• Not a rocket, but still something streaking through the sky: the International Space Station flies overhead.
  • Mark Lovewell
In Vineyard Skies

A Rocket and a Space Station

On Monday evening, the skies were perfect for standing near the surf at South Beach in Edgartown and hoping to watch a rocket launching hundreds of miles away. The brightest stars were appearing one by one. The crescent moon hung over the open water, not far from where we expected to see a large commercial Antares rocket built by the Orbital Sciences Corp take off from Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Va.

The rocket was loaded with supplies for the International Space Station.

We discovered later that the launching was scrubbed, but there was no way of knowing that in the quiet of the night. The only sound was the waves rolling in and up the beach.

We continued to stand by the shore and watched the stars brighten as night settled in. Then, a few minutes later, a bright star rose out of the western sky. It passed Arcturus, the main star in the constellation Bootes, traveled under the distinct constellation Corona Borealis, and then continued on through the constellation Hercules and others.

This brilliance of the mystery “star” was too steady to be an airborne jet. We watched as it ascended higher in the sky moving east, passing finally to the southeast, disappearing before it reached the horizon.

Later, while searching the internet we learned that the rocket we had hoped to see was still on the launch pad. What we had seen was very likely the International Space Station orbiting over the United States.
 

Sunrise and Sunset
Day Sunrise Sunset
Fri., Oct. 31 7:12 5:38
Sat., Nov. 1 7:13 5:36
Sun., Nov. 2 6:14 4:35
Mon., Nov. 3 6:15 4:34
Tues., Nov. 4 6:16 4:33
Wed., Nov. 5 6:18 4:31
Thurs., Nov. 6 6:19 4:30
Fri.,  Nov. 7 6:20 4:29
Temperatures and Precipitation
Day Max (Fº) Min (Fº) Inches
Oct. 24 64 50 0.16
Oct. 25 57 42 0.01
Oct. 26 65 50 T
Oct. 27 60 46 0.00
Oct. 28 62 40 0.00
Oct. 29 69 56 0.00
Oct. 30 69 47 0.01

 

Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 61º F

Comments (2)

Dee Ouchman, Isles of Langerhans
The rocket was blown up by a range safety officer shortly after lift off on Tuesday evening.
November 1, 2014 - 11:11am
Devin Reston
Great picture, Mark Alan Lovewell! You captured the ISS passing over the Vineyard perfectly. You took this Monday after the first Antares rocket launch was scrubbed due to a sailboat down range and within the hazard area. (http://www.weather.com/news/science/space/antares-rocket-cygnus-spacecraft-launch-20141027) It's good that safety precautions were being taken, because the Antares Rocket failed on the Tuesday rescheduled launch. What the mystery man, (who interestingly identified himself as being located in the endocrine tissue of the pancreas), meant to share was that: On October 30th, Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC), the operator of the Antares Rocket, confirmed initial findings of a data review, in which they confirmed a self-destruction mechanism was engaged following a "catastrophic anomaly" shortly after liftoff. Preliminary interest of the Accident Investigation Board is focusing on the stage 1 propulsion system as a possible site of the failure in the systems during the launch, and the accident will be investigated carefully. According to early review of the accident, "Telemetry data has been released to Orbital and our engineers presented a very quick look assessment to the Accident Investigation Board at the end of the day. It appears the Antares vehicle had a nominal pre-launch and launch sequence with no issues noted. All systems appeared to be performing nominally until approximately T+15 seconds at which point the failure occurred. Evidence suggests the failure initiated in the first stage after which the vehicle lost its propulsive capability and fell back to the ground impacting near, but not on, the launch pad. Prior to impacting the ground, the rocket’s Flight Termination System was engaged by the designated official in the Wallops Range Control Center." In other words, it never lifted off the launchpad high enough to be seen. Moreover, it was cloudy on Tuesday evening and the Vineyard is in the limits of the viewing area of spacecraft launches from Wallops Island. If the rocket launch had been successful, it would have only been about 5 degrees above the horizon and difficult to see even under ideal conditions such as those offered Monday evening. Always look forward to your fine photography, keep up the good work! It has been a tragically tough week for commercial space enterprises. We hope for better times in future!
November 2, 2014 - 12:20am

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