NASA Rocket Visible Over Long Island Tonight

John Mitty Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Those who are lucky enough to live on Long Island and elsewhere on the East Coast have the chance to watch as a joint NASA-Air Force rocket takes off tonight.  Assuming the weather is cooperative, the space agency will send up the U.S. Air Force Minotaur sometime between 7:30 and 9:30 pm.  The launch should be visible as far south as northern Florida and as far north as southern Canada.  The westernmost visibility will be in the state of Indiana. 

The rocket will deploy 29 satellites which will improve launch and range capacity for both the space agency and the U.S. military.  The main payload on board the Minotaur will be the Space Test Program Satellite-3, which is an Air Force program.  A number of CubeSats are being launched as well, including the first ever built by high school students.  CubeSats are miniaturized satellites for research with a volume of exactly one liter.  The small design helps to reduce cost and unify payloads so that more projects can be deployed simultaneously.  If you are a space enthusiast, the rocket launch will provide a fun and educational diversion tonight, and thankfully now that we’re out of daylight savings time, the skies will be dark enough to see it.   

jmitty@longislandyellowpages.com

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