SpaceX Transporter-7 launching at midnight tonight from California
After repeated delays, the SpaceX Transport-7 mission will liftoff no earlier than 11:47 p.m. PDT tonight, April 13, 2023, (6:47 UTC on April 14) from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
A cargo of dozens of small spacecraft will share the ride aboard a trusty Falcon 9 lift vehicle. According to SpaceX:
Transporter-7 is SpaceX’s seventh dedicated smallsat rideshare mission. There will be 51 payloads on this flight, including CubeSats, MicroSats, hosted payloads, and orbital transfer vehicles carrying spacecraft to be deployed at a later time.
The Falcon 9 will return to Vandenberg after delivering its payload to orbit. A stream of the launch will start about 10 minutes before launch.
Watch the stream here or on the player above.
Midnight launch visible for 300 miles or more
If the weather over the Central Coast cooperates, the midnight launch could be visible for more than 300 miles (480 km) from the launch site. So says the Space Archive – which offers a detailed explanation – but they caution the stars must align for good long-distance viewing:
The visibility of rockets and missiles launched from Vandenberg AFB varies greatly. Some launches are difficult to see from relatively short distances while others are visible for several hundred miles. There are four primary factors affecting visibility: vehicle trajectory, lighting conditions, launch vehicle type (and) atmospheric transparency.
As of now, clear but windy skies are predicted for Vandenberg at launch time.
Cities within the predicted radius are San Francisco, Sacramento, Fresno, Bakersfield, Reno, Los Angeles, San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico. Las Vegas is just outside the radius, but observers there could get lucky! Back in 2018, Lady Luck let people as far north as Humboldt County get a peak. That’s a 450-mile (725-km) long-shot.
Bottom line: A midnight launch of a SpaceX rocket on April 13, 2023, from California could be visible from San Francisco to Los Angeles and beyond.
The post Midnight launch could be visible from SF to LA and beyond first appeared on EarthSky.
from EarthSky https://ift.tt/OfLPAj5
SpaceX Transporter-7 launching at midnight tonight from California
After repeated delays, the SpaceX Transport-7 mission will liftoff no earlier than 11:47 p.m. PDT tonight, April 13, 2023, (6:47 UTC on April 14) from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
A cargo of dozens of small spacecraft will share the ride aboard a trusty Falcon 9 lift vehicle. According to SpaceX:
Transporter-7 is SpaceX’s seventh dedicated smallsat rideshare mission. There will be 51 payloads on this flight, including CubeSats, MicroSats, hosted payloads, and orbital transfer vehicles carrying spacecraft to be deployed at a later time.
The Falcon 9 will return to Vandenberg after delivering its payload to orbit. A stream of the launch will start about 10 minutes before launch.
Watch the stream here or on the player above.
Midnight launch visible for 300 miles or more
If the weather over the Central Coast cooperates, the midnight launch could be visible for more than 300 miles (480 km) from the launch site. So says the Space Archive – which offers a detailed explanation – but they caution the stars must align for good long-distance viewing:
The visibility of rockets and missiles launched from Vandenberg AFB varies greatly. Some launches are difficult to see from relatively short distances while others are visible for several hundred miles. There are four primary factors affecting visibility: vehicle trajectory, lighting conditions, launch vehicle type (and) atmospheric transparency.
As of now, clear but windy skies are predicted for Vandenberg at launch time.
Cities within the predicted radius are San Francisco, Sacramento, Fresno, Bakersfield, Reno, Los Angeles, San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico. Las Vegas is just outside the radius, but observers there could get lucky! Back in 2018, Lady Luck let people as far north as Humboldt County get a peak. That’s a 450-mile (725-km) long-shot.
Bottom line: A midnight launch of a SpaceX rocket on April 13, 2023, from California could be visible from San Francisco to Los Angeles and beyond.
The post Midnight launch could be visible from SF to LA and beyond first appeared on EarthSky.
from EarthSky https://ift.tt/OfLPAj5
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