Space Shuttle Launch Visible Along East Coast Wed. Night

[Matt Molnar]

Shuttle Discovery is scheduled to launch at 9:20 pm Wednesday evening, and the flight path will take her nearly parallel with the east coast. With clear skies forecast for Wed. night, she should be visible from the NY area around 7 or 8 minutes after lift off, in the southeast sky, low on the horizon. Discovery will be dropping her main fuel tank around 8 minutes in, 430 miles southeast of New York City, at an altitude of 65 miles while traveling nearly 18,000 mph.

[Gerard]

Thanks for the heads up. Nice.

[NYARTCCFAN]

I am going to rty and shoot a vid from my digital camera here in th Bay area. Hope it comes out well and I will post.

[MarkLawrence]

I saw the last night launch - that was awesome - I can't wait for this one!!!!

[flyboy 28]

Neat! Do they usually fly that track?

[SmAlbany]

Neat! Do they usually fly that track?

I'm certainly no expert, but I would guess no. I think that it depends on how high a latitude they want the orbit to cover. Otherwise, it would be a waste of energy.

[GrummanFan]

I was just in Orlando this past weekend, but was unable to extend my stay in order to see the launch. I might try to take a drive to somewhere on the south shore to see if I can catch a glimpse.

[Vidiot]

They've scrubbed the launch for tonight, but are shooting for an 8:54p launch tomorrow (Thurs) night.

[moose135]

That's great news - the weather is supposed to be much better Thursday night.

[Mateo]

This should be the path for every ISS mission, since the Space Station has an orbital inclination of something like 52° (so it can take launches from Baikonur in Kazakhstan). In order for the Shuttle to get an inclination that high, it has to launch pretty sharply to the NE. Does anyone know what magnitude it would be while just the main engines are running?

[Gerard]

[quote="GothamSpotter"]Shuttle Discovery is scheduled to launch at 9:20 pm Wednesday evening, and the flight path will take her nearly parallel with the east coast. With clear skies forecast for Wed. night, she should be visible from the NY area around 7 or 8 minutes after lift off, in the southeast sky, low on the horizon. Discovery will be dropping her main fuel tank around 8 minutes in, 430 miles southeast of New York City, at an altitude of 65 miles while traveling nearly 18,000 mph.

So i would guess anywhere near the beaches would be good.

[Gerard]

They've scrubbed the launch for tonight, but are shooting for an 8:54p launch tomorrow (Thurs) night.

Went to the NASA website and the earliest launch date would now be SUNDAY. They will know more tomorrow as they will
evaluate the gaseous hydrogen vent line that began leaking during the Wed countdown.

[Gerard]

7:43PM Sunday is now the projected launch time.

[Gerard]

7:43PM Sunday is now the projected launch time.

As of 11:50AM EST the mission is still a go. Looks like clouds though tonite.

[Matt Molnar]

Launch weather is now "100% go". Unfortunately the local satellite here shows the clouds here are almost gone but doesn't look like they'll out of here by 7:43. The northern edge of the cloud mass, which is moving southeast it seems, is just north of the city and LI. It might clear up in the next 90 mins, but it'll be awfully close.