Atlas Launch Tonight

Twas tasty. I went out to the beach earlier today, and noticed what I thought
was a rocket on the pad. Came home to check on the web, and wow there's a
launch tonight! LC36 has the only two pads you can see from the beach, so I
knew I'd have to turn out for this one. It sure was nice, seemed like it took
ages to leave the pad. I was in a crowd of about 40-50 people, and that was
only the beach access ramp I was on. About 5-10 seconds after liftoff a woman
behind me actually said "absolutely no sound!" Haha, just wait I thought.
It was a good rumble, but didn't last very long. MECO was a little strange,
the engines seemed like they cut out and back on a few times before finally
going out for good. Dark clouds? Or actually something with the rocket?
A point of light continued on, perfectly eclipsing a star during its arc. One
of the other people there said it was the tumbling stage, yes no maybe?
As I was leaving someone asked how it compared to a shuttle launch, so I got
to babble a bit about that. Most of the cars (and the parking was full, with
me and a few others parked on grass) were from out of state. Not a bad half
hour.
--
This is a siggy | To E-mail, do note | This space is for rent
It's properly formatted | who you mean to reply-to | Inquire within if you
No person, none, care | and it will reach me | Would like your ad here