Comments on: Shuttle launch scheduled for 9:35 p.m. Eastern Thursday

By: Mike

Mike — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 02:09:46 +0000

Many thanks to BA for posting that link to the visibility info. I was able to get outside tonight with my kids and watch the accelerating past the coast of New Jersey. Lets see a squid do that!

By: JustANuttaBackYahdah

JustANuttaBackYahdah — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 03:40:56 +0000

Bummer that the launched was scrubbed although selfishly was glad since the skies in New Hampshire are cloudy tonight and would love to get another chance at trying to see the shuttle during its flight into orbit.
Have a question… I was reading an article that was saying that end of year flights have been avoided due to a computer problem reconciling the change from one 365 day year to another…. I know it takea a long time to “certify” a computer for orbital duty but is this a software prolem that dates back to Y2K or some other anomoly?…. Just curious.
Clear skies

By: Lou FCD

Lou FCD — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 02:58:38 +0000

Scrubarooni.

Bummer.

By: The Bad Astronomer

The Bad Astronomer — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 01:43:41 +0000

NASA has a Launch Blog which is updating in near real time.

By: Darmok

Darmok — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 01:11:36 +0000

Ah, I wish I lived on the East Coast. And I would love to see a shuttle launch in person one day.

By: PsyberDave

PsyberDave — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 22:08:35 +0000

I’ll be watching from Deerfield Beach, FL, a few hour’s drive south of Titusville and Cocoa Beach (home, of course, to Major Nelson and Jeannie).

It is partly cloudy here, though, so even if there is a launch, I may not get a clear view.

I saw the Chandra shuttle launch a bunch of years ago, so I know I can see a launch from my back yard under good seeing conditions.

By: JustAl

JustAl — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 19:19:04 +0000

Sorry, that posted before I was ready.

I was lucky enough to see the launch of STS-113 a few years ago, another night launch (see http://wading-in.net/STS-113.html). Just awesome. My viewing angle from across the Indian River Lagoon placed the launch complex, brilliantly floodlit, not too far away from the Vehicle Assembly Building, which sticks out of the Florida landscape like a block on the carpet.

Since the shuttle was going that time for an ISS orbit, it arced to the northeast, almost directly away from me. I watched it well past SRB separation, and wished I’d set a second camera to get something along the same lines as Ben Wang did in the example shot BA posted. The path of the shuttle came straight back down and disappeared from sight, finally, less than two degrees directly above the VAB. Of course, I had no idea at the time it would do this.

If anyone in that area has the chance and wants to try it, set up at the boat ramp on US 1 just north of the power station between Cocoa and Titusville (I can’t locate the name, but put “N28.475080 W80.766683″ into Google maps for a precise location). The view should be great, and from the sounds of things, a very similar path will be followed as the shuttle inserts to orbit.

Meanwhile, I’ll see what there is to see from North Carolina, bummer.