# Watch the rocket tonight



## legalskier (Oct 27, 2014)

_"Skywatchers along the U.S. East Coast have a chance of getting a unique light show from Monday evening’s launch of an Antares rocket from Virginia’s Eastern Shore._
_The *14-story rocket* is set for liftoff at *6:45 p.m. EDT* (2245 GMT) from launch pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, a launch complex owned by the state of Virginia at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility...."_       Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/2014/10/26/rocket-launch-could-dazzle-u-s-east-coast/


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## Nick (Oct 27, 2014)

Cool., 

I saw one last year and took a long-exposure photograph of it. It's really cool to watch.


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## Farleyman (Oct 27, 2014)

My company manufactured the fuel tanks in that bad boy 


Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone


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## Not Sure (Oct 27, 2014)

Farleyman said:


> My company manufactured the fuel tanks in that bad boy
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone



LOL , I would wait for a successfull launch to anounce that.

Scrubbed again ....http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/launch/orbital.html

I accidentally saw this experiment looking south off my deck, was'nt sure if it was a Comet , then realized the tail was in the wrong direction, by the time I got out my telescope it had disapated.


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## spring_mountain_high (Oct 27, 2014)

Nick said:


> Cool.,
> 
> I saw one last year and took a long-exposure photograph of it. It's really cool to watch.



these are really cool pics!


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## ctenidae (Oct 28, 2014)

I wonder if there are any consequences for the bkat that was in the range, causing them to scrub. Supertanker, or tourist?


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## ctenidae (Oct 28, 2014)

So, it was a sailboat, it seems. Apparently the Coast Guard and Virginia Marine Police have arrest and fine authority there. Wonder if they will. How much does it cost to scrub a launch?

In other news, the comments on this article are awesome. What a concentration of nutters!
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/space-launch-called-off-due-to-passing-sailboat-1.2814524


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## Hawkshot99 (Oct 28, 2014)

ctenidae said:


> So, it was a sailboat, it seems. Apparently the Coast Guard and Virginia Marine Police have arrest and fine authority there. Wonder if they will. How much does it cost to scrub a launch?
> 
> In other news, the comments on this article are awesome. What a concentration of nutters!
> http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/space-launch-called-off-due-to-passing-sailboat-1.2814524



My parents own a place right by the launch site and I spent many a summer racing all over the bay I  my small boat just off the shore of the launch site, so I am quite familar with the "restricted zone". It is really not that large, and when a launch is happening it is clearly visible where you can not go. There is a US Coast Guard station that goes out to patrol the area as well as other branches of LEO's from othe r departments. 
If a boat gets into that area they are quite close to the laaunch zone, and it was at night so you can't see what the vessel is doing.


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## Not Sure (Oct 28, 2014)

Re sheduled for Today 6:19 PM
High Cirrus clouds...Hope it clears


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## marcski (Oct 28, 2014)

Doh!


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## Not Sure (Oct 28, 2014)

marcski said:


> Doh!



Oh...SHiiiiiiiiiiiiiit


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## ctenidae (Oct 28, 2014)

Oops


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## Hawkshot99 (Oct 28, 2014)

And that is why they cancelled last night. The debris cover the restricted bay area.


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## deadheadskier (Oct 28, 2014)

well, that was a rather expensive fireworks show.


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## Not Sure (Oct 28, 2014)

deadheadskier said:


> well, that was a rather expensive fireworks show.




Yeah And No TP for the ISS


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## octopus (Oct 28, 2014)

Farleyman said:


> My company manufactured the fuel tanks in that bad boy
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone


good job


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## OldsnowboarderME (Oct 28, 2014)

Farleyman said:


> My company manufactured the fuel tanks in that bad boy
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone


 I think they will be taking a look at those fuel tanks now ..


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## Not Sure (Oct 28, 2014)

OldsnowboarderME said:


> I think they will be taking a look at those fuel tanks now ..



Irony post of the year.


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## OldsnowboarderME (Oct 28, 2014)

I thought I heard "Go with throttle up" and then there was an explosion and  it started coming down ..


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## OldsnowboarderME (Oct 28, 2014)

I am really glad no one was riding that rocket .. brings back some unpleasant memories.


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## Nick (Oct 28, 2014)

Dang that sucks!!


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## OldsnowboarderME (Oct 28, 2014)

I wonder if the vehicle initiated a self-destruct on its own or was there a destruct signal sent from control because of an engine failure?


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## jimk (Oct 29, 2014)

Farleyman said:


> My company manufactured the fuel tanks in that bad boy
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone



You got some 'splainin' to do!
I went to the Chincoteague area twice this summer for relaxing beach weekends.  Toured the NASA Wallops Visitor Center in August.  Thankful no loss of life.  About 20 years ago I attended a briefing/tour in the launch center for my work.


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## ctenidae (Oct 29, 2014)

“The asset stopped, there was some, let’s say, disassembly of the first stage, after which it fell to earth,” said Culbertson, in a deadpan description of an explosion that could be seen for miles and terrified observers.

Apt description.


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## steamboat1 (Oct 29, 2014)

The first stage, which blew up, was Russian made. This administration has gutted NASA to the point they can't even engineer their own rockets anymore. How's NASA's mission to reach out to Muslims working out?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antares_(rocket)

The first stage uses RP-1 (kerosene) and liquid oxygen (LOX) as propellants, powering two Aerojet AJ-26 engines, which are modified Soviet-built NK-33engines. Together they produce 3,265 kilonewtons (734,000 lb[SUB]f[/SUB]) of thrust at sea level and 3,630 kN (816,100 lb[SUB]f[/SUB]) in vacuum.[SUP][6][/SUP] As Orbital has little experience with large liquid stages and LOX propellant, some of the Antares first stage work was contracted to the Ukrainian Yuzhnoye SDO, designers of the Zenit series.[SUP][10][/SUP] The core provided by Yuzhnoye includes propellant tanks, pressurization tanks, valves, sensors, feed lines, tubing, wiring and other associated hardware


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## legalskier (Oct 29, 2014)

steamboat1 said:


> This administration has gutted NASA to the point they can't even engineer their own rockets anymore. How's NASA's mission to reach out to Muslims working out?
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antares_(rocket)


                                                                                                                                                                        Not sure I'm following. You believe this rocket failure had something to do with Muslims?   Or with budget cuts?  Please note that the cuts started many years ago (http://www.shortnews.com/start.cfm?id=4031), and the first four launches of this rocket type were successful (as your own cite confirms), so I don't see any connection between budget cuts and this particular failure, though I personally disagree with the cuts. Also, the US has been cooperating with the Soviets/Russians for many decades (http://www.nasa.gov/50th/50th_magazine/coldWarCoOp.html), and they have been in space longer than us.


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## JimG. (Oct 29, 2014)

Really sorry I didn't pay attention and watch for this. Was it too light still at 6:19 to really see anything from the NE?


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## Puck it (Oct 29, 2014)

legalskier said:


> Not sure I'm following. You believe this rocket failure had something to do with Muslims? Or with budget cuts? Please note that the cuts started many years ago (http://www.shortnews.com/start.cfm?id=4031), and the first four launches of this rocket type were successful (as your own cite confirms), so I don't see any connection between budget cuts and this particular failure, though I personally disagree with the cuts. Also, the US has been cooperating with the Soviets/Russians for many decades (http://www.nasa.gov/50th/50th_magazine/coldWarCoOp.html), and they have been in space longer than us.




And it was a private launch vehicle being developed for NASA.


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## thetrailboss (Oct 29, 2014)

In a word: ouch.


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## jimk (Oct 29, 2014)

JimG. said:


> Really sorry I didn't pay attention and watch for this. Was it too light still at 6:19 to really see anything from the NE?


It was fairly dark, but the rocket only got a few hundred feet off the ground before exploding.  Only people in the local area would have seen the fireworks show.  Maybe some old Russian made rocket motors to blame? 
Thought strikes me:  I wonder how many dangerous duds like this we're keeping in silos out west as part of our very old nuclear ICBM aresenal:flame:


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## Puck it (Oct 29, 2014)

jimk said:


> It was fairly dark, but the rocket only got a few hundred feet off the ground before exploding. Only people in the local area would have seen the fireworks show. Maybe some old Russian made rocket motors to blame?
> Thought strikes me: I wonder how many dangerous duds like this we're keeping in silos out west as part of our very old nuclear ICBM aresenal:flame:


  Kinda hard to test a controlled explosion.


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## steamboat1 (Oct 29, 2014)

You guys do realize that the Russians launched a successful mission to bring supplies to the space station today don't you?

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/russians-launch-cargo-ship-to-space-station-hours-after-us-failure/


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## Puck it (Oct 29, 2014)

steamboat1 said:


> You guys do realize that the Russians launched a successful mission to bring supplies to the space station today don't you?
> 
> http://www.cbsnews.com/news/russians-launch-cargo-ship-to-space-station-hours-after-us-failure/


  Thank god the TP made it.


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## ctenidae (Oct 29, 2014)

I'm just upset the astronaut's Halloween treats got all blowed up. Now we'll never know what it was going to be.


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## bigbog (Oct 29, 2014)

jimk said:


> It was fairly dark, but the rocket only got a few hundred feet off the ground before exploding.  Only people in the local area would have seen the fireworks show.  Maybe some old Russian made rocket motors to blame?
> Thought strikes me:  I wonder how many dangerous duds like this we're keeping in silos out west as part of our very old nuclear ICBM aresenal...



There've been successes and failures on both sides...US/Russian, but leave it to an Corporate American committee to choose the less expensive toy.  You're not the only one jimk.  Components failing...ie issues with private contractor designs...often in physically moving and QC and theoretical modeling is not something I put a lot of stock in...fwiw.   Better having Minutemen as the majority of ICBMs sitting in the ground.


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## legalskier (Oct 29, 2014)

The spin cycle is on high.
*Fox News About Face When Rocket Disaster Strikes*


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## ctenidae (Oct 29, 2014)

legalskier said:


> The spin cycle is on high.
> *Fox News About Face When Rocket Disaster Strikes*



It is funny how both sides of any question are so good at latching on to anything that can be used to prove their point to themselves. When NASA rockets blow (blew) up, it was because the program is bloated and inefficient. When private business rockets blow up it's because they're profit-driven cheapskates.

I wish NASA, as well as other science-focused parts of the government, had sufficient funding to perform the basic research and development they are good at. I can think of quite a few places the funding could come from...


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## JimG. (Oct 29, 2014)

jimk said:


> It was fairly dark, but the rocket only got a few hundred feet off the ground before exploding.  Only people in the local area would have seen the fireworks show.  Maybe some old Russian made rocket motors to blame?
> Thought strikes me:  I wonder how many dangerous duds like this we're keeping in silos out west as part of our very old nuclear ICBM aresenal:flame:



I would have paid to be there; the shockwave is visible in some of the videos.


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## Nick (Oct 30, 2014)

you can hear it in multiple vidoes up on youtube of it. It's nuts.


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## Cannon Gray (Nov 18, 2020)

On April 30, NASA announced the selection of SpaceX, Blue Origin and Dynetics as companies to develop lunar lander projects for the Artemis space program.


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## Nick (Nov 18, 2020)

Cannon Gray said:


> On April 30, NASA announced the selection of SpaceX, Blue Origin and Dynetics as companies to develop lunar lander projects for the Artemis space program.


well i feel like this is a spammer just waiting but. I've been excited watching the spacex launches recently! I took the family to see the Falcon Heavy launch (with the Tesla roadster) a year or two ago and it's amazing to see people traveling to space now with spacex.


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## Cannon Gray (Nov 19, 2020)

Nick said:


> well i feel like this is a spammer just waiting but. I've been excited watching the spacex launches recently! I took the family to see the Falcon Heavy launch (with the Tesla roadster) a year or two ago and it's amazing to see people traveling to space now with spacex.


Despite the fact this year is considered not to be a good one - there already were two successful launches to ISS on American modules - the last one was on November 17. The flight to the ISS took 27 and a half hours and at the time of docking the ISS was over Ohio.


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