Solar Orbiter Launch

Sunday February 9, 2020

Did you ever feel your house (or in this case boat) shake and wonder what the heck is going on?  I have felt that feeling four or perhaps five times in my life.   The first two were earthquakes.   The third was the Westray mine explosion in Nova Scotia in 1992.   The fourth was a weather bomb in Greece, and tonight, given this history, I was concerned and baffled until it occurred to me that I am right beside NASA.  I raced out the salon door to see and sure enough a rocket went up at 11:03pm (or was it 11:09pm).

I only caught the event about 60 seconds in, but what a rush watching the glow in the sky and feeling the deep trembling of the air (for about 3 minutes!!) as the rocket rose into the night sky.

There was a second launch, scheduled for 5pm that was cancelled, a resupply mission to the space station.   I will be watching for that in the coming days.  No word yet on why that launch was scrubbed.

When we brought the kids to watch the Columbia liftoff, I don’t recall the same low frequency trembling of the air.  Perhaps the viewing area for shuttle launches is further away (I am really, really close here).  Another exciting day cruising the world on a yacht.  🤓😃