rocket launch

I got to watch another rocket launch last night.   It was a Delta IV rocket which puts on quite a show.   I remained here in Orlando to watch the final countdown and the very initial part of the launch on television.   The local station here does a really good job giving live coverage of the launches.

I sometimes wonder why the steel structures at the launch pad don't melt under the intense heat of the rocket exhaust.    Once the rocket lifts off from the launch pad I run outside to see it go up into the sky in the east.  This picture was taken somewhere near the launch site. 

But it is really amazing how much can be seen here in Orlando.   On this launch I was lucky in that the sky was crystal clear and a bit unlucky  because it was a night launch which means that all that I can see is the fiery exhaust.

Isn't this an absolutely spectacular photo taken over on the east coast?   You can even see the stars.   The rocket exhaust is that fiery blob.   I couldn't see the vapor trail of the rocket but the fiery exhaust was very spectacular.   Just so incredibly bright.   With a daytime launch I would have seen so the vapor trail against the blue sky.

However, in the cloudy stormy summer months sometimes the clouds block the view.   I know that this isn't a shuttle launch but there is still an air of excitement to it.   If you can't be here to watch them, then just watch them on the NASA channel or your television news station.   And of course there is always the internet.   And don't forget this blog site as a last resort.   Have a really nice day wherever you may be.    Lew