Just observed the Atlas 2AS launch on time from Vandenberg from my location in Stanton, Orange County, CA. (I'm with a couple hundred feet of exactly -118.0 32.8). Having observed several Minuteman launches I was caught a little off guard in that the the vehicle rose above my horizon just north of due west as opposed to the north-west I was used to. Obviously due to it's intended orbit as opposed to heading off to Kwajalein. I caught it in plenty of time to observe the first stage glowing a bright reddish orange with no plume. The light faded for a second and there was a puff of white. By this time I was observing with my 7x35's. I could easily see the first stage fall away as the second stage lit. The second stage was the same bright red orange, almost like a signal flare. However, a very white exhaust plume soon developed. Through binocs the plume appeared to be composed of smaller puffs that could be seen moving down through the plume as it widened. Naked eye the plume appeared a little larger that the moon. The whole affair still had a tremendous forward motion as it moved just south of Orion. One thing I noticed about the plume was it appeared to be 'directed' somewhat downward relative to the rockets line of travel. Probably just an artifact of the angle of observation. I continued following the rocket both 1x and with binocs until I lost it when the second stage cut off. This was almost due south of me in the south-western corner of Canis Major. Definitely worth waiting up till 2am for!!!! Brian ----------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from SeeSat-L, send a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@satobs.org List archived at http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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