Now that our launch-related activites are over and things have settled down, I find myself with the time to sit down and write a summary of the Discovery Flight events of the past 48 hours: I’ll do my best to give you a feeling for what it was like to be here in New Mexico for this launch.
Friday morning was the launch pad tour: Normally we provide the families of those on board a particular mission the opportunity to go to the launch pad a day, or so before liftoff and see the rocket that will carry their loved ones’ cremated remains into space. We have launched from various locations around the world: Sometimes it’s not possible to make arrangements for a launch pad tour, but often we can. In my experience, families really value the time they spend on these tours: For many families, it’s one last chance to say “good bye” to their loved ones as they make their final journey — fulfilling the dream of spaceflight.
Celestis staff and family members gathered at our hotel in Las Cruces at 8 am Friday and boarded a minibus that took us to Spaceport America, where the launch would take place the following morning. It’s about a 1 1/2 hour drive: First you take Interstate 25 north, and then exit onto a gravel road on which you drive for about an hour to reach the Spaceport. This part of New Mexico is desert country. Mind you, it’s not the Sahara — a completely lifeless landscape. There is sparse vegetation — mesquite, some cactus, some grasses, etc. In fact, Spaceport America is adjacent to working ranches where cattle are raised. Occasionally you’ll see a jackrabbit or a roadrunner along the way. Less congenial wildlife, such as rattlesnakes, are present as well — although in my visits to Spaceport America I have yet to encounter such nasty varmints!
We first visited mission control, which consists of a couple of small trailers. We were led inside one trailer where we saw a row of laptop computers which flight controllers — UP Aerospace personnel and government officials — use for the launch. One of the flight controllers gave us an overview of what transpires on launch day: The basic sequence of events, how the flight controllers monitor — and adjust the rocket’s flight path — for the wind (both at ground level and at various altitudes), etc. The SpaceLoft XL is an unguided rocket, meaning that once the rocket lifts off, there is no steering the rocket during flight. So launch personnel launch weather balloons prior to liftoff and measure the windspeed and direction at various atltitudes in the atmosphere to determine how the wind might affect the rocket’s flight. They then aim the rocket — which is launched from a steerable rail — taking these various wind speeds and directions at different altitudeds into account.
UP Aerospace housed its Mission Control in these trailers for this launch.
Sorry to go off on a tangent there: But this is the sort of interesting information you learn when you visit a mission control!
After visiting Mission Control, we boarded our minibus and drove to the launch pad, which is only one mile away. There UP Aerospace President, Jerry Larson, and Celestis President, Charles Chafer, took questions from family members. Mr. Larson pointed out the exact portion of the rocket where the cremated remains were located. During the Q&A session a series of loud beeping noises repeatedly sounded. Mr. Larson explained that the beeps were generated by an ingenious device that uses sonic waves to measure air speeds at different altitudes, thus supplementing the data gathered by the weather balloons. After the Q&A, family members were invited to walk around the launch pad and take photos of the rocket from various angles. The launch pad is surrounded by a chain link fence: We were no more than 15 or 20 feet from the rocket itself. So everyone could get good closeup photos of the rocket. The logos of the various organizations involved in the mssion — including Celestis — were clearly visible on the rocket. A helicopter from a local television station orbited the launch pad taking video of the proceedings. All told, we spent approximately 45 minutes at the launch pad before boarding our minibus and returning to Las Cruces.
The SpaceLoft XL on the rail used to launch the rocket into space.
Friday afternoon we caravanned in our private vehicles from our Las Cruces hotel to a beautiful, new state park called Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, or “The Bosque” for short. (“Bosque” is pronounced “BOSS-QUAY.”) Located only about a 15-minute drive from our hotel, the Bosque is located on the banks of the Rio Grande, and has a nicely-landscaped visitor center with a small amphitheater where we held the Discovery Flight memorial service. A string quartet provided music for the service where family members shared memories of their loved ones on board the SpaceLoft XL rocket. It was rather windy at times, but otherwise the weather was perfect.
Saturday was launch day — and it started early! We had to get up at 4:00 am to drive to an assembly point in Las Cruces where family members boarded buses for the trip to Spaceport America. As I wrote in a previous blog entry, the primary payload for the SpaceLoft XL rocket was a set of education payloads. So hundreds of high school and college students — and their parents and teachers — wanted to attend the launch. Therefore, the good folks at Spaceport America made arrangements for buses to carry everyone to the launch viewing area at Spaceport America.
As on Friday, we took Interstate 25 north and exited the highway to take the one-hour drive along the gravel road to the viewing location. The buses sure kicked up a great deal of desert dust on the way! (Incidentally, Spaceport America is about to undergo a multi-million dollar infrastructure improvement program: Groundbreaking is scheduled for this coming summer….)
Ours was not the only bus caravan to travel to Spaceport America that day. Other buses had ferried people in from the northern assembly point in the city of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. When we arrived at the launch viewing area we found these other buses and their passengers already on scene. Indeed, upon arriving I felt as though I had arrived at a 21st century version of the Old West, but: instead of stage coaches there were air conditioned coaches; instead of chuck wagons there were taco trucks; instead of latrines there were port-a-potties; and instead of sketch artists recording the scene for reprint in eastern newspapers, there were TV cameras and Web cams transmitting the events in real time all over the world; . But some thing never change: the sun, the heat, the cowboy hats, the sombreros, the desert dust … and a bunch of pioneers opening a new frontier.
But as in the Old West, not every foray into a new frontier is entirely successful: Such was the case with the Discovery Flight. The morning of the launch loudspeakers relayed announcements to the crowd from Mission Control. At around 8:00 am, or shortly thereafter, Mission Control announced the launch was imminent. The throngs of people on hand stood and faced eastward, toward the launch pad, eagerly anticipating the launch of the SpaceLoft XL. “10-9-8-7-6-5-Missile Armed-3-2-1-Fire-Missile launch!” The rocket quickly soared directly above our heads, leaving a white trail of smoke behind. A few seconds after liftoff we could hear the roar of the rocket’s engine. The crowd let out a loud cheer and applause. The kids were ecstatic, happy that their student payloads were on their way! It seemed as though everything was just fine. As it turned out, though, the rocket did not actually reach space. The details are not yet in. But, having lived through successful and unsuccessful launches, I know what’s much, much more important than the details is the desire to persevere — to get back up, wipe the dust off, and try again. The pioneers of New Mexico, were they alive today, would tell you that. Certainly the Celestis families with whom I spoke shortly after the launch would tell you that — I know, because they told me that!
Ad astra!
