, watched their online feed. Only view of contrail from this distance, was looking into the sun from my angle. Glad you got to see it!

Liked the in-your-face view of the asteroid as it impacted - - eager to hear how the dynamics went.

Tonight's Vandenberg SpaceX Falcon 9 launch was nicely visible, got a good plume in upper atmosphere, even heard the sonic boom 100 miles away several minutes later.

Atlas V launch up next on November 1st. I'll see how the photos / video turned out, upload anything worthwhile.

Missed it; it was scheduled for 1:25 a.m., but didn't launch until 1:49. Kind of late and cold to stay outside waiting, didn't do so. It went fine, kept their 100% success rate intact to the very end.

While not a launch, I thought people following this thread might appreciate this, taken last night just before the Moon occulted Mars; Mars is at about the 7 o'clock position along the Moon's rim.

Moon about to occult Mars (resized).jpeg

Yes, I took it here in SoCal at 6:30. I've since looked online to see what's been posted. The Griffith Observatory about 30 miles east of me has a 1:47:23 video of it from several minutes before to well after. I got video of it just after it emerged, too. I did fine one excellent_ image posted online; somebody's got equipment about 2 decimal places better than mine. Thanks to them for posting it. I take occasional solar photos, too, took some of the sunspots today.

med_gallery_229968_21748_321752 (resized).jpg

The bad news is, it mucks up viewing for astronomers, both pros and amateurs alike. (All the astro magazines have plenty of examples of satellites messing up science images.) Too many internet streaks in orbit. I like watching the launches and seeing the occasional satellite go over, but it sucks that the results are now so numerous and too reflective. Really need smaller darker sats if we have to have so many.

Next batch of Starlinks from Vandenberg is scheduled for 10:52 PST tomorrow morning, weather forecast is good. Meanwhile, I took these tonight of the Venus - Jupiter conjunction. Three Galilean moons are also visible above Juppiter, plus a background star (note the slight motion in the second photo relative to the uppermost moon) and an airplane passing by, right in front of Venus in the first image.

VenusJupiter1 (resized).jpg

VenusJupiter2 (resized).jpg

Let's hope Nth time is the charm.

I took another set of conjunction images tonight and got pseudo-photobombed: while I was aligning my camera, a satellite crossed the field of view diagonally between the planets. Too bad I wasn't recording video at the time.

Latest update shows them going for the 1:48 a.m. window.

Watched, but was visible far less time than usual due to hazy skies. Saw ISS go over today about 5:50; you can have NASA email you 24 hours ahead when it'll be over you.

No, are they archived anywhere I can get a link to?

Latest update is another Falcon 9 for early Friday morning between midnight and 2:41 a.m. As a night launch, should have wide visibility.