Palanan
2013-09-06, 11:54 PM
NASA had a lunar satellite scheduled for launch tonight (http://www.space.com/22695-nasa-moon-mission-launches-ladee-spacecraft.html) from Wallops Island, not too far to the north of me. I was checking in on the launch-control streaming feed starting about an hour beforehand, listening to them going through their extremely long, extremely detailed checklist.
Then outside, about ten minutes before launch, beneath a hazy-dark sky with blue-white stars, hardly a stray wisp of cloud, with porchlights and streetlamps the only real inconvenience. Scanning the sky to the north and northeast, above the neighborhood trees; and then, right on the minute, not the tiny yellow-white spark I was expecting, but a rich fiery-orange gout of flame with a fierce bright head, curving upward like a dragon-comet rising through the sky.
Then a glowing puff of sparks, and the second stage kicked in, well out over the Atlantic; still a fiery-orange streak, rising briefly above the nearer trees and curving along the horizon; and then another splash of sparks, and a long, long trail of smoke or vapor behind a steady-burning ember, receding far and low into the east, gradually diminishing to a faint red mote that vanished in the distance between the trees.
I've seen shuttle launches, from many miles away, and I've seen a Delta launch from the guest bleachers at Canaveral, and this was more brilliant and spectacular than either. The fiery-curving tail was brighter and more intense than I'd ever imagined; and watching it dwindle and disappear downrange was amazing, for the sense of speed and distance it conveyed. Absolutely fantastic to see.
Then outside, about ten minutes before launch, beneath a hazy-dark sky with blue-white stars, hardly a stray wisp of cloud, with porchlights and streetlamps the only real inconvenience. Scanning the sky to the north and northeast, above the neighborhood trees; and then, right on the minute, not the tiny yellow-white spark I was expecting, but a rich fiery-orange gout of flame with a fierce bright head, curving upward like a dragon-comet rising through the sky.
Then a glowing puff of sparks, and the second stage kicked in, well out over the Atlantic; still a fiery-orange streak, rising briefly above the nearer trees and curving along the horizon; and then another splash of sparks, and a long, long trail of smoke or vapor behind a steady-burning ember, receding far and low into the east, gradually diminishing to a faint red mote that vanished in the distance between the trees.
I've seen shuttle launches, from many miles away, and I've seen a Delta launch from the guest bleachers at Canaveral, and this was more brilliant and spectacular than either. The fiery-curving tail was brighter and more intense than I'd ever imagined; and watching it dwindle and disappear downrange was amazing, for the sense of speed and distance it conveyed. Absolutely fantastic to see.