UPDATE: lAUNCH TIME HAS BEEN SET FOR 8:15. lOOK IN THE SOUTHEAST SKY RIGHT ABOVE THE HORIZON.
The launch of a Minotaur I rocket for the U.S. Air Force ORS-3 mission is scheduled to occur on Tuesday night, with a planned launch window of 7:30 – 9:15 pm EST.
NASA and the U.S. military will launch a record payload of 29 satellites from a Virginia spaceport Tuesday night on a mission that could create a spectacular sight for skywatchers along the U.S. East Coast, weather permitting.
The U.S. Air Force launch will send an Orbital Sciences Minotaur 1 rocket into orbit from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility and Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Va., sometime during a two-hour launch window that opens Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. EST.
The nighttime launch could light up the sky for millions of observers along a wide swath of the Eastern Seaboard, and could be visible from northeastern Canada and Maine to Florida, and from as far inland as Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky, depending on local weather conditions, according to NASA and Orbital Sciences visibility maps.
I could see the last one right from my front yard. It was sort of to the left of the constellation Orion. I don’t live in a light free area. What I could see was the reddish glow that was definitely as large to my eye at Venus. I plan on getting out there tonight when they narrow the time down some. It was VERY neat to watch. It only lasted about 30 seconds before it sped on off over the horizon.
