![]() ![]() ![]() Please Note: Some viewing locations may be off limits for some launches as determined by NASA for safety reasons. South OSV zone will reopen following launch or when launch is scrubbed. Sounding Rocket Launches – South OSV zone (the beach south of the parking areas) will completely close to all access 4 hours prior to the launch.Refuge will reopen following launch or when launch is scrubbed. Antares Rocket Launches – Refuge will always fully close to all access 4 hours prior to the launch.To view launches from the beach, stand with your back to the ocean and look towards 10:00.Follow Beach Road to Assateague Island National Seashore.Follow Maddox through the Traffic Circle and follow signs to Assateague.Continue straight at the light onto Maddox Blvd.175 across causeway and bridges to Chincoteague Island. From Rt 13, turn east at T's Corner stop light onto Chincoteague Rd/ VA-175.Explore our website for options and our Accommodations page to book your stay.įor up-to-date information on launches, please call 75 or visit the Wallops Flight Facility homepage. Chincoteague and Assateague Islands offer endless opportunities to eat, play and stay while awaiting the next window of opportunity. Many viewers will bring their own chairs or blankets but please note there are restrictions as to what can be brought onto the Visitor Center grounds.Īntares rockets, typically require the closure of the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and Assateague Island National Seashore, Virginia due their proximity in the hazard zone.Ī variety of unforeseen circumstances may interrupt the launch schedule and cause a rocket launch to slip for a day or longer including weather, mechanical or logistical situations. The Visitor Center launch viewing area consists of two bleachers and an open field. Parking is available on a first come, first served basis. The Visitor Center is located approximately 4 miles from the launch pads with a clear view of every launch from ground to sky. The NASA Visitor Center and its grounds are open to support most launches from Wallops Island. When planning your lodging options for such launches from NASA Wallops Flight Facility, you may want to consider an accommodation overlooking the Chincoteague Channel with a western facing private balcony view as it may be the perfect location to view an early morning launch. The islands of Chincoteague and Assateague on the Eastern Shore of Virginia are perfectly positioned to offer spectacular public viewing sites (listed below) for research sounding rocket launches, as well as cargo resupply missions to the International Space Station by NASA's commercial partner Northrop Grumman aboard its Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft each year. In the event tonight's launch is delayed, backup launch days run through May 16.Įditor's note: If you spot the vapor clouds from tonight's NASA rocket launch and snap a stunning photo, let us know! You can submit photos and descriptions to Samantha Mathewson Follow us on Twitter and on Facebook.NASA - From the Earth's Surface to the Moon and Beyond! Given the human eye does not see violet colors very well in darkness, the closer the launch is to sunset, the harder it will be to see. However, the late hour of tonight's launch may make it difficult for viewers to see the colorful clouds with the unaided eye. "Because the motion of the neutral portion of the clouds is not constrained by the magnetic field lines, they spread out more quickly and become too thin to see with the naked eye much sooner than the ionized component." ![]() In the mid-Atlantic region latitudes, the field lines are inclined by about 45 degrees to the horizontal, so the violet clouds stretch out in a slanted orientation and look more like short trails than a cloud," NASA officials said in the statement. "The ionized portion of the cloud becomes tied to the magnetic field lines and diffuses parallel to the field lines but not perpendicular to it. ![]()
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