Just got a NASA advisory that weather conditions "likely" will force a landing sometime this weekend. The advisory also said that: "Public access to Edwards Air Force Base for viewing of a potential shuttle landing is at the discretion of the 95th Air Base Wing commander. At this time, it is expected that the public viewing site on the east shore of Rogers Dry Lake WILL be open for this mission. Persons desiring to view a shuttle landing should be aware that the site has only minimal facilities, and should allow plenty of time to arrive at the remote location."
The advisory didn't provide any further instructions or where to go, so I'd suggest monitoring the Edwards website.
When is it scheduled to land here at Edwards?
Quote from: CHILIBEAN on September 09, 2009, 07:26:38 PM
When is it scheduled to land here at Edwards?
There's no set schedule for EDW. It's scheduled for Thursday in FL, but, as the advisory says:
"However, weather forecasts predict widespread thunderstorms along Florida's east coast during the afternoon on Thursday with a chance of thunderstorms within a 30-mile radius of Kennedy for both landing opportunities Thursday evening. That weather pattern is expected to continue Friday and Saturday. If a landing in Florida is not possible Thursday evening due to weather or other constraints, there is a strong possibility that mission managers will direct Discovery to land at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California where weather is expected to be good on Friday or Saturday, Sept. 11—12. All landing opportunities at Edwards are during the late afternoon or early evening both days."
No Go for KSC Landing Today
Thu, 10 Sep 2009 04:35:53 PM PDT
The weather forecast is "no go" for tonight's second landing opportunity at Kennedy Space Center because of the threat of rain and thunderstorms near the Shuttle Landing Facility. Entry Flight Director Richard Jones and his team are now looking at the weather forecast for a Kennedy landing tomorrow. Edwards Air Force Base in California also will be activated for possible landing possibilities.
Dryden PAO is now saying that Edwards will NOT be open for public viewing of the landing. Pre-approved media will be allowed in, however. Controllers have tentatively ruled out a Saturday landing. There are two landing opportunities for Friday, and the controllers are keeping options for both Kennedy and Edwards open for both opportunities; for the Edwards site, the potential landing times are at 5:53 pm and 7:28 pm.
Quote from: akradecki on September 11, 2009, 06:50:47 AM
Dryden PAO is now saying that Edwards will NOT be open for public viewing of the landing. Pre-approved media will be allowed in, however. Controllers have tentatively ruled out a Saturday landing. There are two landing opportunities for Friday, and the controllers are keeping options for both Kennedy and Edwards open for both opportunities; for the Edwards site, the potential landing times are at 5:53 pm and 7:28 pm.
Hey Alan,
Is there any public spots out there that you can get a good shot of the approach/landing?
Oh well.. :-\
Commander Rick Sturckow and his crew were awakened at 9:32 a.m. EDT today with the song "Big Boy Toys" by Aaron Tippin, and they should be into the deorbit preparation timeline by 12:49 p.m.
The deorbit burn for the first Kennedy Space Center, Florida landing opportunity is at 4:41 p.m., with landing at 5:48 p.m. The second Florida landing window begins with a deorbit burn at 5:17 p.m., and ends with a landing at 7:23 p.m.
The first landing opportunity for Edwards Air Force Base, California has a deorbit burn time of 7:47 p.m., with landing at 8:53 p.m. The second opportunity would start with a deorbit burn at 9:23 p.m., and end with a landing at 10:28 p.m.
Quote from: GTagami on September 11, 2009, 07:50:29 AM
Hey Alan,
Is there any public spots out there that you can get a good shot of the approach/landing?
Assuming he lands to the west, the best bet would be from just outside the North Gate, or elsewhere along Hwy 58 east of Mojave.
Quote from: akradecki on September 11, 2009, 08:14:05 AM
Assuming he lands to the west, the best bet would be from just outside the North Gate, or elsewhere along Hwy 58 east of Mojave.
Aye Glen, Are you going to this?
Wow, I heard that sonic boom loud and clear just now. Amazing.
Quote from: Dragonskiss on September 11, 2009, 05:53:48 PM
Wow, I heard that sonic boom loud and clear just now. Amazing.
Yeah me too! I was bike riding back from Malibu when I heard it... BOOM BOOM! <laughing> <shuttle>
I was driving back from running in Santa Monica and heard and felt it very well in Marina Del Rey. Wife did to in Lomita. Wonder if the clouds had any amplifying affect on the sound.
Got cloudy right before he came in...so light dropped dramatically. Grrr...
More later....
Great Catch Alan!!!
Quote from: akradecki on September 11, 2009, 10:05:03 PM
Got cloudy right before he came in...so light dropped dramatically. Grrr...
More later....
Sweet! Good stuff, Alan!!! <thumbsup>
Nice Shots Alan <thumbsup>
Now that I've had time to go thru the pics a little more leisurely, here are a few more. Two helos were supporting the effort, a Navy SAR SH-60F from China Lake and an Army UH-1H from Ft. Irwin. The G-2 is NASA's approach practice bird, which had been up evaluating the winds before the landing, and which did a low pass over the shuttle after it stopped on the runway - it's specially modified to fly with only the mains extended, so that drag is used to duplicate the Shuttle's approach profile.
Nice shots. I was out at the South Gate.
Great Shuttle Pics, Alan!!!!! <rob> <cheers> <thumbup>
Thanks!!
You would think that EDW would be able to handle the helo duty without any outside help. Guess not....
Quote from: phantomphan1974 on September 15, 2009, 09:15:06 PM
You would think that EDW would be able to handle the helo duty without any outside help. Guess not....
As far as I know, they don't have any permanently stationed helo units there. (But of course, I reserve the right to be corrected!) VX-31's SAR unit handles rescue duties for the entire R-2508 complex, not just China Lake.
I (in my opinion) don't think the U.S.A.F. has that many helicopter units. So, I don't think one is likely to be based at Edwards.
Here's some APSoCal-ers (Jim Mumaw - aka gfydad, and Michael Darcy - sr-aeronut) during today's media visit with Discovery.
Great pics Jim and Mike!!!!
A few of the pics from today (mostly re-runs to those of you who've already seen my Facebook album)
Here's my bunch so far. ;)
What ever happened to the Edwards base UH-1Ns ? The white and oranges ones ?
Quote from: robin990 on September 17, 2009, 09:32:03 PM
What ever happened to the Edwards base UH-1Ns ? The white and oranges ones ?
How long ago was that? I haven't seen anything like those in the recent times I've been out there.
NASA-Dryden website is saying they'll use runway 04R tomorrow. They also referred to it as the main runway. Pardon my ignorance here, but I thought 22 was the main runway.
If they do go out on 04R, does that indicate we'll need to be in Boron to catch it?
Quote from: f4_phantom_fan on September 19, 2009, 05:46:59 PM
NASA-Dryden website is saying they'll use runway 04R tomorrow. They also referred to it as the main runway. Pardon my ignorance here, but I thought 22 was the main runway.
If they do go out on 04R, does that indicate we'll need to be in Boron to catch it?
04/22 is the main runway. Runway numbers are compass headings, so 04 is the number when taking off northeast, 22 when taking off southwest, but it's the same physical runway. And yes, that means Boron or the Edwards North Gate.
They changed runways at the last minute and went out on 22L, and left before the sun came up, so everyone was scrambling to up their ISOs. I shot at 800, and this is the best I could do....,
Here's the best from my bunch. Only 10 minutes more for light. :-[
NASA gave us the best spot we've ever had for a departure though. <rocker>
Great shots guys!
Here's what I was able to get from Century Circle.........
Here are mine--
(https://apsocal.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm4.static.flickr.com%2F3455%2F3938741522_e1183abb80.jpg&hash=9bc6c6e6e32011fceb300e64d560f948e8d8ed57)
(https://apsocal.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm4.static.flickr.com%2F3422%2F3937964739_e4297fdff6.jpg&hash=914013d7c36a8313865e7b07e09a0a8dc13c31ad)
(https://apsocal.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm4.static.flickr.com%2F3471%2F3938743710_995470eb14.jpg&hash=c566fd5816ac38fbd4c6d6dfd62c7fa117170e47)
Man it was dark out there--- Thanks to Kevin finding my glasses--- saved the day!! Lunch on me!!
Boy they left early
Jeez, I drive all the way out to Boron only to see NASA 911 departing to the west! I ended up with the pair covering about 300x200 pixels out of a 12MP shot, using a Bigma. It looks like some sort of Cold War era CIA snapshot, due to the high ISO and small size. :(
Oh well, I hope there is a next time...
David, I pretty much got the same shot from Boron as you with my 500mm and 1.4 extender.
Dang guys! You all got awesome stuff!!!!
I have to say though, I love those shots you got Michael. Wow.
The LA Daily News Photog caught many us us in his photos.
http://dailynews.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=25685956&event=841151&CategoryID=26369&picnum=41&move=F#Image (http://dailynews.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=25685956&event=841151&CategoryID=26369&picnum=41&move=F#Image)
For example, I'm the first guy on the left in this one:
http://dailynews.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=25685963&event=841151&CategoryID=26369&picnum=58&move=B#Image (http://dailynews.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=25685963&event=841151&CategoryID=26369&picnum=58&move=B#Image)
Kevin
aero-engineer
Quote from: aero-engineer on September 20, 2009, 09:25:31 PM
The LA Daily News Photog caught many us us in his photos.
http://dailynews.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=25685956&event=841151&CategoryID=26369&picnum=41&move=F#Image (http://dailynews.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=25685956&event=841151&CategoryID=26369&picnum=41&move=F#Image)
For example, I'm the first guy on the left in this one:
http://dailynews.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=25685963&event=841151&CategoryID=26369&picnum=58&move=B#Image (http://dailynews.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=25685963&event=841151&CategoryID=26369&picnum=58&move=B#Image)
Kevin
aero-engineer
I think I'm the guy on the left in the first image...and neither he nor his photo editor corrected for the crooked angle!
Wow, looks like they were close enough for wide angle lenses......... >:D
Finally processed them.
Kevin
aero-engineer
Great shots guys, looked like a lot of fun <thumbup>
One more photo I found of the photographers:
See photo four:
http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/ViewImages/content/111783 (http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/ViewImages/content/111783)
It's like Romper Room - I see Brian, and Allen, Roy and.....
Kevin
aero-engineer