Orbital ATK was supposed to launch an Antares supply rocket this evening at 7:40pm EDT from Wallops Island, VA going up to the ISS.
It was supposed to be visible here in North Carolina. There's a high bridge near my house that gives me a low horizon to the northeast, so I went up there to see if I could spot it. The info I got from space.com said it should be high enough above the horizon to see it about 120 seconds after launch, so I expected to see something at about 7:42. There was apparently a 5 minute delay. I was just about to give up and go home at 7:47 when I spotted it. Kind of a red dot moving across the sky, but I could see the exhaust plume through my binoculars. I lost sight of it when the first stage engine shut off, and just as I was about to give up again, I spotted it when the second stage ignited. Watched for a few more minutes until it disappeared. Don't know if it got too far away for me to see or if they shut down the second stage engine. No photos. I didn't know enough to choose an appropriate lens. So I figured I'd see what it was and maybe next time I'll take a camera. Don't know if I'd have been able to capture it anyway. Still, Cool beans! -- Science - Questions we may never find answers for. Religion - Answers we must never question. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
