Image from NASA
Attention East Coast dads: this Tuesday night is your chance to wow the kids with something they’ve probably never seen before — and it won’t cost you a dime. NASA is scheduled to conduct an extremely rare rocket launch from Virginia’s Wallops Island Flight Facility sometime between 8:00 pm and 11:00 pm, Tuesday night. UPDATE: The launch has been postponed due to inclement weather until Thursday, May 7, between 8:00 and 11:00pm EDT.
This particular rocket, a Minotaur I, is noteworthy for the brilliant intensity of the fire it gives off. NASA claims that, conditions permitting, the rocket could be visible up to 800 miles away, which puts it in viewing range of the entire U.S. Eastern seaboard.
Should weather conditions prohibit the launch on Tuesday night, NASA intends to keep trying each night up through this Saturday. The best way to find out if and when the launch is going forward is to follow the NASA Wallops Twitter account.
If you manage to catch the launch on film, be sure submit your pics to the GeekDad Flickr pool! And don’t forget to tag your pics with “minotaur” so they’ll be easy to find.
[Post by new GeekDad writer Robin Parrish]
