Tuesday, March 1, 2022

Day 5, 6, 7 - Mims, FL - KOA

Sunday (5) - Today, I moved from TTO to the Titusville KOA. The reservation is for nine days as that will extend to coincide with Bridget’s return flight. 

Shortly after arriving, I joined a special test session with 22 candidates. There were a bunch of us and we broke into groups of 3 VEs and tested them all in a little over an hour. A pretty good pace. The three that our group tested all passed easily.

Monday (6) - At 11am, it is a very pleasant 70°F and the forecast is only for a high of 75°F. I'm not going to complain about that. The camping site isn't spectacular but there is a pool (no hot tub) but I haven't checked out the temperature yet. I looked at the Cape Canaveral launch schedule and there is one planned for tomorrow (3-1-2022) with a two-hour launch window beginning at 4:38EST. A Falcon9 launch is planned for Thursday with a launch at 12:42pm. Unfortunately, neither of these is at night so I probably can't see it from here. I'll need to do a little research as to where to go.

Later - The pool just had a new heater brought in but it isn't functional yet. Unfortunate. The water is pretty cold. I was wondering why no one was using the pool. 

I just got off the phone with one of the afternoon candidates and he was very familiar with Zoom and had read all of the materials. 

Tuesday (7) - It actually got cold enough last night that the heat pump came on. Dropped to 57°F! This morning while walking the dog, I noticed several puffy jackets and wool hats. After the first test session, I made my way to Titusville Space View Park. 

The Indian River separates here from Cape Canaveral. A ULA Atlas V launch of a GEOS-T satellite, is scheduled for 4:38EST and, I’m told, I should be able to see it from here. 

I should have brought a chair and a warmer jacket. There is a steady 10pm high wind blowing from the water. 

Later - The launch was on time. There is a 1’20” video of the launch. Note that it takes a minute before we hear the sound. 



2 comments:

  1. I wonder if we'll see the day of space elevators and anti-grav launches, like they predict in science fiction material.

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    Replies
    1. Space elevator before other methods. But this would need to be done at the equator. That would mean Africa or South America.

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