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Last Titan IV launch article - RF Cafe Forums
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| kpainter
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Post subject: Last Titan IV launch article
Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2005 7:21 pm
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Joined: Wed Aug 20, 2003
11:47 am
Posts: 84
Location: Santa Barbara,
CA |
Reading the link on the front page... I watched
yesterday's the launch of the last Titan IV from
the roof of our building (about 50 miles away).
It looked like the fire trail had to be about 1000
feet long. You could see the two booster rockets
separate and fall away. I was sad because
I was really hoping to see it from my backyard.
My house is only about 14 miles from the launch
pad. I guess the Titan IV's really rattle the windows
and I missed it
However, there is hope.
Supposedly the Delta IV Heavy are even bigger and
one of those is scheduled to go up next. I don't
know which of the 4 versions it is going to be.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_IV_rocket
http://mocc.vandenberg.af.mil/launchsched.asp?past=
Last month's night time launch of a Minuteman
III (Minotaur) was really spectacular.
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Kirt Blattenberger
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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2005 10:54 pm
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| Site Admin |
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Joined: Sun Aug 03, 2003
2:02 pm
Posts: 451
Location: Erie, PA
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Greetings kpainter: Yeah, rocket launches
are some of most awe-inspiring sights to watch.
I had a link in the Headlines today about the one
you write about being the last of the Titan IV launches.
On March 22, 1996, at 3:13:04 a.m. EST, my family
and I were fortunate enough to have a causeway pass
to Cape Canaveral to witness the Space ShuttleSTS-76
launch. We arrived at around 7:00 PM and brought
an alarm clock along to wake us up at around 2:00
AM. It was an absolutely perfectly clear night with
no wind, and the launch occurred exactly on time,
with not even a one second delay. The rumble
and noise was unimaginable, and the reflection of
the exhaust on the Banana River augmented the blinding
flash at ignition. It makes you proud to be an American
to witness such magnificant technology. But, alas,
it was all over almost as quickly as it began. At
about a mile away, it took around 5 seconds for
the sound to reach us. The shuttle accelerated astonishingly
quickly and was well off the launch pad by the time
the noise could be heard. Unlike the old
Saturn V heavy booster of the Apollo era, that seemed
to dwell forever at ignition and slowly lift off
the pad, the shuttles are more like Estes model
rockets. Even with binoculars, the craft was out
of sight (other than a dot) in moments. That's where
watching on TV is a plus. Still, I would not trade
the experience for a radar-guided, high-mag camera
view.
STS-76 Launch Video
http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/mis ... launch.mpg
_________________ - Kirt Blattenberger
RF Cafe Progenitor & Webmaster
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Posted 11/12/2012
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