Sharing My First Launch

Cross-posted at Cosmo.Sphere

One of the highlights of my trip to Florida has been viewing the launch of a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station very early this morning.  I went to bed right after dinner because I figured I probably wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep afterwards.

My phone alarm went off promptly at fifteen minutes past the hour.  Even knowing how early it was, I sprung out of bed, hastily put on my jeans and two shirts (it’s pretty windy at the shore), and slipped on my sandals.  By the time I made it to the salt-and-pepper sands of Cocoa Beach, there were already several families and other bystanders waiting.

The Delta II rocket was unmistakeable even from approximately ten miles away.  It was brightly illuminated and standing tall.  Everyone waited.  A few people took pictures with their flash cameras, trying to resolve the far-off image of the Delta II on the pad – much to my own irritation.

There is much less light pollution here and the air is crisper than what I’m used to in Houston.  As a result, there was a panorama of stars spread above my head.  The Big Dipper itself seemed to be pointing right at the rocket, as if to beckon it forth.  The Delta II was carrying a new Block 2R GPS satellite intended to bolster the existing constellation.

Finally, the northern sky lit up like the dawn.  I immediately cheered, knowing the event had begun.  It was only later that I realized I was the only one who cried out… but maybe that’s just because of the groggy hour.  The rocket swiftly rose from the pad and began arcing out over the Atlantic.

The column of fire was intensely real in a manner that I find difficult to put into words.  A few moments later, the sound of the launch completed its journey across the water and roared in our ears.  That got everyone’s attention!

A six-pointed flare then rewarded our reverence.  The solid rocket boosters had done their job and been expended.  For the next few minutes, you could see the boosters fall towards the horizon by the residual heat on their nozzles, fading in and out of view as they tumbled.

The Delta II itself continued on skyward.  Before long, it was little more than a fast-moving point of light.  Those of us that lingered had the fortune of seeing one last hard burn and, then, the rocket was indistinguishable from the field of stars.

THIS is why I became a rocket scientist!