With the launch time fairly close to sunrise over the east coast of the US, I wonder if anyone watching this launch up the seaboard will see the "kerosene jellyfish"?
Me and the Mrs might drive all evening to get there, but we are thinking of coming. Not sure where the best place to see it is still, as I am guessing the beaches will be closed. The cruise ship docks at Canaveral?
Found this item tucked away on Yahoo news:
I've seen two night Shuttle launches to the ISS from my house in southeastern Pennsylvania. They were low in the sky but quite bright. I estimate 1st or 2nd magnitude. Does anyone have an idea how much fainter the Falcon second stage will be, compared to the SSMEs?
I'll have my vhf radio with me, when we arrive. Any good frequencies to listen into? Since it's not out of KSC not sure what to listen for.
Quote from: dbhyslop on 05/18/2012 08:17 pmQuote from: JimO on 05/18/2012 07:03 pmWhat's the chance of ground/airborne viewersseeing the backlit booster plumes of the Falcon-9 during its climb into orbit Saturday morning? Launch is at 4:55 AM EDT. Sunrise at the Cape is at 6:30 EDT. Up the coast it's even earlier -- New Bern, North Carolina, is 6:02 AM.At orbital altitude there ought to be LOTS of sunlight. Also, where will first sunrise occur? From the last launch, thefolks in eastern Australia got a major sky spectacle with a spinning spiral, as the fuel dumped. Who will see it this time?Also, we have a series of pre-dawn ISS visuals over Houston, Iexpect to be outside for every one until berthing.I'm curious about this, too. My local sunrise is 5:20 AM near Cape Cod. I could reliably see MECO on night shuttle flights, but I'm wondering if it will be too light to bother tomorrow morning.If only there was a viewing thread, where this sort of discussion has been taking place (since it has nothing to do with launch preps )
Quote from: JimO on 05/18/2012 07:03 pmWhat's the chance of ground/airborne viewersseeing the backlit booster plumes of the Falcon-9 during its climb into orbit Saturday morning? Launch is at 4:55 AM EDT. Sunrise at the Cape is at 6:30 EDT. Up the coast it's even earlier -- New Bern, North Carolina, is 6:02 AM.At orbital altitude there ought to be LOTS of sunlight. Also, where will first sunrise occur? From the last launch, thefolks in eastern Australia got a major sky spectacle with a spinning spiral, as the fuel dumped. Who will see it this time?Also, we have a series of pre-dawn ISS visuals over Houston, Iexpect to be outside for every one until berthing.I'm curious about this, too. My local sunrise is 5:20 AM near Cape Cod. I could reliably see MECO on night shuttle flights, but I'm wondering if it will be too light to bother tomorrow morning.
What's the chance of ground/airborne viewersseeing the backlit booster plumes of the Falcon-9 during its climb into orbit Saturday morning? Launch is at 4:55 AM EDT. Sunrise at the Cape is at 6:30 EDT. Up the coast it's even earlier -- New Bern, North Carolina, is 6:02 AM.At orbital altitude there ought to be LOTS of sunlight. Also, where will first sunrise occur? From the last launch, thefolks in eastern Australia got a major sky spectacle with a spinning spiral, as the fuel dumped. Who will see it this time?Also, we have a series of pre-dawn ISS visuals over Houston, Iexpect to be outside for every one until berthing.
Quote from: rickl on 05/16/2012 11:05 pmI've seen two night Shuttle launches to the ISS from my house in southeastern Pennsylvania. They were low in the sky but quite bright. I estimate 1st or 2nd magnitude. Does anyone have an idea how much fainter the Falcon second stage will be, compared to the SSMEs?I woke up around 5:15 this morning. I didn't realize the sky is so bright at this time. It may be too light to see it.I watched STS-130, but there's a big difference between 5:00 in February and 5:00 in May.
Quoting this from over on the launch preps thread:Quote from: rdale on 05/18/2012 08:32 pmQuote from: dbhyslop on 05/18/2012 08:17 pmQuote from: JimO on 05/18/2012 07:03 pmWhat's the chance of ground/airborne viewersseeing the backlit booster plumes of the Falcon-9 during its climb into orbit Saturday morning? Launch is at 4:55 AM EDT. Sunrise at the Cape is at 6:30 EDT. Up the coast it's even earlier -- New Bern, North Carolina, is 6:02 AM.At orbital altitude there ought to be LOTS of sunlight. Also, where will first sunrise occur? From the last launch, thefolks in eastern Australia got a major sky spectacle with a spinning spiral, as the fuel dumped. Who will see it this time?Also, we have a series of pre-dawn ISS visuals over Houston, Iexpect to be outside for every one until berthing.I'm curious about this, too. My local sunrise is 5:20 AM near Cape Cod. I could reliably see MECO on night shuttle flights, but I'm wondering if it will be too light to bother tomorrow morning.If only there was a viewing thread, where this sort of discussion has been taking place (since it has nothing to do with launch preps )Thoughts? I've also attached the ISS ground track over Cape Canaveral for the launch pass, courtesy of www.heavens-above.com.
With the launch time fairly close to sunrise over the east coast of the US, I wonder if anyone watching this launch up the seaboard will see the "kerosene jellyfish"? The kerosene exhaust products reflect the low angle sunlight and provides an amazing light show for spectators on the ground. This happens during the launch of a rocket with kerosene-burning upper stages (e.g. Soyuz).Some videos to show what I'm talking about:
