Launch Alert: Go SpaceX and SES-9!

Update - February 28, 2016: 

Today's launch attempt was scrubbed after two tries. One involved technical issues, while the other hold was called due to an unauthorized vessel in waters off the coast of Cape Canaveral. It is routine to declare certain ocean stretches off-limits for brief periods while rocket launches occur. Alas, sometimes not everybody gets the message. It happened before and it happened again today. A launch is scrubbed when a vessel is present in the "off-limits" zone, where it could be hit by debris as a result of a launch accident. To paraphrase a tweet from Elon Musk: The important thing is that both vehicle and spacecraft are healthy
A new launch date has not yet been announced. I will post updates here.

Original Post:

In about an hour, SpaceX is scheduled to launch an SES-9 communications satellite from Cape Canaveral. SES is based in Luxembourg and among the world's leading satellite manufacturers. Today's launch is the third attempt to launch the satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit. 

Previous launches last week have been scrubbed due to fueling issues. According to a SpaceX statement, these steps were taken out of an abundance of caution.

Let's hope today's launch will proceed as planned; it should be spectacular, set against a colorful sunset on the Space Coast. 

Launch time:
6:46 pm EST
3:46 pm PST 
23:46 CET

The launch window lasts well over an hour and closes at about 8:23 pm EST (5:23 PST, 04:46 CET).

Tracking towards a 6:46pm ET launch attempt today; watching upper-level winds closely. pic.twitter.com/8HqAtnyDKt

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) February 28, 2016

The launch includes a Falcon 9 upper stage landing attempt on an ocean-faring autonomous landing barge, whimsically named "Of Course I Still Love You", after Iain M. Banks' (fictional) sentient starships.

 Photo credit: SpaceX

SpaceX has previously attempted landings on ocean-based barges. While it has nailed landing a Falcon 9 upper stage on land, it has yet to stick a rocket landing on an ocean-faring barge. Previous attempts have resulted in RUDs on the barge ships - Rapid Unscheduled Disassemblies. Let's hope today's landing attempt will yield a more positive result!

Live launch - and possibly landing - footage is available here: http://www.spacex.com/webcast

Will I Get Up Before Sunrise To See 5 Planets?

Today was one of those unexpectedly joyous days because my husband surprised me with a 4-day stargazing and hot spring-exploring trip to the California and Nevada deserts. We'll be heading for Pahrump, NV on Thursday and use that as a staging area for various night- / daytime forays and explorations. Death Valley is on the menu, and so is the Tecopa Hot Springs Resort.

Yet what I really look forward to - after 18 months spent in urban environs - is the lack of light pollution and unobstructed views of the skies. The weather looks favorable for the entire time and I'm hoping for spectacular celestial displays. Perhaps a glimpse of the Milky Way, which I have not seen with the naked eye since...oh,...let's just say a trip to the Canary Islands last century. 

I especially hope to get a great view of the current 5-planet alignment in the early morning skies:

Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech

In a rare alignment, Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Mars and Jupiter will form an arc in the pre-dawn southern skies, about 45 minutes prior to sunrise. In the CA and NV deserts, that's about 6:00 - 6:30 a.m. Antares in the constellation Scorpio will also join this early morning celestial dance, as will Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo.

Image credit: Sky & Telescope

Another graphic of the early-morning planetary and celestial line-up that will remain visible until late February.

Image credit: New York Times

The diagram above shows that just because we can see five planets at the same time they are not the same distance away from Earth. The diagram illustrates the orbits of Saturn, Jupiter (planet name cut off in graphic), Mars, Venus and Mercury around the sun as well as the planets' relative distances from Earth. If I look at these five planets this weekend, and consider their relative distances from me, I wonder which one will appear brightest?

(Related science fact: Planets are not intrinsically bright. We can see them in the night skies because they reflect the light of our sun). 

Finally, I wonder if I will be able to locate the new Starman constellation, named in honor of the late, great David Bowie, who showed all of us how to reach for the stars.

Image credit: The Weathernetwork

 
I'll already be looking for Mars and Spica, so maybe The Starman will reveal itself to me this weekend ~