Mid-Atlantic Commercial Spaceport Makes First Launch

PeeAitchPee writes "East Coast residents of the US were treated to the first launch from the mid-Atlantic region's commercial spaceport. The 69-foot Minotaur I rocket soared from the launch pad at 7 a.m. ET, after teams spent the week resolving a glitch in software for one of the satellites that had scrubbed a liftoff on Monday. I witnessed the launch while driving to BWI airport this morning and it was beautiful! It left a zig-zag contrail in the southern sky and the separation / ignition of one of the upper stages was clearly visible." The spaceport, a commercial collaboration of Virginia and Maryland, is on the Delmarva peninsula south of the Maryland line, just west of Chincoteague Island.

TSA

[caffeinemessiah]

At this early juncture in commercial space travel, let's all pray that TSA doesn't get their paws on spaceport security.

Fun with kids

[ScentCone]

One of the neighbor kids asked what was in the sky this morning, and I told him it was the government testing something they might need if Santa flies in too close to the DC-area controlled airspace. It's great to see those little minds so caught up in the emotion of learning something new.

Minotaur, eh?

[hey!]

Something's got be funny about someone who names a 69 ft phallic object after the fruit of the most celebrated instance of bestiality in antiquity...

How long before space tourism is widespread?

[ZahnRosen]

And how many Frequent Flier miles will I need for my first sub orbital trip? Man, these are exciting times.

Re:Minotaur, eh?

[Anonymous Coward]

Something's got be funny about someone who names a 69 ft phallic object after the fruit of the most celebrated instance of bestiality in antiquity...

That might be just a wee bit of a stretch for the funny.

The real news is...

[Principal Skinner]

Maryland and Virginia cooperating on something! What's that squealing noise going past my 5th-story window?

Re:Minotaur, eh?

[The Anarchist Avenge]

"You're sitting on a gold-mine Trebek!"

Re:Minotaur, eh?

[Anonymous Coward]

"Something's got be funny about someone who names a 69 ft phallic object"

"69"..."phallic"...*snicker*

smoke trails

[jafac]

The minotaur IIRC, is basically a repurposed minuteman III.

The nice thing about solid fuel rockets (as opposed to liquid-fuel), is that they leave a nice, visible trail as they ascend, which often persists for 30 minutes or more. Here on the W/C, we get to see minuteman missile tests out of Vandenberg 2-3 times a year. (mostly in the middle of the night, though).

When you see something like an Atlas or Delta go up, there isn't much of a trail at all, so if you aren't watching closely, you can miss it.

Of course, there are some bad things about solid-fuel rockets; the exhaust is often pretty nasty stuff, corrosive, and toxic. Plus, you can't throttle them back or shut them off if something goes wrong. On the other hand, they're so simple, mechanically, you're not likely to need to throttle them back.

But the best thing about solids, is that they usually supplement the larger Atlas and Delta vehicles, and you get to hear rocket scientists talk about "strap-ons".

Re:I saw it

[moosesocks]

If I saw a missile/rocket flying through the sky near the DC suburbs, I'd be running underground as fast as I could.

Re:Mmm

[Anonymous Coward]

I just like hearing minds shatter. The younger ones do so at a higher, more pleasing pitch.

shameless plug

[DerProfi]

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