Axiom-1, an all-private mission to the International Space Station is scheduled to launch tomorrow, April 8, 2022 at 11:17am EDT. Four people will head up to ISS aboard the Crew Dragon sitting on top of the Falcon 9 booster.
A cold front is passing through the Space Coast today, and it’s been raining on and off as the cooler air pushes towards us. Forecasts are calling for a 90% chance of acceptable weather at launch time.
The sun sets on Artemis1 and the first night of its Wet Dress Rehearsal begins.
All was quiet at that moment, and it was incredible to watch SLS start to glow brighter and brighter as the darkness fell behind her.
The sun sets on Artemis1 and the first night of its Wet Dress Rehearsal begins. All was quiet at that moment, and it was incredible to watch SLS start to glow brighter and brighter as the darkness fell behind her.
The day was a stormy one, starting with a tornado warning around 830-9am in Cocoa Beach, which is not far at all from Kennedy Space Center and Pad LC-39B. I was not terribly worried, however, because tornadoes almost always track northeast and that meant it would be offshore before it go to the launch pad. Fortunately, the warning was much ado about not very much and there was no damage to speak of at the beaches.
In between storms (it rained again that afternoon and that night as well) SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 carrying Transporter 4 at 12:24:17 local time, and later, after an afternoon of steely-grey skies and more rain, the clouds parted a little bit to put some color in the gloaming as the sun set.
Artemis herself seemed to grow brighter and brighter as the sky turned to black. Much brighter and taller than the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse, the rocket shone like a beacon into the night. It’s clearly visible from all over the Titusville-Cocoa area, especially on bridges or on roads that give a view up the rivers.
Saturn V’s were the same, brightly lit and easy to see from nearly everywhere around town. It was not only a working spacecraft, but also a symbol that never failed to catch the eye. And given that a lot of NASA workers and their associated contractors contributing to the project live here, Artemis is now what the brightly lit Apollo vehicles were: a reminder of what the mission was.
A closeup of the top of Artemis on her first night of WDR. (Best viewed enlarged…there are lots of cool little details to look at.)
The weather was quite iffy until the final hour before liftoff — in fact, there was a tornado warning nearby with heavy rain to start the morning. The skies dried and clouds lifted just enough for Falcon 9 to thread through them and head to space.
SpaceX Falcon 9 / Transporter 4 Launch, April 1 2022
As you might guess, photography conditions were not ideal, with flat, dull light, but this photo came out decently enough. Not long after liftoff, more rain came into the area, albeit with less lightning, thunder and high winds.
Later that evening, I was able to see SLC-40 from the sea as the sun was about to set. Again, serendipity gave us a break in the clouds and we were able to see the sun peaking through as it fell towards the horizon. The pad was busy as SpaceX workers began to recycle it post-launch, and it was lit brightly into the night as they continued their tasks.
One of the best (if not the best) places to see a launch on the Space Coast is from Playalinda Beach on the Canaveral National Seashore. From the first beachside parking lot to the launch pad is only four miles, and generally, one can walk at least another quarter-mile closer on the shoreline for an even better view.
It’s one mile down the beach to the property line between CCNS and Kennedy Space Center, but lately, there have been Park volunteers about 0.25 to 0.5 miles down the beach stopping anyone from walking all the way to the fence. That’s understandable, given security and safety concerns, and the place that they’ve drawn the line in the sand (nearly literally) is plenty close to get great views and awesome sounds of the rocket at it leaves the pad.
Uncrewed Launches Only
One important thing to note is that Playalinda is closed for crewed launches, for obvious reasons. In the event of an emergency requiring activation of the Launch Escape System, the crew could land anywhere nearby, and Playalinda is definitely nearby. That’s a a safety issue on many levels, and it’s simply easier to close the beach than take the risks.
Uncrewed or not, it’s also safe to assume that any launch from LC-39B (the Artemis launch pad) will also result in a beach closure. At 2.5 miles from the first parking area, it is well within the safety zone for people on or off KSC and Artemis launches will result in a closure. Please note that is not an official statement, but I say that based on experiences from previous launches from LC-39B.
Google Maps view of the Playalinda Beach / LC-39A and LC-39B complex area.
Another thing to remember is that as part of the National Park System, an entrance fee is collected unless you have an annual US Parks Pass. Today, in 2022, that fee is $20 per car. Cash and credit cards are accepted at the gate.
Walk South Down The Beach
Area 1 is the place to go, if there is parking. If not, park at the lowest numbered Area you can find a spot and then walk down the beach towards Area 1. You will see a lot of people, both on the beach and on the boardwalks that go over the dunes. Generally, there are volunteers that stop people from going all the way down to the fence marking the start of Kennedy Space Center property, for safety reasons.
Note: Area 13 is clothing optional, and if you are going with kids, you may want to skip that place. Remember that what is seen cannot be unseen.
Professional Media Will Be There
The boardwalks are especially popular with launch photographers, and a lot of them are professionals or freelancers who are there to photograph the launch for various news outlets. They are a friendly bunch, but keep in mind that they are working so when it’s close to launch time they’re best left alone.
Afterwards, they’ll again be happy to talk to most anyone, and maybe even give you a peek at what they’ve shot.
The Launch View and Sounds
Look down the beach line and slightly inland and you should be able to see the rocket and the launch tower. Cell phone service at Playalinda is very spotty, so keep an eye on your watch or phone for the expected launch time to come. That will happen without much warning, but when it happens it will be unmistakable.
It takes a 15-20 seconds for the sound to travel from the launch pad to viewers — about five seconds a mile — so you will see the rocket before you hear it. When you do hear it, it will be loud, like close thunder. A Falcon 9 is a powerful rocket, but it is not an earth-shaker like a Saturn V was…those could shake the ground and were deafening. A Falcon 9 is more like a storm, but it is definitely a loud sound.
Here’s a video I made with a GoPro of a Playalinda launch. The rocket is louder than you hear and seems to be a little closer than the video shows. Still, it shows what the sights and sounds are pretty accurately:
On a clear day, you will be able to see all the way up to staging, when the first stage is done and separates from the rocket. On a really clear day you’ll be able to watch the second stage for some time. Keep in mind it is only about an eight minute trip to orbit, and that the rocket is travelling away from you and quickly going thousands of miles an hour. (Orbital speed is 17,500 miles per hour.) It is still an incredible sight and one that you likely won’t forget for a very long time.
One of the many great things to do on a visit to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center is to take a close look at some of the artifacts on display. Atlantis herself, of course, is a star attraction, but there are a lot of other things that are not as flashy as an entire Space Shuttle Orbiter but are incredibly interesting in their own right: for example, one of Atlantis’s hatches.
Note that the instructions are both right-side-up and upside down. After all, in orbit, there really is no “up” or “down” and that in mind, the instructions were to be easily read in any orientation.
Other things is the “Unlocked” indicator on the handle. This is a door that’s not made to be casually opened, and the bright red indicator makes it clear that’s possible in its current configuration.
Finally, the hatch locking mechanisms are lightweight, yet incredibly strong and durable.
All in all, this is a fine piece of engineering that one might overlook if they don’t take the time to give it a good look.
Here’s a story in the Huntsville (Alabama) Times from 1958 talking about my grandfather and my uncle and their jobs with the space program. V.L. Pinson, my grandfather, was a senior engineer and manager with the Army Ballistic Missile Agency, which was later merged into NASA in 1960.
George Pinson, my uncle, joined Boeing shortly after this article was written, and during his time there, he was an engineer, director and senior manager. When he retired, he had over 300 patents, some of which can be found here. One of the main projects he worked on was the Saturn V S-IC first stage, as well as military rocketry systems.
They were both very intelligent men, and literal rocket scientists who taught me a great deal — not the least of which was how to learn and how to go about solving problems.
Ever wondered what the inside of NASA’s Transporter Crawler looks like?
In 2014, I was part of a NASA Social event, and as part of the “insider” tour we got to go inside and look around in the Crawler that was used for Apollo and the Space Shuttle, and is now used for Artemis.
The treads of a NASA Transporter-CrawlerA Transporter-Crawler powering a Saturn VThe huge size of the Transporter-Crawler relative to a personTransporter-Crawler 2 has an odometer, but I could not work out the units.A wider view of a Transporter Crawler with a person beneath itThe Transporter-Crawler has a steering wheel.Some of the computer monitoring of the Transporter Crawler.Part of the engine room. The diesel engines were HUGEThe driver’s seat of a Transporter-CrawlerMore of the computer controls for a Transporter-Crawler
United Launch Alliance launched the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-T advanced weather satellite for the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at 4:28pm local time on an Atlas V 541 from Space Launch Complex (SLC)-41 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS).
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rises in the sky, carrying NOAA’s GOES-T weather observation satellite on March 1, 2022
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 3, 2022 from LC-39A. The Starlink 4-9 mission lofted 47 Starlink broadband satellites to orbit.
SpaceX Falcon 9 / Starlink 4-9 Liftoff, as seen from the Bennett Causeway in Cape Canaveral. Photo made with a 500mm lens and was cropped significantly.
Lucy launched at 5:34 a.m. EDT on Oct. 16, 2021, on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida
The LUCY launch as seen from the Indian River in Titusville, Florida on October 16, 2021
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