Google+ SpaceTravelFoundation: NASA Minotaur liftoff viewed by a Tarheel

November 20, 2013

NASA Minotaur liftoff viewed by a Tarheel

As many of you know, there was a launch from NASA Wallops on the US East Coast and for many it was an unexpected chance to see a rocket go into orbit even if we were several hundred miles away.
I was following the countdown on +Ustream and went outside my home about 5 minutes before launch. As Ustream showed the final seconds I and a neighbour oriented ourselves and saw a bright red dot ascend into the perfectly clear fall sky very quickly. By the time the live feed said "LIFTOFF" she was already well up in the sky and almost out of visual range.

Credits image: +NASA / Brea Reeves

It was over in a matter of just a few seconds and had you not known where or when to look you would have missed the entire event. As it was, the launch has kept me smiling even until now. Although not as thrilling as when myself and 3.5 million others participated in Curiosity's landing on Mars, this was a true geek-out moment.
The Minotaur rocket was carrying a hush-hush, what are you looking at, USAF satellite but launch had been delayed by a faulty communications station in my home state of North Carolina and one errant sailboat captain who had wandered into the safety zone.


Article is written by Anthony Scott

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