Want to see a rocket launch?

In a little over a week (Friday Sept. 6th), the LADEE Mission to the Moon is scheduled to launch from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. If you live on the East Coast from about South Carolina through Maine, you might be able to see the launch live. Here is a website with a couple of maps to show you where the launch is visible from, and at what angle over the horizon the rocket will appear at its highest. Since this launch is late at night (just after 11:30 P.M.), it should be easier to see than some of the other launches from Wallops. You can also watch the launch on NASA TV (I have had the most luck with their U Stream feed).

For those who are fortunate enough to be along the coast that weekend, it should be a great show! Bear in mind that launches like these require precise timing, so if anything like winds in the upper atmosphere or boats in the restricted zone delay the count, it may have to be delayed (or scrubbed, as it gets called when you give up for the day).

This will be the first launch of the Minotaur V rocket, and the first lunar launch from Wallops.