Moon Shot tonight- supposed to be visible from Maine, even

[ctenidae]

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ladee/main/index.html#.UioEfOLD_Go NASA's sending a rocket to the moon, from Virginia. Supposedly it'll be visible from South Carolina to Maine. Worth watching for at 11.27 tonight, I think.

 

[Glenn]

Looks like it should be a clear night tonight...

 

[drjeff]

Sounds like a GREAT excuse to head out to the patio tonight about the time the late local news is ending and pop open a beer and watch the show!

 

[jaysunn]

Yeah I plan to watch, here is the visibility map. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/ladee_l-60-day_visibility_map_0.jpg?itok=lCEuqHS7

 

[from_the_NEK]

Here is the view from Mt Washington... The non-blue lines are when the rocket is firing its engine and may be visible. [/IMG]

 

[from_the_NEK]

For more info: http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/MissionUpdates/MinotaurV/index.shtml

 

[dmc]

Cool!

 

[Hawkshot99]

The rocketis being shot from the Walops Island Space Center. My family has a place down there on the next island North(Chincoteague Island). I really wish i could be down there to watch the launch. I have been staring across the open water(about a mile) for years at the launch towers and it would be awesome to see it lift off. My mother is down there now and will get to see it, so she better take lots of pics.
Next week they are launching anothrr rocket that is going to the space station.

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[from_the_NEK]

The firing of the third stage (pink line) looks to occur when the rocket is at an altitude between 60 to 100 miles above the ocean. The flight line is about 460 miles from Mt Washington. I think actually seeing this rocket may be difficult from that distance. Although I did happen to see this (by accident) one night http://blogs.wwlp.com/2012/03/21/look-for-glowing-clouds-tonight/.

 

[Geoff]

If I'm still up, I'm going to go to the beach and check it out.

 

[ctenidae]

Looking at the mission patch on the flight path graphic, I'm surprised the program name isn't Special Program Lunar Environment Exploration Flight.

 

[bigbog]

Good excuse, if ever one needs one, to get the fleece on again.......ought to be something useful on the tube in the early AM hours, usually is....

 

[marcski]

The rocketis being shot from the Walops Island Space Center. My family has a place down there on the next island North(Chincoteague Island). I really wish i could be down there to watch the launch. I have been staring across the open water(about a mile) for years at the launch towers and it would be awesome to see it lift off. My mother is down there now and will get to see it, so she better take lots of pics.
Next week they are launching anothrr rocket that is going to the space station.

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Chincoteague Island has the wild horse swim, yes?

Also, I just saw nothing but tons of stars tonight...but there was, without a doubt, a nice pre-autumn chill in the air.

 

[from_the_NEK]

That was pretty cool to watch from the side view of the flight. I was surprised how easy it was to see even though it was 450 miles away. The acceleration during the third stage burn was really apparent.

 

[Hawkshot99]

Chincoteague Island has the wild horse swim, yes?

Also, I just saw nothing but tons of stars tonight...but there was, without a doubt, a nice pre-autumn chill in the air.

Thats the one.
My property here in NY has lots of big trees around it. So I went out to a industrial park nearby. Right when I decided to get out of the truck, I saw a light moving across the sky at a high speed but thought it must be a plane. Watched as it disappeared, then relight, and accelerated.
My mom said she had her camera out recording the early part of the flight. She didnt go to the area of the island that looks across the bay at the NASA facility, as it was super crowded, but instead could see it a few seconds after launch, and up over the ocean.

 

[mriceyman]

Very cool to see it go through the stages.. We saw it pretty much the whole time until it was out of sight.. Thanks guys for posting it here


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[Geoff]

Stupid Sox-Yankees game ran so late that I didn't have time to get down to the beach to get an unobstructed view.

 

[Cornhead]

I got up at 4 AM while vacationing in Daytona to watch a night shuttle launch once. It was pretty cool, you could see the solid fuel boosters separate over the ocean. It must have been impressive to be close to one of those launches. Hawkshot 99, are Chincoteague and Assateague actually separate islands? I've been to Assateague several times. I love how you're isolated from civilization, but Ocean City is only twelve miles away. The horses are cool too.

 

[Hawkshot99]

Hawkshot 99, are Chincoteague and Assateague actually separate islands? I've been to Assateague several times. I love how you're isolated from civilization, but Ocean City is only twelve miles away. The horses are cool too.

The Asseteague you were at is in Maryland. The Island runs all the way down into VA, but you cant go the length of it. I go to the southern VA section. Asseteague and Chincoteague are seperate islands. Chincoteague is across a 5 mile causeway from the mainland. Then there is another bridge to get over to asseteague.

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[spring_mountain_high]

saw it very well from southeastern PA...very cool...could have sworn i heard it too