[Launch Alert] Vandenberg AFB Launch Schedule
Launch Alert
launch-alert at mailman.qth.net
Tue Jul 15 22:38:49 EDT 2014
LAUNCH ALERT
Brian Webb
Ventura County, California
launch-alert-editor at earthlink.net
www.spacearchive.info
2014 July 15 (Tuesday) 19:31 PDT
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VANDENBERG AFB LAUNCH SCHEDULE
Launch
Time/Window
Date (PST/PDT) Vehicle Pad/Silo
-------- ----------------- ------------- --------
AUG 13 11:29 Atlas V SLC-3E
Vehicle will launch the WorldView 3 earth imaging satellite
NOV 5 06:16-06:25 Delta II SLC-2W
Vehicle will launch the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite.
Launch window occurs just after sunrise
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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DELTA II/OCO-2 LAUNCH FOLLOW UP
On July 2 at 02:56 PDT, a Delta II rocket carrying NASA's OCO-2
satellite was launched from Vandenberg AFB.
E-mails
The editor received the following e-mails regarding the launch:
Barry
Agoura, Calif.
I had a beautiful view of the launch from Agoura, CA. Fortunately, the
launch was postponed; it was overcast here on the previous night.
I was able to see the bright orange flame of the rocket engine as it
came over the ridge line northwest of my house. It became smaller and
more dim as it rose higher towards the southwest horizon. I was not
able to see the staging with my naked eye (forgot my binoculars). I
live in a canyon in the Santa Monica mountains. It was a dark,
moonless night; ideal conditions.
I have seen several launches from my home. I am 110 miles ESE of
Vandenburg.
Jason
Lompoc, Calif.
I was outside in Lompoc, CA for the launch. I could hear ignition and
flight, but couldn't see a thing due to fog.
Justin
San Luis Obispo, Calif.
I always try to get down to VAFB and video the launches. Of course
this one was socked in with fog so the video is very uninteresting.
The sound came out great though.
http://youtu.be/ufRoL_FrGsM
Kevin
The editor received a launch photo from Kevin
Lee
Claremont, Calif.
Location 34deg 07min N 117deg 42min W; Claremont CA
I was waiting for Monday night's launch attempt and heard the
disappointment in the teams voices when water didn't flow in pad
system at T-minus 45sec.
I saw Tuesday night's (Wednesday early morning) launch from a deck on
my house. I picked up the rocket's flame visually when it rose above
my western horizon (1/2 to 1 min after lift-off); I switched to 10x50
image stabilized binoculars.
Initial flame was bright orange & shaped like a blowtorch. As rocket
continued, flame elongated into a shape similar to an oxy-acetylene
welding torch (longer, thinner) with same color but dimmer.
There are 2 large trees to west of me, so I lost & regained rocket
visibility as it continued southwards & upwards.
Exhaust was thin pale bluish plume; as flight continued, the plume
extended & had a brighter white section embedded (thin pale blue;
brighter white section; thin paler blue that extended for quite a
ways behind rocket).
To the southwest, exhaust plume was still thin pale blue but had the
large bell shape consistent with high altitude.
I saw main engine cutoff and I think I saw a flash/puff at stage
separation.
I never regained visibility of the rocket during second stage engine
burn though I kept looking for a few minutes.
Moe
El Mirage, Ariz.
According to Google Earth, my observing position is a location 29
miles northwest of the Arizona state capitol building in Phoenix. The
coordinates were N33.6xx deg / W112.5xx* and elevation was 1500 feet.
This location is approximately 470 miles (as reckoned by the Google
Earth "path" tool) from VAFB SLC-2. I choose this location to observe
from since it is under relatively dark skies and affords a clear view
of the local western horizon. I'd successfully observed one other
launch from this location, the 25 Sep 2010 launch of a Minatour in the
wee hours of the morning.
I was at the same location Tuesday morning until I received a
confirmation text from a local buddy indicating the initial launch
attempt was scrubbed at the last moment due to the pad cooling system
issues.
For the successful launch attempt I was back in place at the same
observing location. I noted the time on my smart phone app that shows
"atomic time" and when 3:00am came and went with no apparent activity
I figured it had either scrubbed again or was not visible from my
location. Shortly thereafter I observed a reddish-colored flame trail
low on the horizon. I opened the shutter on my tripod-mounted camera
and began my 30-second time exposure. By the time I reached for my
binoculars to observe the flame trail it was already gone. I packed up
the gear, satisfied I'd at least glimpsed the event if even for a brief
moment around 1st stage burnout.
Later that morning I found an email with a link to the YouTube video
of the launch and animated flight profile, as well as a online blog
indicating the actual liftoff time. I also found the ULA mission
profile .pdf. The timing of my photograph versus the online sources
indicates I did catch 1st stage burnout. I took a time-calibration
frame on my camera and compared the camera time versus "atomic time"
and found my camera clock is about 29 seconds fast at the moment. So,
the time of my frame (03:01:07 - the moment shutter is opened) is
really about 03:00:38 MST / PDT. If launch occured at 02:56:23 (as
indicated on official website) and MECO occured 4:24 into the flight,
this very closely corresponds with my photograph - indicating I caught
about the final nine seconds of fire trail on the photograph.
Just a brief bit of background: I am retired USAF NCO and my first
duty station as a young airman was Vandenberg AFB from Oct 1982 to
Dec 1984. Exciting times at VAFB to be sure as they were really
ramping up for Space Shuttle at SLC-6. I observed a number of space
launches (Atlas, Titan, and Delta) and missile tests (Minuteman and
Peacekeeper) during those brief two years. I'm a casual observer
these days and sad I never travelled to observe a shuttle launch in
person. Most recently I travelled to Vandenberg last September and
observed the successful launch of Space X Falcon 9 with CASSIOPE.
* Digits intentionally removed from coordinates by Editor for
privacy reasons
raspygr
Ramona, Calif.
I got up at 2:50 am and watched the OCO 2 launch from the drive way of
my home in Ramona. Very cool south bound departure.
Stan
San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Unfortunately the marine layer here in San Luis Obispo did not allow
for any observation of the launch. I waited for about 10 minuets
after the scheduled launch time to listen for the sound. Nothing, the
cloud layer was just to dense.
Hope for better results on the next launch.
Steve
La Canada, CA
The launch very closely matched the description published on Launch
Alert a week earlier, as seen from La Canada, CA. The bright orange
flame in the sky was immediately obvious without optical aid. Through
the camera finder (zoom lens used at 270 mm) the solid burn out was
visible and the broadening of the exhaust later, though not as easily
seen as I'd expected. Staging was obvious, after which I switched to
binoculars and followed the second stage for 2-4 minutes (I would have
lost the rocket had I checked a watch) before it faded out completely.
A minute or two after losing it I checked my watch and the total time
visible was probably about 7 minutes.
Launch Photography
Photographs of the launch were posted at the following locations:
spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=03&month=07&year=2014
spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=98906
spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=98904
spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=98902
spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=98900
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