Wow! Wallops launch seen here
Well, that was pretty spectacular. The Minotaur 1/TacSat-2 launch from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility was easily seen from Baltimore, rising high in the blue eastern sky at 7 a.m. this morning. Here's some NASA video. And here's a terrific slide show from the Virginia Pilot.
The silvery contrail - gleaming in direct sunlight - rose perhaps 30 to 40 degrees above the horizon. First-stage burnout and second-stage ignition were cearly visible to the naked eye. The rocket looked for a time like a comet hovering in the east. I'll bet that surprised a lot of early risers. Let's hear your reports.
So far, the flight appears to be going well. See earlier posts for background. Here's an article on the launch from Space.com. Here's the AP.
Here's an early report, copied from the SeeSat discussion group:
"I just watched the ascent live from my back deck. I live in Northeastern Maryland, USA (about 30 miles NE of Baltimore). The vehicle cleared the horizon with a bright contrail, and through my birding scope I could clearly see the comet-like fan behind it. I saw one staging event hrough the scope-the contrail stopped for a moment, and I could see the rocket itself as a reddish cylindrical object (lit by the almost-rising sun) and then a few seconds later the fan started again with a burst and it continued toward the east.
I took a couple of pictures; we'll see how they turn out later.
This was a very beautiful launch from here, and I look forward to seeing
more - Monroe Harden,Havre de Grace, MD
Here's a report from Joe Rao, a Space.com columnist:
"I will echo what Monroe wrote . . . it was a beautiful launch! I watched the NASA webcast of the liftoff from Wallops Island, then my family and I quickly headed outside. My home is in Putnam Valley, NY, about 50 miles north of NYC and more than 300 miles north-northwest of the Wallops Island Facility. With the naked eye, the rocket could be seen as a very bright, pinpoint of light . . . better defined with 7 x 35 binoculars, along with a comet-like fan being emitted by the rocket in its wake. I lost sight of it about a minute after third-stage ignition, on its descent toward the southeast horizon. The "liftoff" part of the contrail was still visible . . . already wavy and distorted into a large "S" by high level winds. |
Comments
What a puzzling sight when you did not know what was happening. From my high view in Westminster the trail caught my eye and the brilliant ball came and went behind the morning clouds. If only I had known about the launch!
Posted by: Ann M. Rudolph | December 16, 2006 9:20 AM
Wow! Very cool. Thank you Frank for continuing to bring these events to our attention!
Posted by: Iggy Fenton | December 16, 2006 9:33 AM