NASA launch - My first view

Oh wow...

 

Growing up in the "Space Race" vs the Russians it was quite impressive to be watching TV when the first men landed on the moon. Am always thrilled with our missions to learn more about the cosmos, every Hubble, space station, Jupiter orbiter etc... What fascinates me more is what is under our seas at great depths. Why don't we put more people to search the other universe that we have right here?

 

that would have been awesome to watch. my father inlaw went to the us on a business trip a while back and got to watch a shuttle launch while he was there he was really impressed.definitely on my to do before i die list Niagara falls,grand canyon,space shuttle launch.so here's hoping

 

:confused This launch was only delayed for a week...first b/c of weather then because of a fuel sensor.

Glad you finally got to see one.:major It is an awesome thing to watch! You can count me in as one that never gets tired of seeing it go up.

 

There has to be an awesome majesty to witnessing the work of hundreds of people asking a crew to take this step into the future and you were there to see it come to fruition. Not to sound selfish but I am glad Major is on the ground because I appreciate/need him/them.

 

Ahh..ok...got it now! LOL I remember you saying you didn't see the last one. I doubt if I was home I would have seen this one b/c of the cloud cover further up state. I'm looking forward to going to KSC for a launch. Would be great if one of these times Chris isn't working a launch and we could all meet up there to watch it up close.

 

Truly awesome, MA, thank you for sharing with us.. I never seen one either... Very cool!

 

Yup, we missed the launch in May because of Visa issues, we're heading out to Florida on the 14th September so not going to see a Shuttle launch but I think there is a satellite launch on the 15th so should get to see something!

Really looking forward to it now, two weeks left at work with this Monday off as a bank holiday, just 9 days left.

 

Come on, get closer!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/star17abby/20094925.jpg

Tim, next launch is Ares Test Flight(the new Moon rocket) on Halloween, next Shuttle is November 12th. Next night launch, is in February (they relaxed the night launch rules after the first several successful launches post-Columbia)

 

You are old enough to be a snowbird now? :-D

 

We're staying in Indian River City, just outside Titusville for two weeks starting 14th September. (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou....538386,-80.753975&spn=0.270241,0.417137&z=12)

Is the STSS demonstrator still go for launch from Cape Canaveral?, don't know anything about it but best we're going to see while we're there! (http://www.nasa.gov/missions/highlights/schedule.html)

Going to book a hire car on Monday, trying to talk myself into a Mustang convertible as we'll be doing a fair amount of driving but also costs a bit more.

 

Yup, this was a holiday we originally planned for our anniversary back to conincice with the May launch.

The Sebring or Focus were the other choices, I like the Focus, have driven them over here and handle well. On the other hand, I'm not likely to get a chance to drive a Mustang over here, fuel costs + insurance would make it far too expensive so I'll take the chance while I can!

Shame you not still going to be around though, would be nice to meet up!

 

I could be tempted by a Wranger, not a big fan of 4x4's though. Even growing up in Wales, the roads and weather were rarely bad enough to justify a proper off-roader unless you were a farmer. Most Jeeps (and Range Rovers) we see now a so-called 'Chelsea Tractors', used for the school run and never even get muddy!

 

Awesome as usual, Have any high resolution pictures this go 'round?

 

Yep, here's a few:

http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/im...05&mr=l&w=0&h=0&fn=2009-4925&sn=KSC-2009-4925

http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/im...11&mr=l&w=0&h=0&fn=2009-4932&sn=KSC-2009-4932

http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/im...06&mr=l&w=0&h=0&fn=2009-4927&sn=KSC-2009-4927

http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/im...02&mr=l&w=0&h=0&fn=2009-4923&sn=KSC-2009-4923

http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/im...83&mr=l&w=0&h=0&fn=2009-4914&sn=KSC-2009-4914

http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/im...75&mr=l&w=0&h=0&fn=2009-4895&sn=KSC-2009-4895

http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/im...73&mr=l&w=0&h=0&fn=2009-4893&sn=KSC-2009-4893

and the new Ares rocket, the 1-X test flight article stacked and ready to go....nowhere?
http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/im...47&mr=l&w=0&h=0&fn=2009-4954&sn=KSC-2009-4954

 

Wow, hi res is right!:eek Grabbed the ARES one as that's the next gen and I was eager to see the real deal. All stacked up and nowhere to go eh? That's kinda sad.

 

Cheers Star!

Those are some fantastic images, the Ares1 is going to be human rated, yes? I didn't realise you'd got to this stage of production, I thought the motors were still being tested?

 

Hi Rex...yes, it's a people-rocket.

It's still swaying pretty bad in tests, but we'll fix it. We always do. Single-stick rockets are hard to human-rate, but we're close. We damp out the swaying and pogo kicks in, but that's why you have test flights.

Augie, here's a few more Ares images for you. Well, nowhere definitive until the current administration can actually make a decision. We just continue to operate under our forced credo: too much to do, too little to do it with.

http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/im...48&mr=l&w=0&h=0&fn=2009-4955&sn=KSC-2009-4955

http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/im...78&mr=l&w=0&h=0&fn=2009-4799&sn=KSC-2009-4799

http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/im...81&mr=l&w=0&h=0&fn=2009-4802&sn=KSC-2009-4802

http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/im...77&mr=l&w=0&h=0&fn=2009-4798&sn=KSC-2009-4798

Actually, there's a pretty big announcement coming around the end of the year. And no, Halo, I still ain't telling you!

 

Why are the single stick rockets more diffucult, just lack of control surfaces and controllable escape?

This is apart from the fact the Ares1 just looks top heavy! I know it's somewhere near twice the height of the Shuttle on the pad but doesn't look half as pretty!

 

Not enough money in the budget for pretty

Actually, it looks pretty cool from top to bottom. You'll change your opinion of it when it's rolled out to the pad.

Not really on the control surfaces, pogo-shaking along the axis-was common on the Saturn V's back in the day. It's just a process of balancing everything out until it's gone. A combination of proper engine gimbaling and throttling back up to and through Max-Q will damp most of it out. The top-heavy appearance is necessary for weight distribution. This Ares is the crew carrier; the Ares V is a big monster that will carry the payloads up. It's more like a Saturn and not many problems are likely as it's got multiple solid boosters and tank-mounted engines. You can see them here:

http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/spacecraft/constellation/ares-I-ares-V-comparison.jpg

http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Front/VehicleComparisons-1c.jpg

There are other "modes' being discussed. I have full confindence in our Constellation program, but there are a couple other intriguing methods being tossed around that have merit. In my opinion, this one may well "fly":

http://rocketry.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/jupiterdirect2.jpg

BTW, I got the PM--I'll let you know as we'd both like that. Teresa is currently up in New York and I wouldn't know a day off if one bit me in the face, but we'll see what we can work out. We're also wanting to get up with MA while he's in Florida, but time is tight as we are monster busy at work.

 

I didn't realise the lift capabilities were that massive over the Shuttle! There are some big jumps coming up . I suppose the only real advantage the Shuttle has now is bringing things back gently and there can't be that much stuff coming back that needs a really gentle touchdown

I understand about work, I can schedule mine to some extent, but still have to do on-call! Seems like if I take two weeks off, I've got to do four weeks worth of work in the two weeks before I leave! I'll leave it to you and MA if you have time free, as for these two weeks, I don't have to be anywhere, which is a really nice feeling!

 

Right now there is; in the future, the payload rocket will have capability to soft-land, too. On paper anyway:-D

You really can't rule out that option. Humans can only tolerate so hard a landing.

I'm sure you've read the Apollo spacecrafts landed in the water at the end of their missions, as all US flights did up to the shuttle; these new ships are planned to make land landings. It's a heck of alot less expensive to plop them down in the desert than in the ocean, as you'd need to have almost the entire Navy on standby to pluck them out of whatever ocean they landed in, depending on the braking rockets firing on time, etc. The negative about that is crosswinds, but land landings are harder. The Russians have been doing it for eons, their ships fire braking rockets before they land and the only problem they've had is setting one or two forests on fire when they miss their target.

Let me see how the week plays out before I commit to anything. I do have a three-day weekend coming up but I really need to catch up on some sleep or go snorkeling or rearrange everything in the house before Abby gets back so she can't find anything (that's a household tradition every time she goes up north to visit her family).

 

Sweet, new wall papers!

 

Also, "pretty" was never the same as "sexy". That thing looks very sexy to me.... *happily downloads images*

 

Star, thanks for the pictures. I don't think I'll ever make it to watch a shuttle launch, but I'd like to watch something, at some point. Your pictures always impress.

Thanks again.. Will be waiting for the next launch. I didn't even know this one was going up. I usually watch on TV.

 

Hi Pax...thanks for the nice comments, but I can't take credit for images I didn't take. The mothership has several fantastic photographers that produce these, I'm busy with other tasks during a launch.

The next two launches are the Ares 1-X test flight on 31 October at 8:00am, and Shuttle Atlantis on 12 November at 4:22 in the afternoon. There are a few Atlases and Deltas going up from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station here between now and then, but you'll only be able to catch those launches on NASA TV.

 

ok Starman, it's official, I hate you again! Not because of your sparkling reparte or the fact that you get to go snorkeling nor your ability to antagonize the lovely Abbey Sue. No sir, I hate you because of you having the coolest job in the world (or at least ONE of the coolest places to work). Great pictures and one of these days I really have to see that candle get lit and travel to the one place I would love to go but probably won't acheive. Jean, the kids and I went to the Cape on one of our earlier visits to Florida (believe it was in 2000) and really enjoyed seeing everything there (it was my second trip to the Cape). We missed the shuttle launch that time and did not get to see the one that went on when Jean and I went on our cruise. One of these days though I'm gonna look up and see that flight of fantasy fly through our atmosphere. Maybe I'll get lucky and it will be the same time the wife and I get to meet up with you and Theresa. Take care my friend and keep shooting for those stars, I sooooo want to go there......


@MA - only one thing to ask you..... Where was FlatTim during this launch, or has he disappeared into the oblivion that he came from?

Yours,
Jack

 

oh Star, meant to ask you, have they postulated on that occurance in the 7th ring on Saturn that they got a picture of? Just curious as to what NASA is thinking of it.

Jack