The chaotic dance of life with rocket gazing #DeltaIV #Heavy #NROL37

First of all, June 11th, Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

On Thursday afternoon I spent a few hours with friends waiting on the NASA Causeway patiently in our car, but we knew the weather was not going to clear up in the long launch window. Oh well, we had a pre-scrub scrub to head home (we would have seen it from home at the end of the window if the weather magically cleared). The launch was pushed to Saturday, which meant no up close launch viewing, but a new possible angle. We were en route to a very chaotic day. First we dropped off Teddy at his 2nd home for our vacation travels and then we headed to Jen's afternoon ballet recital in Titusville. We stopped for a late Mexican food lunch and were able to watch the launch from the riverfront before heading to her show. With the far distance to the launchpad, we didn't get the glorious show we previously saw from the CCAFS Skid Strip for the Orion EFT-1 launch, but the rumble was still nice and loud. It was overcast so the show ended pretty quickly.

Scrub day at CCAFS. I took this photo with a jumbo lens from the NASA Causeway in the morning of the first launch attempt (June 9th).

A hockey player's salut for Memorial Day Weekend launch of #Thaicom8 by #SpaceX

Tournament Weekend! Since moving to Florida I have competed in the Memorial Day [Weekend] tournament at the Space Coast Iceplex. I left home a little early to make sure I wasn't driving at the beginning of the +SpaceX launch window. I watched patiently on the webcast and found the rocket right on target to the North so I gave it a hockey player salut since I knew my photo quality was going to be low anyway. I then watched the webcast as SpaceX landed for the third time in a row on their barge out in the Atlantic Ocean!

Here's to you rocket! Tweet text for these two photos: Hockey player salute to #SpaceX #THAICOM8 launch from @SCIceplex Memorial Day Tournament! Great work @SpaceX!

That evening was probably our worse game because of fierce competition, but I did set up a goal in the final minutes.

The official stats:

May 27	Falcon 9   •  Thaicom 8
Launch time: 2139 GMT (5:39 p.m. EDT) Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the Thaicom 8 communications satellite. Thaicom 8 will provide Ku-band broadcast and data services to Thailand, Southeast Asia, India and Africa. Moved forward from June. Scrubbed on May 26. Read our full story. [May 27]

Space!

Ryan

SpaceX picturesque sunset launch of #SES9

The +SpaceX launch of #SES9 was delayed and scrubbed several times as the SpaceX teamed worked hard to cool the liquid propellant to maximize performance of the rocket. They also were unlucky with a boat in the "Danga Zone" on one of their attempts. Luckily for us, we were out of town or indoors for two of their attempts.

This photo composite was taken with 2-sec bursts (too bright for longer exposures).

#OA4 Cygnus scrubs and launch weekend with Rafi visiting Atlantis! #RNK

As VIP guests, Jen and I were able to take Rafi to visit Atlantis for the first time before the United Launch Alliance launch attempt of Orbital ATK's Cygnus OA4 mission to the ISS on an Atlas V. Thank you to +Carl Carruthers and +NanoRacks! Jen and I were busy posing Rafi in silly ways +Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex :-) 

Rafi's first visit to Atlantis!

Live from #LSA5, it's a rocket launch! SpaceX launches #CRS6 on 2nd attempt.

Another successful launch to the +International Space Station for +SpaceX! I was able to join +NanoRacks for the VIP watching on the first attempt, but unfortunately, like each CRS before this one, it was scrubbed. I was happy to see Chris Lewicki, a fellow Board member of +Yuri's Night and his team from +Planetary Resources. The 2nd attempt went off perfectly as the weather was more favorable. I had a great view with other attendees at the 5th International Workshop on Lunar Surface Applications on Cocoa Beach.

+Chris Lewicki hanging out at OSB II before the launch waiting for +Planetary Resources Arkyd 3 payload. Unfortunately the first attempt was a scrub.

There she goes! Everyone was looking a bit too far to the right, but found it pretty quickly as she rose over the horizon.

Watching the launch with attendees at the 5th International Workshop on Lunar Surface Applications in Cocoa Beach. What a great (and lucky) add on for a conference!

The long view. We were able to watch the rocket all the way to MECO of the first stage. I spent the next ~5 minutes on the beach trying to spot the first stage relighting, but it snuck by. It did come close to landing on the SpaceX barge!

The official stats:

April 14	Falcon 9   •  SpaceX CRS 6
Launch time: 2010:41 GMT (4:10:41 p.m. EDT) Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the eighth Dragon spacecraft on the sixth operational cargo delivery mission to the International Space Station. The flight is being conducted under the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. Delayed from Dec. 5, Feb. 4, April 8 and April 10. Scrubbed on April 13. Read our full story. [April 14]

Space!

Ryan

My best pics of #DSCOVR launch. 3rd time's a charm for @SpaceX #Falcon9

We experienced a beautiful +SpaceX launch of DSCOVR as the sun set behind us. It was my third trip to the ITL Causeway, 2nd for +Jen Kobrick (and #BabyK) and +Caley Burke. This was the 32nd launch since we moved to Florida (Sept 2012). The rocket jumped off the pad, gave a booming crackle, and had a long flight in perfect view on a clear evening. The most amazing part was seeing the first stage re-light just above the Delta IV launchpad in the far distance as SpaceX was practicing their landing maneuver out in open water, a critical step in rocket reusability (mostly to reuse the 9 engines). The seas were rough, so they didn't attempt to land on the autonomous spaceport drone ship (barge) newly named "Just Read the Instructions" as a sci-fi tribute. As per usual, I like to retell the story with photos:

Feb 8 - Scrub #1 - The plan: a romantic kiss on date night with the launch behind us.  But a squishy nose scrub kiss is just as good.

Lucky 7. Florida Tech's #SABOL (#ISSRC payload) off to #ISS on #CRS5. Go #Dragon!

+Florida Institute of Technology's payload SABOL, Self-Assembly in Biology and the Origin of Life (A study into Alzheimer’s), was +Space Florida's 7th sponsored payload winner from the International Space Station Research Competition, flying with +NanoRacks launched on +SpaceX's Falcon 9 inside the Dragon capsule. The experience is best retold in photos and videos. This program has been the most rewarding experience I have had at Space Florida with the opportunity to be a tangent-team member to 7 ISS payloads, and as one team politely commented, their shepherd.

"Congratulations on shepherding us into orbit!"

 To learn more about the ISSRC winning teams please visit: http://www.spaceflorida.gov/iss-research-competition/issrc-teams

The ISSRC was run by Space Florida and designed to inspire innovation as well as provide unique research opportunities and access to the ISS.

4 @SpaceFlorida #ISSRC winners launched payloads to the ISS on the #CRS4 mission

From Space Florida's International Space Station Research Competition (ISSRC), 4 of the 7 winners launched to space on +SpaceX's Falcon 9 inside the Dragon capsule on the Commercial Resupply Services Mission 4 (CRS-4). The ISSRC flights were arranged in partnership with +NanoRacks. Photo highlights below include the final testing (9/16) and handover (9/17) of SyNRGE^3; a press conference for teams to present their work to the media (9/18) and a reception with +Made In Space (9/19), both of which I organized; and then the launch viewing attempts (one scrub 9/20 and then the launch 9/21). The video I shot with my iPhone is at the end of the post. What a great experience! Sleep was a luxury that I didn't have during the week, but it was a thrill to help launch science to the ISS. In the middle of this madness, I also ran an Egg-Drop activity for kids at +NASA Kennedy Space Center's Visitor Complex for the NASA Family Education Night. To learn more about the ISSRC winning teams please visit: http://www.spaceflorida.gov/iss-research-competition/issrc-teams

The second of three launches in the program.

Gary and Adam triple test everything before flight of SyNRGE^3 from +Limerick Institute of Technology and +CSS-Dynamac in the Space Life Sciences Lab in Exploration Park.

#AFSPC4 scrub on #Delta4, my first of many missed launches since moving to Florida

It was bound to happen, but after 23 months of living in Florida, I was out of town for a launch. The AFSPC 4 launch on the Delta 4 would have been my 22nd launch since moving to Florida Sept. 2012. I only attended one of the four scrubs on July 24th (I was hoping to watch it 7/23 while sailing), and was out of town for the other two scrubs. This has only happened to me twice before. The first mission where I witnessed a scrub (actually two) and missed the launch was STS-127 when +NASA invited the Student Ambassador's to a special conference and launch viewing opportunity. I did drive back one-week later from Cleveland (I was at NASA Glenn Research Center for my PhD research that summer) hoping to see STS-127, but it was scrubbed again. Luckily we did see the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter launch to the Moon (18 June 2009) with the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS)! The second near-miss was for the Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) mission when I came for my interview with Space Florida and it scrubbed. We didn't move down to Florida from Cambridge until after the launch (September). For the record, my differentiation between a scrub and a delay is if they fuel the rocket. If it's fueled and doesn't fly, it's a scrub!

Rockets in mirror are closer than they appear. We slowly watched a blue sky over the rocket get covered by lightning storms in the area and heavy cloud coverage.

The fact that Florida is launching nearly one rocket per month is still a great pace and as activity increases on the space coast, I look forward to the future where I'm missing several launches per month. I believe we can achieve the frequency of one orbital launch per week complemented by suborbital flights even more frequent than that. I won't predict when that happens, because we all know that it's "only two years away".

Too late... clouds are overhead of the rocket and then launch window officially closed. If the launch window was longer (or opened earlier), they may have been able to launch that evening.

For those keeping score on launches, scrubs and delays, here's Spaceflightnow.com's summary of this mission. Previous launch information can be viewed on their extremely useful Launch Log.

July 28	Delta 4  •  AFSPC 4
Launch time: 2328 GMT (7:28 p.m. EDT) Launch site: SLC-37B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida A United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket launched the AFSPC 4 mission for the U.S. Air Force. The rocket flew in the Medium+ (4,2) configuration with two solid rocket boosters. The payloads included two satellites for the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program. Delayed from February. Moved forward from December. Scrubbed on July 23, July 24, July 25 and July 26. See our Mission Status Center. [July 28]

Space!

Ryan

SpaceX CRS-3 Mission with Space Florida ISSRC Winners Project MERCCURI and HEART FLIES

Space Florida ran an ISS Research Competition (ISSRC) and 2 of the 7 winners LAUNCHED to the ISS on the +SpaceX / +NASA CRS-3 Mission on a Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket inside the Dragon capsule. Space Florida paid for the flights with a special competition agreement with +NanoRacks. Photos are from payload integration of Project MERCCURI, the launchpad, the T-1 hour scrub, and then finally launch day on April 18th for Project MERCCURI and HEART FLIES! It was an honor to support this competition and help send science to the ISS. Looking ahead, I can't wait for CRS-4 and CRS-5 to send up the remaining 5 teams!

The ISSRC Logo

Project MERCCURI payload prep by +Carl Carruthers from NanoRacks in the Space Life Sciences Lab (SLSL) being expertly guided by Space Florida's Tony Gannon

Project MERCCURI microbes on dry ice at the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) at +NASA's Kennedy Space Center 

The Edge Lady inspects Project MERCCURI making sure the astronauts won't cut themselves on the hardware

The Project MERCCURI microbes with sharp edges touched up

The payloads are safe behind Cold Stowage doors

Tony and I hosted a reception with NanoRacks for the winners at Bacchae Wine Bar in Cape Canaveral

Jen and I in front of SpaceX's Launch Complex 40

Project MERCCURI and HEART FLIES in front of their payloads that are sitting on top of the rocket, unfortunately the launch was scrubbed with 1-hour left on the clock (April 14)

Maybe one day I'll get to ride a rocket to the ISS

Darlene (Project MERCCURI), Mila (HEART FLIES) and I in the KSC Press Site. They both had a bunch of interviews before the actual launch

Finally! Up up and away!

A Photoshop version to show the rocket and dark smoke. It was a cloudy day and the contrast wasn't great. Project MERCCURI, NanoRacks and Space Florida hung out together at OSB-II to watch the launch

There she goes, on her way to the ISS

Project MERCCURI is VERY happy about the launch FINALLY going!

About the ISSRC (from the press release I helped write)

The Space Florida ISS Research Competition was designed to inspire innovation as well as provide unique research opportunities and access to the ISS. Winners of the Space Florida ISS Research Competition were selected by an independent panel of 14 judges representing a variety of NASA centers, renowned national academic institutions, payload developers and commercial companies with interest in microgravity research. Judges reviewed proposals based on their potential for developing ‘breakthroughs’ in basic research on materials, biology and the environment, as well as fostering a greater understanding of complex drugs and remedies to improve life on Earth. The full press release is available HERE.

About Project MERCCURI

University of California-Davis, SCISTARTER.com and ScienceCheerleader.com

The Project MERCCURI team (Microbial Ecology Research Combining Citizen & University Researchers) has been gathering microbial samples at a variety of public venues around the country including football and basketball games, as well as sites of historic interest. Microbes from those swab samples will be delivered to the ISS and the growth/behavior of these microbes will be compared with duplicate cultures in Earth-based labs. Additionally, crewmembers will take swap samples on the ISS, which will be analyzed to understand the microbial community present on Station. Leading scientists on this project include Dr. +Jonathan Eisen, Dr. +David Coil, Dr. Jenna Lang, Mr. +Russell Neches, Ms. Wendy Brown, Ms. +Darlene Cavalier and Mr. Mark Severance.

About HEART FLIES

Ohio State University, Stanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute and NASA Ames Research Center

The HEART FLIES (Heart Effect Analysis Research Team conducting Fly Investigations and Experiments in Spaceflight) payload will be studying the effects of spaceflight on the function, morphology and gene expression in fruit fly hearts. These results are part of an effort to understand the cardiovascular effects of spaceflight on humans and provide improved countermeasures and treatments for future astronauts. The research is being led by Dr. Peter H. Lee, Dr. Sharmila Bhattacharya, Dr. Rolf Bodmer and Dr. Karen OIorr.

April 18

Falcon 9  •  SpaceX CRS 3

Launch time: 1925:22 GMT (3:25:22 p.m. EDT) Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the fifth Dragon spacecraft on the third operational cargo delivery mission to the International Space Station. The flight is being conducted under the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. Delayed from April 6, Sept. 30, Nov. 11, Dec. 9, Jan. 15, Feb. 11, Feb. 22, March 1, March 16 and March 30. Scrubbed on April 14. See ourMission Status Center. [April 18]

Space!

Ryan