Tag Archives: rocket launch

Crew-3 and Study Weekend

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Am I obsessed with writing about rocket launches? Yes. Will I ever not be obsessed with rocket launches? No.

Rocket launch!

So, this past Wednesday (November 10) the Crew-3 mission began with the launch out of Cape Canaveral. Since Thursday was Veterans Day and was a day off, I decided to go down and watch. One of my friends has a Discord server put together for the space enthusiasts of Embry-Riddle so that we can coordinate carpooling and discuss space news, and it’s super helpful.

So on Wednesday night, a large group of us drove down to the viewing spot. It’s funny- a year ago, on November 15, Crew-1 launched and we were watching from the exact same spot. I even rode down then with some of the same people as I rode down with this time. It’s interesting how some people who you barely knew a year ago can become some of your best friends now, bonding over shared activities and love of launches.

The viewing spot that we use for crewed launches is called Haulover Canal Bridge, and it’s got a little manatee observation deck hidden off to the side. It’s perfect for watching the launch: the pad is right across from the observation deck, and you can watch the launch curve off to the left.

We all got there about half an hour early, but it’s always better to be early than late. In the meantime, we watched the live stream and hung out. A few of us ended up getting our feet into a circle, yielding this photo:

Shoe circle at Crew-3!

The launch went off right on time, and it was just as beautiful as ever, even through the clouds.

Launch through the clouds.

After the launch, since there was a large group of us, we decided to get dinner afterward. So we all drove back to Daytona Beach and 12 of us showed up to the iHOP, where we discussed the launch, previous launches, Embry-Riddle, what to order, and a bunch of other things.

That’s one thing that I love about Embry-Riddle. While most of us didn’t know each other before the launch, we ended up as friends in the end. When we finally got done at iHOP, it was nearly midnight, and some people decided that they wanted to watch Star Wars. I was a little too tired for that, so I ended up going back to my dorm and sleeping in, which felt nice after a long week.

The rest of the week and the weekend were pretty quiet. I did a lot of homework, studied, and made sure to hang out with some friends to have an appropriate school-life balance. As for the next launch with a launch time set, according to the Discord server, is STP-3, launching on Saturday, December 4th, at 4:04 a.m. EST. I plan on going to that one too- why not? I’ve attended a 5 AM launch, so what’s one hour earlier?

I’ll see you in the next post… and hopefully at Riddle! (And maybe even at a future launch!)

Pie a Theta Phi and the Lucy Launch

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Lucy in the sky with diamonds, Carly on the ground with homework.

So, the back half of last week was eventful for me! On Thursday, Theta Phi Alpha had a “Pie a Theta Phi” event. We had shaving cream pies, and people could donate money to pie sisters in the face. Participation to be pied was completely voluntary, and to be honest, I didn’t expect to do it. One of my friends ended up coming by and asking if I was one of the people who could be pied. Not thinking anything of it, I told him that if he doubled the donation, then he could pie me in the face.

So, he doubled his donation.

It was quite the experience. Thankfully, he was nice and it didn’t end up too messy. The friend then offered to let me pie him back for $10, which I immediately took the opportunity to. It just so happens that he’s a new member in ERAU’S FIJI chapter (FIJI is the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity). His fraternity brothers then decided to donate to pie him in the face, which was entertaining for all parties involved.

And for two people who didn’t expect to get pied in the face, I think I ended up having the least messy experience. Thankfully the sisters of Theta Phi had come prepared, and they had plenty of towels and water for us to clean off with.

Pie a Theta Phi unexpected guests!

Friday was pretty normal, except for the fact that I tried to go to bed super early. NASA was launching their Lucy mission and targeting a 5:34 AM launch. I’d already decided that I wanted to go see it, and thankfully, one of my other friends had a car with seats available. So, a few of us piled into his car around 4 AM and made the drive down to Titusville.

One of my favorite things about Embry-Riddle is the number of students that love watching rocket launches. For every rocket launch that I’ve wanted to go to, I’ve been able to find a ride. And even for launches that aren’t on the East Coast, I’ve been able to join a small group. (For example, the Firefly Alpha launch- mentioned in a previous post.)

Lucy launchpad!

The Lucy launch went off right at 5:34 AM. It was kind of chilly outside, so I was glad I was in pants and a hoodie. (There was also an abundance of mosquitoes at our watch site, and thankfully, I only got one mosquito bite.) We watched the launch curve slightly to the left and fade into the sky as we listened to the soft rocket rumble. And once it had disappeared, we packed back up and went back to Embry-Riddle.

We ended up getting back around 7 AM, and I was dropped off at my dorm. I ended up sleeping until 12 PM and got on with the weekend homework haul. It’s great living on the Space Coast, though. I’m studying aerospace engineering, and every rocket launch is a reminder of what I’ll be doing for a career one day. One day, I’ll be able to say that I helped put something in space.

So, with that, I’ll see you in the next post… and hopefully at Riddle! (And maybe in the industry?)

I Watched the Product of Literal Rocket Science

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Spoiler alert: It was freaking awesome, and hopefully, one day, I will be in a mission control room…

So, as space lovers like myself are well aware, the Crew-1 mission launched on Sunday from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Since I live in Daytona now, I was lucky enough to be able to see it from ~10-11 miles away. And let me just say- that was awesome.

Since the Crew-1 was a crewed mission, a lot of people wanted to go. Thankfully, Embry-Riddle is only an hour or so away from Cape Canaveral, and everyone knows it. Because of the proximity, there’s a group chat on Snapchat full of people that like attending rocket launches. A lot of people- and I mean a lot– of people decided to go to this launch, whether they are in the group chat or not. Here’s what my snap map looked like nearly two hours before the launch:

Yeah, a lot of people went down. Some people made it a full day endeavor, hanging out at Cape Canaveral/Titusville/the Kennedy Space Center. If I had the time, money, and a car of my own, I definitely would have. Embry-Riddle has ZipCars, so people with ZipCar accounts can drive the ZipCars. That’s how my friends and I got a ride down there.

My friends and I settled on a bridge nearby to watch the launch. The bridge was pulled up, and the lights were pretty bright, so we decided to go exploring. We found a path that led to a birdwatching spot and realized that the launch pad was right in front of us. (We were facing south, north of the Cape.) Once we realized that, we instantly took a seat on the birdwatching benches.

There was no service for most of us, but luckily, one of our friends had 5G service. He streamed the launch and played it through one of our other friend’s Bluetooth speaker, but since he had limited cellular data, turned it off 30 seconds before launch. (We only had it on to ensure that the launch didn’t scrub.) While the stream was playing, we talked about the launch, including the rocket’s trajectory. Most of us were aerospace engineering majors on the astronautics track. Then, the launch pad lit up right in front of us, and we all started cheering.

We all screamed when we saw this. Photo credit: me.

It was crazy. It was as if the night had turned into day for a split second, and then we saw a tiny burst of light streaking up into the sky:

The little dot is the rocket. Photo credit: me.

We all had our cameras and filmed the little rocket shooting up into the sky. A few moments after the rocket launched, we heard the loud rocket rumble, and we were so close that we could feel it in the ground. I totally understand why some people cry during rocket launches- it was amazing to watch. This is how far people have come- we’re sending each other into space. This is the product of literal rocket science, something that I’m lucky enough to learn at Riddle. I couldn’t stop thinking about it- one day I could do something like that with my degree.

Since the rocket trajectory was going northeast, it curved to the left in the sky. We were able to see everything: we saw the first stage booster separate from the rocket, and then we watched the second stage booster ignite. After that, we watched the rocket get smaller and smaller until it disappeared into the sky.

We waited around in case we could see the first stage booster coming back down to land on the drone ship, but unfortunately, we didn’t see it. After that, we headed right back to Embry-Riddle. The roads back were quite busy, since people had a lot of different spots to watch from. One of my friends took this from a beach:

Crew-1 from the beach. Photographer wished to remain anonymous.

This is the second rocket launch I’ve seen; the first one was the Starlink launch in August. I’ve noticed that Crew-1, however, had a lot more attendees to it. It was absolutely amazing to watch, and I’m really glad I got to go. Even those who didn’t make the drive down to Cape Canaveral were able to see the launch from Riddle’s campus, which is another thing that I love about going to Riddle. On Friday, I had a test, so I couldn’t drive down with the rocket-watching group chat to watch the Atlas V launch close up. However, I could easily see it from Riddle’s campus!