Hi: I observed Tuesday night's Minuteman II launch from Thousand Oaks, about 105 miles southeast of the silo. It didn't look like much until well into the second stage burn when it emerged into sunlight. The plume was bright, several degrees across, and it looked like the Chrysler corporation's emblem (a pentagon with five rays radiating away from the center). The plume eventually increased in size until it was at least 15 degrees across (this was just before third stage cutoff). I had my camera set up on a tripod and used a 50mm lens and Fuji Super G 800 film. I shot several photos of the exhaust plume at f/2.8 using 1, 2, and 3 second exposures. Hopefully, I'll get a at least one good photo. Regarding the aerial video of the launch: The 30th Space Wing usually shoots video from a helicopter that's hovering above the clouds. Since the airspace around the launch site is closed for seveal miles in every direction, I'd assume that's where the launch video came from. Regards, Brian Webb ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www2.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Jan 19 2000 - 19:31:46 PST