Hey TFP, let's watch a rocket launch ...

So I stood outside freezing my tush off and watched the rocket rise up through some thin bands of clouds over the southeastern horizon until it disappeared. And it was pretty damned cool.

I lacked the equipment to properly capture the visuals, but fortunately some other folks in the region did a decent job of it for everyone to enjoy.

This one is my favorite:



Nice work, Jeffrey Stone!

 

We had the live feed going, and left the house at about three minutes 'til launch. Unfortunately, it was cloudy as fuck, and I didn't realize how high the tree line on our street is. It's been agreed that the next time something cool happens, we're going out to @Lordeden 's parents' house, since they live out in the country, on top of a hill.

I was bummed we couldn't see anything, but I watched a replay of the launch when we got back inside. Chills, man. Chills.

 

Found this one on flickr. It was taken in Franktown, Virginia, about 40 miles from the launch site.

Photo credit to Richard Hatch:

 

Nice images, friends. Thanks.

 

The best part of Minotaur launches is having new people who haven't seen one there, and when they get disappointed at first stage burnout, tell them "keep watching, wait for it ..." and seeing the second stage ignite.

 

Yup—I didn't see much detail, but I definitely saw that.