April 2023

On April 28, 2023, SpaceX attempted a new feat: launching two rockets from the Eastern Range (KSC and CCAFS) within three hours of each other.

First up, Falcon 9 carrying two O3b internet satellites for SES launching off SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, the second, a Falcon Heavy carrying ViaSat-3 Americas scheduled a mere two hours and fourteen minutes later.

We optimized our view for the latter launch, while opting to forgo a close view of Falcon 9. (It was some 11-12 miles away). Here’s our view from the perfectly named Mosquito Lagoon.

This was an unsuccessful launch attempt, but that happens often enough that you almost expect it…even from the very reliable SpaceX. Weather is a huge challenge, but let’s not forget how complicated and powerful the rockets themselves are. If it’s not as good as it can be for a launch, they’ll probably scrub and try again tomorrow.

Sometimes, that happens when you are in a beautiful wild place at a gorgeous time of day. And that makes it not so bad after all.

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Encompassing about 275 square miles of desert aside Holloman Air Force Base between Alamogordo and Las Cruces, New Mexico, White Sands is a procession of dunes on the northern end of the Chihuahuan Desert. Instead of the usual sands that make up most dunes, White Sands is comprised mainly of gypsum (calcium sulfate dihydrate) and is an incredibly bright and soft surface, yet one that is relatively easy to walk on.

Despite warnings of snakes and other desert fauna that can be unkind to humans, many people walk through White Sands barefooted. I wore sandals, but after a while I too decided that that no shoes was the way to go. My feet were not cut, scoured and best of all, bitten after a long hike, and indeed, they were hardly even dusty at the end of the day. It was a pleasant hike, even if it is one that is at “altitude” for many folks, like me — I live at sea level, and did notice the thinner air.

Like most dune fields, those at White Sands are mobile — some more so than others. From the entrance, there is the usual desert flora — yucca plants, skunkbush, cottonwood and so forth, but no creosote plants. The further back you go into the park, though, there are fewer and fewer plants on the landscape, and at some point, it is nothing but the sands.

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My grandfather, VL Pinson, was a part of Hardtack Teak nuclear testing in 1958. They were conducted above the Johnston Atoll as part of Operation Newsreel, and the weapon was carried aloft by a Redstone missile — making it one of America’s first attempts at constructing an intercontinental ballistic missile. The bomb was 3.8 Megatons in power, and exploded at an altitude of 47.7 miles. Teak, along with HARDTACK-Orange were the two largest high-altitude nuclear explosions in US history.

As for my grandfather, he worked as a telemetry engineer, making him and his team responsible for maintaining communication with the missile throughout its flight. That was required in order to have command and control of the rocket itself, as well as gathering information not only from the rocket but also the weapon as well.

Photo: NASA Alumni League Florida Chapter
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The rocket junkyard, Alamogordo. Being that it was a no trespassing zone, that I was not from there, and it was in a decayed part of town (nothing terrible, just abandoned sites all around me) I didn’t go around the perimeter as much as I would have liked.

I’m guessing these are surplus parts from the White Sands range. I also think that this is a storage facility for NM Space History Museum.

Anyway, there were all sort of interesting tidbits in there. A rail from a rocket sled, a Matador tactical nuclear cruise missile, a few V-1 derivatives, etc. It was interesting to look at this stuff just sitting around in the elements.

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“The Dunn Solar Telescope is a unique vertical-axis solar telescope, in Sunspot, New Mexico located at Sacramento Peak. It is the main telescope at the Sunspot Solar Observatory, operated by New Mexico State University in partnership with the National Solar Observatory through funding by the National Science Foundation.” (Wikipedia)

I visited on April 3, 2023.

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