Am I the only rocker nerd here? Did anyone else watch the launch? We had a pretty good view here in Mechanicsville. I have some really bad pictures I can post later.
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Right there with you. Watched on my computer. Flat out cool. Not a rocket nerd but very much into anything Orbital ATK and rockets. My son is plant manager of ATK rocket plant outside Cumberland, MD. He alerted me to the launch and link.
Went outside to try and see it but never did. According to the sighting map should have been visible but low on the horizon. I live in the mountains of SW Virginia. Not easy to see anything low on the horizon in the mountains.
Would love to see the pictures so please post.
Son Mike also a Hokie. Class of '95. Family full of Hokies beginning with my dad who was president of class of 1915. Yes my dad not my grand dad.
I drove out to Wallops last night and saw it live (I also worked on the Cygnus spacecraft a couple years back). I'm very happy it went well
An actual rocket scientist?
Haha, yes, something like that
@Hokie in The Wire: Do you know when the next Wallops Island launch will be?
Per: http://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/
It looks like Antares is launching OA-7 (Cygnus) on December 30th, but I wouldn't start booking flights or making plans yet. These dates tend to be very fluid, and things will likely change (especially while waiting for SpaceX Falcon 9 to officially return to flight to send supplies via DragonX).
VT Aerospace program is pretty good. Why exactly are you surprised that VT has produced actual rocket scientists that are also football fans...? ;-)
Orbital ATK at the Dulles location (where much of the Cygnus Spacecraft and Antares Rocket work is done) is loaded with Hokies, so VT should take a lot of pride in that.
I think it is funny that their Dulles complex is located on Warp Drive.
@ Hokie In The Wire,
Exactly my friend and fellow Hokie, exactly. :-)
This made me chuckle because I got my degree in aeropace on the space side but have never used it my entire military or post military side...
I'm sitting at work next to one, and there's another right down the hall. We exist ;)
I don't know, there was the one kid in my Aero classes that told me Madden was a bad game because it has bad character development. I tended to believe I was one of the few football fans in class.
Nobody should be surprised... some of our alumni are the OG's of the rocket science field
He didnt say Antares, so not quite a rocket scientist (I kid, I kid)
Touche, but explaining the difference has gotten exhausting over the last few years.
We tried watching the one last year, or whenever it was, that exploded after take off. Never saw that one.
It's a clear view from the Wallops Visitor Center. You used to be able to get closer, but NASA recently made the decision that the popular Arbuckle Neck Road area was too close. Even from 4 miles out, it was loud and super bright (couldn't stare at it too long).
I was still living on the eastern shore for that one. Lit up the whole sky 25 miles away where my house was
wallops explosion
I was just north of Salisbury picking up my sons after a soccer game. Parked the car, facing south, and waited. Saw a little blip glow, but no rocket. Figured it was scrubbed...until we walked into BW's and saw the explosion on 47 tv's.
This last once was perfectly clear. We're not in perfect position, but not a bad spot either about 40 miles north.
I too worked on Cygnus....
hmmmmmm
and a TKP'er, you must be a helluva guy (or gal, I can't tell by your name or picture)
The hand in the picture looks a bit masculine to me...
Then again....
I identify as half a propulsion system, half an ordnance system, thank-you-very-much
not entirely sure I get that....
![Car fails in water [ SINKING VEHICLES COMPILATION]](http://i.makeagif.com/media/10-19-2016/RTJtWN.gif)
![Car fails in water [ SINKING VEHICLES COMPILATION]](http://i.makeagif.com/media/10-19-2016/RTJtWN.gif)
Whatever you are trying to do this morning is giving me a good laugh at my desk.
all I can see is the word fail. Very apt description.
Go to link but remove the last parenthesis and it should work.
Here you go.
Thanks EMC! I cannot get a gif to work! I don't hold my tongue right I guess! Yeah that's what she said.
From an ex rocket scientist, now civil engineer, thank you for sharing.
So don't kill me but I watch rocket launches for the same reason I used to watch NASCAR. And no, it's not to marvel at how fast we can make machines go.
Didn't catch this one, but I was lucky enough to be at Wallops island a few years ago and was able to witness a launch. Not a great photo, but would recommend.
Space shuttle night launch from inside the security area...one of the coolest things ever
Got to see it from Oregon Hill in RVA. It was crazy how easily we could see it from 100+ miles away.
I knew people watching it from Lynchburg. They said it looked like a slightly brighter sky lantern.
I only live a few miles from the launch site, we had a viewing party
This launch makes me think of our football team, which in turn makes me think of this song
Saw the launch online. What had my curiosity was the reason for said launch. I'm going conspiracy theory here and saying it has some high clearance mission attached to combat the launch China has recently done. Not buying that it was solely resupply. Spy versus spy.
Can assure you - nothing nefarious about the payload!
#Sauces??
Um...I just said I worked on the project?
I know, just felt like using it.
You can actually tell when spy satellites are launched. They'll be listed as classified payloads, typically owned by the NRO. They also often launch out of Vandenberg on the West Coast.
SpaceX trying get in on that too.
They'll have a tough time winning those contracts against the reliability of ULA...
Yeah.... Evans makin' pancakes. edit... Oops, this isn't the game thread lol...