View Single Post
Old October 7th, 2018 #11
Ray Allan
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 15,170
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nikola Bijeliti View Post
I just watched the launch of SAOCOM 1A (Satélite Argentino de Observación COn Microondas, Spanish for Argentine Microwaves Observation Satellite), which was built by the Argentine Space Agency CONAE (Comisión Nacional de Actividades Espaciales).

I didn't have my camera with me, since I was watching from my front yard, which is a good distance from the launch site, so I didn't expect to see much, however, the launch was quite spectacular, especially compared to the two launches that I attended in person. This time I could see the first stage separation, boost-back, and watch the first stage return to the launch site. The first stage separation was actually more spectacular than what I saw on the official launch video. It created a large cloud which filled a large area of the sky. The launch was visible from as far away as Petaluma, Sacramento, and Lake Tahoe, California; western Nevada; Phoenix, Arizona; and northwest Mexico.
I saw it myself here in Nevada, and it was quite impressive. I didn't have a camera either, unfortunately. I was on the road on my way home from visiting a relative and my brother, who was driving, spotted it first and didn't know what the heck it was. It was to the south in the direction of VAFB, so almost immediately I knew what it was. It was visible for several minutes, and the first stage separation formed a big halo around the exhaust flare of the second stage until it disappeared from sight as it climbed to orbit. I don't think I saw the boost-back, being several hundred miles away. Really cool, first time I've seen that in real life.
__________________
"Military men are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy."

--Henry A. Kissinger, jewish politician and advisor