4 ms·
It's open ocean straight south of Vandenberg AFB all the way to Antarctica. This geographic quirk makes it a safer location to put satellites into polar orbit
by snerbles 8y ago
It's open ocean straight south of Vandenberg AFB all the way to Antarctica. This geographic quirk makes it a safer location to put satellites into polar orbit - Earth-observing sats launched out of Cape Canaveral have to take a "dog-leg" course correction to avoid overflying populated areas to the south, which uses up fuel and reduces available payload.
It's also the site for regular ICBM test launches, which are aimed southwest at the Kwajalein Atoll. Missile launches aren't quite as dramatic as those bound for orbit - a Minuteman III tends to be over the horizon in under a minute.
- jhayward 8y ago> Missile launches aren't quite as dramatic The video from the last test of Trident D5, launched from offshore, was unreal. Someone happened to catch it with a good lens from a fairly dark hilltop, and then spacecraft experts annotated the video to point out what was going on. You could see the bus rotating and ejecting warheads (or decoys) all the way through its inventory. Amazing. I'm told by family that it's even more amazing to see the RVs re-entering overhead if you are lucky enough to be downrange during a test.
- snerbles 8y agoMaybe it's just my personal biases - the rumble of a Minuteman compared to a Delta or Atlas seemed rather abbreviated, and the launches themselves were often obscured in inclement weather. An SLBM popping out of the water would be rather surreal to behold, for sure. My favorite launch memory was of a Delta II night launch at SLC-2, from an elevated position on north base. The flame seemed to light up the horizon, and when the sound hit there was a power to that thunder that really must be witnessed firsthand to fully appreciate.
- chrononaut 8y agoRelated, someone submitted a binaural recording of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch to SmarterEveryDay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImoQqNyRL8Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImoQqNyRL8Y Conveys your sentiment regarding how it really sounds to be there. It unfortunately cannot convey the actual feeling of being there, and the impact of the launch on the body.
- greglindahl 8y agoThe Falcon Heavy double-landing was also pretty unique -- two triple sonic booms.
- telchar 8y agoI was there that day, it was pretty amazing.
- greglindahl 8y agoYep! I was in Jetty Park so I'd be close to the landing!
- iloveluce 8y agoHave a link to that video?
- jessriedel 8y agoMaybe this? https://www.space.com/31122-trident-missile-test-photos-video.html https://www.space.com/31122-trident-missile-test-photos-vide...
- jhayward 8y agoI wasn't able to locate it in a few minutes of searching, sorry. Youtube's search pollution problem for popular topics is really bad. Edit: Here's an article[1] that seems to have the video embedded, with a link to the annotation. [1] https://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/video-analysis-of-trident-missile-test-over-california-1741723854 https://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/video-analysis-of-trident-...
- ridgeguy 8y agoIt might be here [1]. Around 5:00 minutes, the vehicle seems to shed smaller objects. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc0_wZat4nI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc0_wZat4nI
- 24gttghh 8y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DASO_25_Video_(Cleared_for_Release)_VP8_001_Trident_II_UGM_133A_Test_Launch_02_June_2014.webm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DASO_25_Video_(Cleared_fo...
- trhway 8y agoRVs re-entry on Russian testing range - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8csh1_8Sh4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8csh1_8Sh4
- tiredwired 8y agoSome of those missile launches look like they are flying directly over the SF Bay area.