So here's the deal. The Falcon Heavy launch was scheduled to go off on Tuesday April 9th....but was postponed to Wednesday April 10th due to a weather situation. The chances of a "go' on Wednesday was supposed to be 90% favorable. A friend, who lives in a high-rise overlooking the Indian River with the KSC Assembly Building directly in his view, invited several of us over to view the launch. So, we made a party of it...pizza and wine, deviled eggs, a nice Greek salad...deserts...and the food was great
AND the launch was scrubbed. High Altitude Winds (. So, that puts the launch on the schedule for Thursday the 11th, and that's my whine. The Melbourne Municipal Band has scheduled a concert this week for both Wednesday and Thursday nights. Because of the launch on Wednesday, we had decided to go to the concert Thursday. Now it's an "either or" situation...half want to stay home and see the launch, and half want to go to the concert. Looks like the launch wins...and I'll miss the concert. That's a shame as they do a GREAT job with the Big Band and I've not made (due to scheduling conflicts) many of their concerts recently. Ah well....everyone should have these SERIOUS problems!
I'm thankful to live in an area where the choices are excellent :).
From Florida Today, April 11, 2019: SpaceX plans to try again Thursday, April 11, to launch the world’s most powerful rocket from Kennedy Space Center.
Big crowds hoping to see the Falcon Heavy blast off Wednesday were disappointed when strong high-altitude winds that could have blown the rocket off course halted the mission's first countdown.
Liftoff from pad 39A is targeted for 6:35 p.m., at the opening of a nearly two-hour window. The weather forecast is 90 percent "go."
Generating more than 5 million pounds of thrust from 27 main engines powering three first-stage boosters, the Falcon Heavy is more than twice as powerful as the next biggest U.S. rocket.
Super heavy-lift launch vehicles: How does Falcon Heavy stack up?
Here are some things to know about the launch:
• Traffic: Big crowds and heavy traffic are expected for the second flight by SpaceX's heavy-lift rocket. "Please expect delays and plan accordingly," NASA said in an advisory about road restrictions and closures.
•
Parking: There are several places in our "where to watch Falcon Heavy launch roundup" that charge for parking. Click
here to read it.
• Landing: Less than eight minutes after liftoff, the two side boosters will fly back to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to attempt side-by-side landings on legs, unleashing thunderous sonic booms. That's a trick tried only once before, successfully, during the Falcon Heavy's debut launch on Feb. 6, 2018. The demonstration mission made headlines around the globe for sending SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster and its "Starman" chauffeur on an orbit reaching as far as Mars. The rocket's center booster will attempt to touch down on a ship stationed hundreds of miles down range in the Atlantic Ocean, something that was not pulled off last year.
• About the mission: Thursday's payload isn't quite as creative as a sports car, but is more important because it belongs to a paying customer: Saudi Arabia-based Arabsat. The hefty Arabsat 6A communications satellite, built by Lockheed Martin, weighs in at more than 14,200 pounds and is bound for an orbit high over the equator, a mission that required a more powerful rocket than SpaceX's standard Falcon 9.
