rcpilz@ablnc.ATT.COM (Robert C. Pilz) (03/14/89)
The view of the launch of Discovery at 9:58 AM (EST) was great. The launch seemed very smooth. The weather has been improving day-by-day over the past week. The sun burned off the fog and low lying clouds which caused the delay from 8:07AM. There was a concern about possible wind. (If there were any wind there would not have been any fog, you figure?) At approx 35 miles due West (our location in Maitland FL) there was no detectable wind at all. The lakes were as still as glass. At the time of the launch, things were very clear, no clouds or fog visible anywhere. I was able to listen in another employee's mini radio and watched for the solid booster separation. I felt easy after that point. I could see little points of light falling away from the shuttle, slowly. The smoke trail from the launch stayed in the sky for a good 45 minutes. The launch looked smaller because they were moving Eastward rather than in a Northeastern direction as they did on the previous launch. But it was a good, smooth looking launch. I'll have to take my kids to see one close up, soon. My Daughter (Andrea 3yrs) saw the launch from home. (Casselberry, about 7 miles closer.) She was excited about seeing "the shuttle go up into the sky." All I can say is, if you can make it, visit Florida and see one for yourselves! If you need information, let me know, I can get you addresses of KSC. Or you can visit one of the local towns such as Cocoa Beach and view it from there. Enjoy!
ch-tkr@wasatch.UUCP (Timothy K Reynolds) (03/15/89)
In article <690@ablnc.ATT.COM>, rcpilz@ablnc.ATT.COM (Robert C. Pilz) writes: > The sun burned off the fog and low lying clouds > which caused the delay from 8:07AM. There was a concern about possible > wind. (If there were any wind there would not have been any fog, you > figure?) At approx 35 miles due West (our location in Maitland FL) > there was no detectable wind at all. The lakes were as still as > glass. Yes there may be no wind at the surface, but what concerns NASA *especially* in the post-Challenger era is high altitude winds. The existence of high crosswinds at high altitude were a possible contributing factor to the loss of the Challenger. ch-tkr wasatch@utah.edu.arpa
slr@skep2.ATT.COM (Shelley.L.Rosenbaum.[ho95c]) (03/15/89)
In article <1334@wasatch.UUCP> ch-tkr@wasatch.UUCP (Timothy K Reynolds) writes: >Yes there may be no wind at the surface, but what concerns NASA >*especially* in the post-Challenger era is high altitude winds. The >existence of high crosswinds at high altitude were a possible contributing >factor to the loss of the Challenger. To be a little more specific, the problem with the launch Monday was with wind sheer, or a sudden changing of direction and/or speed of the winds. The wind sheer was said to be somewhere around 25,000'. -- Shelley L. Rosenbaum, Air Traffic Control Systems, AT&T Bell Laboratories {allegra, att, arpa}!ho95c!slr slr@ho95c.att.arpa (201) 949-3615 "I've got my two-tones through the floorboards already!"
henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) (03/16/89)
In article <690@ablnc.ATT.COM> rcpilz@ablnc.ATT.COM (Robert C. Pilz) writes: >...All I can say is, if you can make it, visit Florida and see one >for yourselves! If you need information, let me know, I can get you >addresses of KSC. Or you can visit one of the local towns such >as Cocoa Beach and view it from there. One other possibility you might consider is joining the National Space Society for the sake of their shuttle-launch tours. (God knows there's precious little other reason to join NSS...) They handle accommodation, local transportation, and trying to get a good viewing site out of NASA. (I don't know what the situation is now, since the KSC rules have been tightened up a bit, but I watched the 41C launch with an NSS tour from 3-4 miles away, rather closer than you could get on your own.) -- Welcome to Mars! Your | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology passport and visa, comrade? | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu