The late night integrated by parts photo adventure that is chasing rocket launches #AsiaSat6 #Falcon9 #SpaceX

Once again you can't go wrong with a night launch from anywhere in Cape Canaveral. Sometimes being further away from the pad is better for capturing a time elapsed rocket lighting a black sky with a fire contrail and eerie pumpkin glowing clouds. The best part is that you're not going to capture a nice solo shot of the rocket, so you can set the camera up, hit the trigger (I have a simple photo capture trigger that I can lock on), and sit back and watch the launch. Or in my case grab an iPhone for that extra video memory of "you were there, watching at 1am". It was truly an awesome launch, especially after missing the last three, proving that I may have a launch watching addiction. The long rocket flame streaking from behind the clouds was spectacular! Since I was taking a time elapsed photo, I tried to capture that on video (YouTube video below), but it's not capable of that resolution with the absolute brightness. I wasn't sure if the launch would get delayed in the super long launch window just like the previous +SpaceX launch, but Teddy barked into the night at T-5 to tell everyone is was "rocket-time". Interesting fact, dogs can hear the intense sound wave before humans, so you can hear Teddy bark 82 seconds into the flight before the loud rumble even begins (I stopped filming before that hit as Teddy got really nervous so I put the toys away to make sure he was alright). We ran to the other side of the condo for the finale, but I couldn't see the rocket at that point. I think we heard and felt the rumble for 4-5 minutes after launch. I was super excited from the rush of the launch, so I uploaded some photos right away before getting to bed finally!

AsiaSat 6 going for a late night adventure on top of a SpaceX Falcon 9. This photo is a composite of 5 photos, each 30 seconds long, but the duration of view was under 2 minutes.

AsiaSat 6 on a Falcon 9 launched by SpaceX. The 5 photos used in the composite above. The late night integrated by parts photo adventure that is chasing rocket launches.

The official stats:

Sept. 7	Falcon 9  •  AsiaSat 6
Launch time: 0500 GMT (1:00 a.m. EDT) Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the AsiaSat 6 communications satellite. AsiaSat 6 will support video broadcasting and broadband networks for customers in Asia, Australia, India and the Pacific islands. Delayed from May, Aug. 26, Aug. 27 and Sept. 6. See our Mission Status Center. [Sept. 7]

Space!

Ryan

Red sky at morn, sailors be warn. Missed the #SpaceX #AsiaSat8 launch, but the rumble woke me up!

Strike three. That's three missed launches in a row, but at least the rumble from the rocket woke me up at 4am so I experienced part of the launch and acknowledge that it actually did happen. I set my alarm for the beginning of the launch window at 1:25am and was up in time to test my camera (see image below). I was dazed and following updates on Twitter tagged with #SpaceX and #AsiaSat8, but then the time came and went and the launch was aborted at T-12 seconds! I saw tweets that the media was being escorted off base and to me that indicated at least a 30-min delay before another attempt could be made. I wasn't willing to stay up all night with an unknown launch window, so I decided to call it a night. Three launches in a week is pretty fantastic even if I missed watching them all!

Red sky at night is usually sailor's delight, but not today. I guess since it was 1:20am that "red sky at morn, sailors be warn" is more appropriate. This moment was captured leading up to the T-12 seconds abort of +SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket waiting to launch AsiaSat 8. It did finally go at 4am.

Most importantly on this date, is that it's Jen and I's 2nd wedding anniversary! We had a rover land on Mars for our wedding party post-reception (5 August 2012 - Mars Science Laboratory / Curiosity) and now a rocket launch on year 2! We missed the landing as well in 2012, because there's not much reception at Yellowstone National Park!

The stats (to be updated in past-tense later):

Aug. 5	Falcon 9  •  AsiaSat 8
Launch window: 0525-0811 GMT (1:25-4:11 a.m. EDT) Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the AsiaSat 8 communications satellite. AsiaSat 8 will support direct broadcasting, private networks and broadband connectivity for customers in China, India, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Delayed from April, May, June and Aug. 4. [Aug. 3]

Space!

Ryan