Rocket Launch

One thing on my bucket list is to see a launch from Cape Canaveral. Sunday was to be the launch by SpaceX of the new Falcon 9 rocket into orbit. It is carrying The Deep Space Climate Observatory that is to monitor solar storms. This satellite was originally built in the 1990's to track climate change. After this project was cancelled the satellite was been sitting in storage ever since. The satellite is to be placed in orbit 1.5 million kilometers from home. Here is an Internet picture of the rocket waiting to blast off. We were not that close!!

SpaceX will attempt again to land the rocket booster on a barge in the Atlantic. Their last attempt didn't work out so well.

We headed out this morning with John and Judy on a beautiful sunny, calm day. Perfect for the launch. We arrived at Cape Canaveral and located the spot close to the Air Force base where we can watch. This is directly across the bay from The Kennedy Space Centre. There are even bleachers for people to sit on to watch. We ate our lunch there and then headed into Cocoa Beach to check out the beach as we had plenty of time to spare before the 6:12 launch.

 

After a walk on the beach we headed back to the Cape, stopping at a fish market first to pick up some fresh fish and shrimp!!

We arrived back at our viewing area and watched 5 cruise ships leaving the port behind us. The last one to leave was Disney. Lots of big horn blasts, music and cheers as they each left on their journey.

Lots of people starting arriving to watch the launch.

By 5:00 pm the bleachers were filled and the lawn was filled with lawn chairs and some pretty impressive cameras.

You can just see the rocket in the distance. Towards the left side of the picture are the two lighting towers with the rocket in the middle. This is the view from where we are sitting. We will be able to see the rocket blast off and we should be able to see the booster separate. The weather continues to be perfect. We wait for 3 more hours for the count down to begin.

 

6:10 arrives and we get the word. The launch has been scratched!!! I guess it is still on my bucket list.

What a disappointment. Not sure when or if we will get this chance again. So many variables, good weather, the 2 1/2 hour drive over, time of day for the launch, etc. etc. you never know. We thought today would be the time with all those variables in place. But there was a problem with the rocket and it had to be put off for another day. It may go tomorrow but the weather tomorrow is calling for rain. So we will not see it.

We stopped for dinner on our way home at an Italian restaurant in Lake Hamilton called Florindino's. Pretty darn good.

We were disappointed with not seeing the launch but it was a fun day in any event. Until next time - safe travels.

 

 

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