SpaceX Tuesday...
Discussion
Beati Dogu said:
Seems that the static fire will be on Friday now, but the launch date hasn't changed (Mon 7th May).
Meanwhile, a photo of a Falcon 9 fairing drifting down to earth.
That's a ram-air parachute.Meanwhile, a photo of a Falcon 9 fairing drifting down to earth.
If it's anything like the ones I've used for skydiving, it's not drifting, it's steerable and has pitch authority up to and including going back up (until running out of forward momentum)
I've never been but there are multiple places in an around the Kennedy Space Center from where a launch can be observed. It seems to me that the best views are from locations actually outside the Space Center. However, the main issue seems to be being early enough to get a good, and legal, parking spot.
What the best viewing areas are also depends on the launch pads being used. SpaceX uses Pad39A (the famous Apollo and Space Shuttle pad) and Pad 40. Pad 40 is actually inside the USAF Cape Canaveral Air Force Station site which isn't technically a NASA site and is a few miles south of Pad 39A.
You need to do your homework to find out where you need to go and how close you want to get to the launch site. Once a rocket clears the trees, you can see it ascend from pretty much anywhere close to Cape Canaveral. Night launches can be seen for hundreds of miles - weather depending of course.
What the best viewing areas are also depends on the launch pads being used. SpaceX uses Pad39A (the famous Apollo and Space Shuttle pad) and Pad 40. Pad 40 is actually inside the USAF Cape Canaveral Air Force Station site which isn't technically a NASA site and is a few miles south of Pad 39A.
You need to do your homework to find out where you need to go and how close you want to get to the launch site. Once a rocket clears the trees, you can see it ascend from pretty much anywhere close to Cape Canaveral. Night launches can be seen for hundreds of miles - weather depending of course.
Warmfuzzies said:
Quick Q
For anyone who has been to NASA and seen a launch , how soon before should you arrive, and where to witness, it’s apparently better at the Saturn centre? ?
Wish us luck
K
The closest you can get is from the Saturn V hall, which I think is 3 miles away (from 39A), KSC was about 6.5-7 miles from 39A and is where I viewed the FH launch in Feb. There are good places around the area too as Eric has said, from the inlet shore at Titusville for example, though when I saw a launch from there in December it wasn't very loud (could have been a wind direction thing though).For anyone who has been to NASA and seen a launch , how soon before should you arrive, and where to witness, it’s apparently better at the Saturn centre? ?
Wish us luck
K
You can see launches from cocoa beach, or Port Canaveral (there's a nice bar there too, so when it's not launching you can watch the Dolphins playing around).
Some launches you need to pay to see and the prices vary dependent on viewing point, for FH they sold tickets to watch from the back of the Atlantis hall. Which was very good with entertainment during the day, but as for the actual launch, where I was gave a better view IMO. I watched from the memorial wall area. Also, for big launches (eg FH) they put TV screens all over KSC too.
For some launches (the ones that are becoming more routine) I think you can just turn up, a friend of mine went to KSC not realising there was a launch that day, and viewed a F9 launch from the Saturn V hall without any further expense.
As for arrival, for the FH launch me and my mate went early and the traffic was horrendous, took us 40 minutes to get there from home and at least an hour in traffic from about 5 miles out. We eventually got in to KSC about 10am. Because the viewing points were cleary paid for we couldn't get the bus to the Saturn V hall or go in the Atlantis hall on that day. If you pay for the Saturn V viewing area (feel the heat) to get a good seat on the grandstands you'll need to get straight on the bus to head out there (unless the seats are allocated). The last bus left about 2-2.5 hours before launch.
If you go, take (or buy) some binoculars, you'll see so much more, or have a camera with a decent zoom lense.
If any of you can see an FH launch, then do it, it is quite possibly the coolest thing I've ever seen!
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