Aeromoe's Version of Joe Orman's Naked-Eye 100 List


Number 104: Space Launch


Below is a photo I took of an Atlas E launching from Vandenberg AFB, California on March 28, 1983.
According to online sources, the Atlas lifted off from SLC-3W at 0852hrs local time.





Below is a photo I took of a Titan launching from Vandenberg AFB, California. The rocket is rising above the typical fog that often shrouds the California coast.

The plastic frame of the slide has Jun 1984 written on it...
I don't know why I would have removed the original Kodak slide mount and replaced it with a plastic one.

At any rate, Jonathan's LaunchLog lists a Titan 34D launch on June 25th, 1984 at 1847hrs UTC (11:47hrs Local) so this very well may be that launch.





I finally got to observe another space launch at Vandenberg AFB. I made a very last-minute trip back to my old stomping grounds the weekend of September 28/29, 2013. SpaceX was scheduled to launch the first Falcon9 v.1.1 from Vandenberg early Sunday morning so I made the trip over. The launch window opened at 0900hrs PDT and that's exactly when they lit the fuse. Below is my photo of the Falcon9 lifting off from SLC-4E carrying the Cassiope satellite as well as some smaller 'cubesats.' I was located 5 miles from the launch site on Vandenberg AFB proper. Below that is a Google Earth screenshot of VAFB showing the Launch Viewng Area relative to SLC-4.