[Launch Alert] Vandenberg AFB Launch Schedule
Launch Alert
launch-alert at mailman.qth.net
Sun Dec 15 19:42:30 EST 2013
LAUNCH ALERT
Brian Webb
Ventura County, California
launch-alert-editor at earthlink.net
www.spacearchive.info
2013 December 15 (Sunday) 16:31 PST
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VANDENBERG AFB LAUNCH SCHEDULE
Launch
Time/Window
Date (PST/PDT) Vehicle Pad/Silo
-------- ----------------- ------------- --------
DEC? To be announced Minuteman III ---
ICBM test launch. The Defense Department will provide information
about the test a few days in advance. This launch was scheduled for
OCT 23, but no news release was issued and the launch was apparently
delayed.
APR 3 To be announced Atlas V SLC-3
Vehicle will launch the DMSP F19 military weather satellite
Mid-2014 To be announced Atlas V SLC-3
Vehicle will launch the WorldView 3 earth imaging satellite
The above schedule is a composite of unclassified information
approved for public release from government, industry, and other
sources. It represents the Editor's best effort to produce a schedule,
but may disagree with other sources. Details on military launches are
withheld until they are approved for public release. For official
information regarding Vandenberg AFB activities, go to
http://www.vandenberg.af.mil.
All launch dates and times are given in Pacific Time using a 24-hour
format similar to military time (midnight = 00:00, 1:00 p.m. = 13:00,
11:00 p.m. = 23:00, etc.).
The dates and times in this schedule may not agree with those on other
online launch schedules, including the official Vandenberg AFB
schedule because different sources were used, the information was
interpreted differently, and the schedules were updated at different
times.
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ATLAS V LAUNCH OBSERVATIONS
An Atlas V rocket was launched from Vandenberg AFB at 23:14 PST on
December 5. The late-evening event was seen over a wide area. The
following are launch observations submitted to the editor:
Alan Zeleznikar
Oceanside, CA
The launch was visible down here in Oceanside (north coastal San Diego
county). Large bright re-orange dot at first, eventually fading after
a few minutes.
Chris Kilgus
Santa Cruz County, CA
I saw the Atlas 5 last week from my deck in Santa Cruz County. Even
though it is 180 miles away. I live on a ridge at 1300 feet. That
clear and cold night was perfect for viewing. It looked like a red
road flare for the first 30 seconds. Saw it arc over and then a
pressure wave (?), 20 more seconds then gone. Wow.
Daniel Wilson
Santa Barbara, CA
The launch was perhaps as spectacular Zinio I have seen. I was at
Midtown Santa Barbara near the base of the pass from my house.
The rocket was huge and appeared really slow, thus really got to watch
it for quite a while. Then as it approached (or was in?) stage
separation way up there - was just the most amazing exhaust / ice
crystals tentacles blasting out on all sides at such a velocity and
spread that was hard to comprehend. And then all the sudden it was
gone.
The rumbling started right about 11 19 give or take a few seconds and
lasted for about 2 minutes.
Now I see why they had an octopus emblazon on the side of it!
George Kneeshaw
Ramona, CA
We viewed it from Starlight Mountain Rd, Ramona, CA (SD County)
Watched it rise briefly with naked eye and go out of sight, Then we
saw it again moments later and could see the lit up contrail plume for
a few seconds, then it disappeared again. Even from 288 road miles
away it was still quite awesome. ( We used 7x35 binoculars)
Jim Donovan
Placerville, CA
Had a good view from Placerville, CA
Orange flame of first stage with very wide exhaust plume due to the
high altitude
Staging was also visible followed by a blue-white dot fading into the
night...
Ken Navarre, KC6IFF
San Jose area, CA
Last night's launch of the Atlas V rocket was absolutely breathtaking
from the San Jose area. There was light haze along horizon line but as
the Atlas V rose above the haze the red flame from the first stage was
beautiful. Once the rocket reached the higher atmosphere the shock
wave in front of it was lit by sunlight and just before the first
stage burned out the shock wave mushroomed nicely. The second stage
produced a bright white light here. Not as bright here as Venus but
certainly as bright as the International Space Station when it passes
overhead. Due to the haze I hadn't bothered setting up the camera and
I am now disappointed that I hadn't taken the time to do so. Maybe
next time... Wouldn't be surprised to hear of sightings much farther
north of the SF Bay Area.
Ken Stackhouse, K6UF
San Jose, CA
A few minutes after the launch I saw it with my naked eyes for about
30 seconds in San Jose. It rose to about 17 degrees in the SSE and
appeared to have a semi-circle glowing cloud following it (but, no
visible contrail). It then instantly disappeared (which seemed to
coincide with 1st stage cutoff on the video feed). From my Irridium
satellite experience it was about a magnitude -2 and could have been
easily mistaken as a passenger aircraft with its landing lights on. It
deceptively looked as if it could be traveling in a straight line to
the NW as opposed to rapidly gaining altitude and heading south.
Len
Northridge, CA
FYI visible and photographed in Northridge CA, but suddenly
disappeared from visual observation at Zenith, my location.
Although skies were clear, perhaps trajectory took it above upper
cloud levels?
Michael Plesh
Sun Valley, CA
Caught the launch last night, it was magnificent as seen through
binoculars in Sun Valley Ca.
Pete, N6ZE
Thousand Oaks, CA
On time launch viewed by N6ZE. I viewed apparent separation of second
stage burnout with bright red/orange color in SW sky No sonic boom
noted from residential area of Thousand Oaks by me, but spouse said
she heard boom ~ 2320PM PST from inside house..
Ron
Huntington Beach, CA
Beautiful shot from Huntington Beach! Watched all the way to fairing
sep unaided!
Russ
El Cajon, CA
Had a nice 20ish second view of it from inland San Diego, El Cajon.
Used a small spotting scope and was able to see the amazing exhaust
plume! Awesome!!
Spencer Westbrook
Ventura, CA
Viewed the launch from a cold and windy beach in Ventura, one of the
more beautiful launches I have seen. At altitude the sun, some 6.5 hrs
past setiing, caught the vapor and sonic waves, amazing sight.
Stan Faulwetter
Morgan Hill, CA
Mr. Webb, I saw the launch tonight from about 160 NM North North-West
of Vandenberg AFB. It was a cold and clear night with an unobstructed
sky and horizon. The vehicle climbed out on schedule, the main engines
were a bright red orange color. I saw the vehicle stage and continue
on into flight, watching it for about 10 minutes until it faded from
view. Overall a very nice view of the launch from a distant
observation point.
Steve Miller
Lake Havasu City, AZ
Saw the launch from Lake Havasu City, Arizona this morning, 12/6/2013
at approximately 12:15:00 MST. Picked up a yellow/orange ball rising
at 275 degrees my location. Clear skies through the entire visible
flight until about 12:26:00 MST. Using 60x12 binoculars on tripod
mount.
Prior to first separation observed a beautiful streaming exhaust
umbrella that continued until separation. From my position I saw the
craft reach a maximum height of 12.5 degrees before passing Diphda in
Cetus and losing sight of the rocket at about 240 degrees heading
southwest. Interesting flight this time for me in that I was able to
visual observe the craft and follow it with binoculars for a very long
time (11 mins).
Tom Wright
Morro Bay, CA
The cold, stable air made for great observing of tonight's launch from
near my house in the Morro Heights area of Morro Bay, about 52 miles
NNW of SLC-3 at Vandenberg.
Not long after my cellphone alarm beeped at 11:14, I saw a very bright
orange ball rising over the Irish Hills to the SSE of me. Through
binoculars, I watched as it rose and veered off to the west, seeing by
11:17 an orange flame extend across about 20% of the field of view of
my 7x35 binoculars. I could make out variations in brightness that
appeared to travel down the length of the flame.
At 11:19, the flame dimmed quickly and then winked out. I kept looking
for a second-stage firing, but saw nothing. (Maybe the LOX/LH2 mix
burns almost invisibly? What's been your experience with the
Centaur?)
At 11:23, I heard the distant but definite "dum-duh-DUM" of a sonic
boom. I did some geometry and trig when I got back home, using the
information posted in the blog at http://spaceflightnow.com/atlas
/av042/status.html for 0717:30 GMT (11:17:30 p.m. PST): "Altitude is
39 miles, downrange distance [from SLC-3] is 29 miles, and velocity is
3,235 mph." The time of my "sonic boom" correlates pretty well with
the time you'd expect to hear one from a source about 85 miles away,
as I estimated the Atlas 5 would have been at 11:17:30. Nice to see
nature behaving herself!
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