So-o-o-o, tonight, I sit at my desk participating in a meeting over Zoom, with 15 other people, and suddenly startle looking out my office window. A rocket rises upwards in the Western sky from Vandenberg Space Force Base, and I so want to be outside with camera in hand.
Two problems: I can’t politely leave, and the thing rises really fast; this isn’t like the slower-moving Alpha that I watched in September 2023. I rudely turn off video, pull out Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, snap shots (three total), and resume video. The Featured Image is best of the trio.
According to RocketLaunch.Live, liftoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 was scheduled for 7:20 p.m. PDT. Payload: 22 Starlink satellites. The space port is 450-km (280-mile) north-coastal drive from my apartment. Time stamp on the pics is 7:31 p.m.
Photo vitals: f/3.4, ISO 2000, 1/30 sec, (synthetic) 230mm (digital and optical zoom).