Space Events

When we were at the Kennedy Space Center, we heard a talk that mentioned that NASA has a website (http://spotthestation.nasa.gov/ ) where you can find out when the International Space Station is passing your location next. It gives all kinds of information to help you see it. There are currently 6 people on the ISS. It seemed appropriate to look at the station passing before the planned launch to resupply it, so we were out Tuesday morning and were easily able to see the station pass.

We were lucky enough to be in the area to see a SpaceX launch from Space Launch Comples-40 (SLC-40) which was just across from the campground. It is an unmanned launch to take supplies to the ISS including a laser instrument to measure Earth’s clouds, dust, smoke, and pollutants. SpaceX is a commercial contractor funded by former PayPal founder and Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk.

We were unlucky, however, in that the launch was scrubbed a minute before the launch. It was kind of fun standing out on the dock talking to lots of people from the campground while we waited for the launch. A couple of people had apps set up to monitor the launch so we found out when it was cancelled. We hope to see it from our next stop, but instead of being <10 miles from the launch site, we’ll be 40-50 miles. Oh, well.