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Early birds can see the Dragon launch...

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NASA Greenlights SpaceX ISS Visit for May 19

The launch of a SpaceX Dragon capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida is scheduled for 4:55 a.m. ET, a SpaceX spokesperson said. NASA Television will start broadcasting the event at 3:30 a.m., she added.

Clear skies on Friday night should mean that even on the FL west coast we should be able to see the rocket engines....if you care to be up at 4.55am. :smile:
 
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Simple orbital mechanics, as well as the limited delta-V of the dragon mandate the early launch. I am planning on getting up early to watch the webcast (I actually was a SpaceX fan first, and only discovered Tesla because I was following SpaceX)
 
Local pic:

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I had the opportunity to sit on the bleachers for the launch of a rocket that deployed an ASC satellite (renamed to Spacenet upon successful deployment). Also was able to go into the control room observation area.

There is nothing like seeing a launch up close and personal. Bucket list - check.
 
Beautiful shots, thank you!

Visiting FL in September, hopefully we can witness an (unplanned) launch, must be amazing to see in real life!

Hi Zorba,

Let me be the first to welcome you to the Sunshine state. :biggrin:

This is the third time my wife and I have made plans to witness this historic launch as you know there were prior postponments. We just happened to be at the Wallops Island NASA museum in Maryland on May 19th when the engine valve had an over-pressure.

I think that a night time launch is more dramatic especially when you are viewing at a distance. (We also saw a Space Shuttle launch during an August afternoon in Florida. It was very exciting, but not exactly a comfort-filled experience. :wink: )

For this launch it was in the low 70's and we only had to deal with the mosquitoes. I figure we were about 7 miles away from launch pad #40. We were surprised by both how bright the sight was and how loud the sound was especially as the rocket went supersonic.

Larry
 

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I watched a shuttle go up once.

No home or theater sound system will be able to faithfully recreate the raw sounds from those types of engines.
Also being part of a crowd witnessing a launch is somewhat of a group experience.