IMPORTANT NOTE! The videos contained herein are NOT STREAMING VIDEOS! They are actual video FILES which are best viewed by DOWNLOADING and then viewing on your own machine. They are also often fairly large in filesize. AS a result, SLOW INTERNET CONNECTIONS CAN AFFECT HOW THESE WILL PLAY. Therefore, it is suggested that you do NOT attempt to simultaneously view while downloading. Otherwise it could result in "stuttering" and/or delayed video viewing. Also, give the videos TIME to download. They do take a while. Finally, if you are using dialup to access these, you WILL be here all day/night downloading these.

• STS-126 Nighttime Space Shuttle Launch
  Date: November 14, 2008. 2057 hours.
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Tape Used: Sony DVM60 Premium Standard-grade Mini-DV cassette
  Lenses Used: (no addl lenses used)
  Shutter Mode: Night-time
  Focus Mode: Auto-focus/Auto-iris
  Video Editing Software Used: iMovie 08
  Location: Near Gainesville, Florida
  02:25 [ widescreen format ]
  [ ALTERNATE: YouTube ]

  I wanted to take video of an actual nighttime launch using night-time shutter mode, just for curiosity's sake. Using night mode, you can actually see a glow on the horizon as SOON as the SRBs ingnite. It's quite neat to see that happen. Note that there's about a 6 second delay from the time you see the glow until the time you hear the MC say "booster ignition". This is due to the fact that the shuttle audio is being relayed through a few different sources before we finally hear it over the local ham repeater. Of course, I didn't think to use manual focus; so, much of the shot is somewhat out of focus. (This is a first-time nighttime launch video attempt with this camera.) On the other hand, too, in nighttime mode, things are that way anyway, and everything is grainy, regardless. But this one is somewhat educational still in how it shows that glow on the horizon as soon as the launch begins, even from 90 miles away (straight line distance) here in Gainesville, FL. I'm kinda blown away by that.

• STS-119 Sunset Space Shuttle Launch
  Date: March 15, 2009. 1848 hours.
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Tape Used: Sony DVM60 Premium Standard-grade Mini-DV cassette
  Lenses Used: (no addl lenses used)
  Shutter Mode: Portrait
  Focus Mode: Auto-focus/Auto-iris
  Video Editing Software Used: iMovie 08
  Location: Somewhere near Lake Panasoffkee, Florida
  05:21 [ widescreen format ]

  STS-119. Sunset launch. Taken off some forgotten exit off of I-75 somewhere near Lake Panasofkee, or Bushnell. (Maybe someone who knows the territory can help me, here?) We knew the shuttle launch was coming very soon. We were on our way home from visiting relatives in Tampa. I was actually GPSing it in Street Atlas, but before I reached home the map program locked up and I lost the GPS data. So unfortunately, I'm not able to tell anyone where EXACTLY I really was when I took this video. :o( Was actually kind of a pretty launch. Pay attention as the shuttle rises slowly from grey suddenly into pink clouds, and then orange, and then white. This is the shuttle rising above the earth's shadow which allows them to actually see the sun at that point. The sun had actually set sometime before the launch. But the shuttle was actually rising so fast (they get up to about 1000 mph as quickly as 30 seconds after launch) it was actually BEATING the sun and the astronauts are actually able to see a reverse sunset, or a sunRISE, as they rose higher. The moment you see that plume go from grey to pink, that was their sunrise. :) It's a shame that no one has so far thought of taking a time-lapse video of a shuttle launch from the point of view of inside the shuttle. I think it might be interesting to watch the the sun or the stars out the window follow their normal paths across the sky, only to slowly come to a stop, and then actually reverse direction as the shuttle rises faster and faster into the sky. Someone should set something like that up before the final missions occur.

• STS-128 Nighttime Space Shuttle Launch
  Date: August 28, 2009. 23:50 hours.
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Tape Used: Sony DVM60 Premium Standard-grade Mini-DV cassette
  Lenses Used: (no addl lenses used)
  Shutter Mode: Fireworks
  Focus Mode: Manual
  Video Editing Software Used: iMovie 08
  Location: Near Gainesville, Florida
  01:00 [ widescreen format ]

  STS-128. Nighttime space shuttle launch.

• STS-129 Daytime Space Shuttle Launch
  Date: November 16, 2009. 14:29 hours.
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Tape Used:Sony DVC HD (DVM63HDR) Mini-DV cassette
  Lenses Used: Canon TL-H43 1.7x Tele-Converter
  Shutter Mode: Portrait
  Location: Near Gainesville, Florida
  00:44 [ widescreen format ]

  STS-129. Daytime space shuttle launch. I got caught off-guard for this shot. I was depending upon the local ham radio repeater W4DFU, which was rebroadcasting shuttle audio. However, it's link apparently wasn't working quite too well today, so instead of me hearing the launch happen I got badly intermittent comms and rather than turning on the camera at the appointed launch time I waited to hear something that sounded like "...and we have LIFT off!" and it never came. Next thing you know the shuttle is halfway up the sky and I'm rushing to aim without the monopole extended and it ended up providing extra weight attached to the camera to have to wrangle with and my arms quickly began to get tired, resulting in shakey video. So here's a lesson for all you wannabe's. If you can't hear the shuttle audio, just pay attention to the launch time and start filming. Also, use a good, SMOOTH tripod.

• STS-130 Nighttime Space Shuttle Launch
  Date: February 08, 2010, 04:14 AM EST.
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Tape Used:Sony DVC HD (DVM63HDR) Mini-DV cassette
  Lenses Used:Canon TL-H43 1.7x Tele-Converter
  Shutter Mode: Sunset, then Portrait
  Focus Mode: Manual
  Video Editing Software Used: iMovie 08
  Location: Near Gainesville, Florida
  03:21 [ widescreen format ]

  STS-130 nighttime shuttle launch. This is the final nighttime launch of a space shuttle that will ever occur. The remaining missions that fly this year and next will be the last for the space shuttle program. The remaining launches should be daytime launches.

  Camera tripod-mounted for duration of SRB ascent portion for some steadiness, then switching to hand-held after.

  Shuttle created a golden glow on the horizon at the moment of launch (which was not visible on the camera due to the light mode aperture that I had chosen) which clued me in that the launch had started. It usually takes about forty seconds for the shuttle to clear our horizon, which leaves us about a minute and twenty seconds of ascent to view. I didn't have the usual shuttle launch audio to help me this time due to the fact that it was a 4:14am launch and I guess that's too early for the local area hams who usually turn on the shuttle audio "linkup" on the local repeater so that people can listen. The Cape is about 126 miles straight-line distance from us here in Gainesville at an azimuth/bearing of about 124-degrees (or SSE). When the shuttle first cleared our horizon it had to first clear through high-altitude clouds on our horizon, as well as some local low-level fog which had accumulated in the troughs in the local hills in front of the camera. I think it actually provided for some interesting reference for the mind to gauge speed with, somewhat. I was able to follow it in "sunset mode" until just after SRB sep when I paused the camera, took a closeup shot of the moon, and then changed light mode to normal so that I could attempt to get the shuttle again before it went below the horizon. I was successful but now the camera was hand-held and the resulting capture was shakey. Taken using Canon HV-20 HD videocamera in "sunset" aperture mode, which allowed for seeing brightly lit objects with a higher contrast. Sunset mode allowed a little more light through than fireworks mode, and is necessary to be able to capture SRB sep and follow the dim light of the ME's as they speed ahead of the falling SRBs. (Anything wider would have resulted in overexposure during the launch portion of the ascent and as a result much less contrast).

• STS-131 Early Morning Launch
  Date: April 05, 2010, 06:21 AM EDT.
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Tape Used:Sony DVC HD (DVM63HDR) Mini-DV cassette
  Lenses Used: Canon TL-H43 1.7x Tele-Converter
  Shutter Mode: Night-time and Sunset (back and forth)
  Focus Mode: Manual
  Video Editing Software Used: iMovie 08
  Location: Near Gainesville, Florida
  04:54 [ 132 MB ] [ widescreen format ]
  (Corrected Version - A couple of time stamp errors corrected; video also shortened by over 2-1/2 mins. to remove unnecessary lengthy footage.)
  [ ALTERNATE: YouTube ]

  STS-131 early morning shuttle launch. This launch was an encore nighttime launch which happened due to the fact that the mission had been delayed due to earlier problems with the RCS system, which pushed the launch time into the early morning pre-sunrise darkness.

  Camera was tripod-mounted for entire film.

  This is without a doubt THE most spectacular shuttle launch that I have ever seen from here in Gainesville. The launch started out normal, and 15 minutes before the launch we were even treated to a nice, bright, overhead pass by the very thing that the shuttle was heading for - the International Space Station (which is also included in this video); but not long after SRB separation, something very different happened.

  Because this launch occurred about a half hour prior to sunrise, when the shuttle rose high enough to reach the rays of the sun, suddenly to SSME hypersonic vapor trails became BRIGHTLY visible and gave the rest of the shuttle ascent a comet-like appearance - complete with coma in the "head".

  I had never actually seen this effect before with my own eyes, and so I was actually scared stiff when it occurred and I actually thought that there had been a dreadful disaster and that the shuttle had exploded or something. I checked the radio and there was nothing. I got home and checked the TV news and there was nothing. They were saying that the shuttle had made it to orbit. I was SO relieved! When you see this video you'll understand why I was so easily upset. (sigh) Whew! That little circular cloud right at the apex of the ascent trajectory didn't help me. To the unaware, this cloud seemed to indicate a possible point of disaster. And the ensuing contrail to me looked like it might possibly be something occuring "post-disaster".

  After SRB-sep, I took some "final" shots of the dissapating SRB plume, and I was in the process of turning off the camera when out of the corner of my eye I suddenly noticed something huge and bright and fuzzy moving downwards in northeastern sky, and a circular cloud just before the point that the SSME contrail began. The possibility of what I was seeing scared me to death. I was so panicked that I turned the camera on and didn't even bother to forward the tape to an empty spot...I just began recording right away. I was so relieved to later discover that nothing had actually happened, but the visual scene this morning was nothing short of something awesome and spectacular and very, very different.

  I sent out a few querying emails and Francis J. Merceret, of the NASA-KSC Applied Meteorology Unit, explained what was happening in better detail:

  "Great video. Both phenomena he asks about are normal, but enhanced in appearance by the lighting conditions. The exhaust plume of the Shuttle (and all the other launch vehicles including Atlas and Delta) expands at higher altitudes because the ambient air pressure and density are lower -- much lower at the altitudes photographed here. The "circular" cloud really isn't circular at all. If you look at the close-up (he did a nice job with the photography), you can see that it is a wispy "puff" of cloud with a more fractal characteristic. We see things like this quite often when a launch vehicle burning LH2 and LOX (like the shuttle does) passes through a thin moist layer in the upper atmosphere. The exhaust product from a LOX-hydrogen engine is water vapor. In a moist layer, the water vapor saturates the air and condenses into a small, man-made cloud that eventually evaporates as the vapor diffuses and mixes with the surroundings."

  So there you go. Apparently, this effect is ALWAYS there. It's just that at night, you can't see it with the naked eye because there's no light illuminating it all. And when I think back on the KSC tracking camera videos that I've watched on TV so many times, yes, I do remember seeing that exact same effect. It's just that they have so much better optics than you and I do at home, so they can see this stuff on the way up, and it's not a big deal to them. But to us, with our home video camera and binoculars, we usually don't get a chance to see the plume. We usually see just a tiny little star after the SRBs separate, moving slowly along until it disappears below the horizon.

  So...mystery solved. No explosions. No lives lost. Nothing bad happened. ...Just an amazingly spectacular ascent - the most sepctacular I've ever seen.

  There are three more shuttle launches left to go, after which the program will be mothballed, and there will be no more. :(

  Here's a YouTube video of the entire launch from pad to MECO from NASA:
  [ STS-131 Launch ]

• STS-132 Afternoon Launch
  Date: May 14, 2010, 02:20:07 PM EDT.
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Tape Used:Sony Premium DVM60 Mini-DV cassette
  Lenses Used:Canon TL-H43 1.7x Tele-Converter
  Shutter Mode: Portraight
  Focus Mode: Manual
  Video Editing Software Used: iMovie 08
  Location: Near Gainesville, Florida
  00:18 [ 9 MB ] [ widescreen format ]
  

  Eh, not happy with this one. The shuttle appeared for a short time between cumulus clouds and my aim was shakey because I couldn't see the screen very well in the sun. :(

• STS-135 Launch As Seen From Titusville
  Date: July 08, 2011, 11:29 AM EDT.
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Tape Used:Sony DVC HD (DVM63HDR) Mini-DV cassette
  Lenses Used: Canon TL-H43 1.7x Tele-Converter
  Shutter Mode: Fixed aperture (0)
  Focus Mode: Manual, fixed
  Video Editing Software Used: iMovie 09
  Location: Titusville, FL - Max Brewer Mem. Bridge, Indian River
  02:12 [ 130 MB ] [ widescreen format ]
  [ ALTERNATE: YouTube ]

  (Note that the audio and music in this sounds much better on a desktop running with a higher-quality audio system. Also, this is not a "streamed' video. If you have difficulty playing it, try right click downloading it to your system and playing it directly because it could be that with the large filesize [130 MB] the video is struggling to play. It IS created in highest possible resolution. Also, it was created using the latest codecs and may have difficulty playing on older systems. Be sure you have the latest codecs installed.)

  Decided last minute to go view this launch with Kathy down in Titusville, FL. We viewed it from the A. Max Brewer Causeway Memorial Bridge, which connects Titusville with KSC, and spans the Indian River.

  Just as the shuttle began to lift off, a child standing on the cement sidewalk guard next to me accidentally bumped my camera so I had to cut that short shakey part out, unfortunately. The launch was still awesome regardless, and I got most of it from ignition up until it disappeared into the low cloud ceiling about 44 seconds after launch.

  For this launch, I broke into my HD tapes for best possible quality, especially since the view of everything was fuzzy at best due to haze and fog. I wasn't sure I was even aiming at the correct launch pad but my guess turned out right. The bridge was closed down to allow public viewing from atop it, and was filled with so many people that it was literally crowded from stem to stern, and across it's full width. It was an amazing sight to behold so MANY people in one place, from so many places all around the world, to view this one last American mission into space.

  Originally, I was going to mute out the crowds and just leave background music, but I thought twice on that and left it in so that everyone could hear how the nearby crowd began to quickly band together chanting in a synchronized countdown as they listened to the shuttle audio on my handie-talkie and it gradually spread outwards all around me amongst thousands. It was an amazing and quite a moving experience to watch happen. Everyone cheered in unison when the shuttle finally disappeared behind the clouds. And when it was gone, you suddenly realized..."Oh my god. That was it! There will be no more, now."

  Post launch, Press choppers from Ch. 9 and Ch. 6 roamed the skies. We waited in our place for the crowds to disperse atop the bridge and while doing so I took the liberty of taking some extra filler shots before the local police finally asked evveryone to disperse from the main roadway so that they could reopen the causeway bridge again.

  Upon returning to Gainesville, I finally learned that my friends up here were prevented from viewing by rains occuring for most of the day. That's disappointing to hear, and I'm sorry. Hopefully this video will make up for it for some of you. Enjoy!

  If anyone WAS able to actually find some crack in the sky somewhere and to get some video of the launch as seen from here in Gainesville, let me know and if you'll allow me to make copies I'll try to make a time-synchronized back and forth cut of viewing angles from here and from KSC.

  I guess this is it. There will be no further shuttle video entries made to this page from here on out. The program has ended. :O(

• STS-135 Launch As Seen From Titusville - FULL VERSION
  Date: July 08, 2011, 11:29 AM EDT.
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Tape Used:Sony DVC HD (DVM63HDR) Mini-DV cassette
  Lenses Used: Canon TL-H43 1.7x Tele-Converter,
        Raynox 0.5x Super Wide-angle Teleconverter,
        Camera's own built-in lens
  Shutter Mode: Fixed aperture (0)
  Focus Mode: Manual, fixed
  Video Editing Software Used: iMovie 09
  Location: Titusville, FL - Max Brewer Mem. Bridge, Indian River
  14:55 [ 170 MB ] [ widescreen format ]
  [ ALTERNATE: YouTube ]

  This is the full version of the STS-135 launch video. This version includes the "bump" that occurred right at launch so that you can understand why I had to use a transition effect which mmakes the shuttle suddenly appear above the launch tower in the shorter version.

  This version starts at 10am with scenes from around the bridge before launch - people on the bridge, boats passing beneath the bridge, the NASA helo making multiple close passes near the bridge, shots of the VAB and the launch pad. I then transition to a long continuous shot of the launch pad starting about a minute before the count was resumed, and holding there through the launch, and some minute post-launch so that the sound of the post-launch rumble could be heard. Note that the clock changes to 11:29 AM four seconds before the actual launch. This is spot on. The launch occurred at 11:29:04 AM EDT. (I made sure to set the camera's clock to the atomic clock before leaving.)

  NOTE: If you really want to be able to hear the rumbling sound, you will need an adequate audio system capable of reproducing lower base frequencies. Unfortunately, some laptops are not able to reproduce this range and so the rukble cannot be heard at all in them. I would suggest wearing headphones, or hooking up external speakers, or listening to the video on your desktop system with a decent audio system hooked up.

  Post-launch, I included a few more scenes of the bridge area - people gradually leaving, more boats, chase jets flying overhead, new choppers hovering to examine the scene, etc. There is even one scene of both me and Kathy looking over the side of the bridge at things.

  I kept the video to a few seconds below 15 minutes to keep below the YouTube maximum limit.

  There is no background music to interfere with the actual ambiance of the scene. Only minor special effects were used with this version (beginning and ending titles, a few time stamps, some barely audible sound effects with the time stamps and titles, some transition effects).

• SpaceX Falcon9/Dragon Spacecraft COTS-2 Mission Launch As Seen From Gainesville, FL
  Date: May 22, 2012, 03:44 AM EDT.
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Tape Used:Sony DVC HD (DVM63HDR) Mini-DV cassette
  Lenses Used: Camera's own built-in lens
  Shutter Mode: Fixed aperture (0)
  Focus Mode: Manual, fixed
  Video Editing Software Used: iMovie 09
  Location: NW Gainesville, FL
  01:55 [ 22 MB ] [ widescreen format ]
  [ ALTERNATE: YouTube ]

  This was a test launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 and Dragon commercial launch vehicle combination. The launch occured from Kennedy Space Center. Unlike the space shuttle, which used huge solid rocket boosters, the Falcon 9/Dragon launch vehicle used liquid oxygen and liquid kerosene for it's fuels, which give off a much different bright red color to the plume, as opposed to the space shuttle's bright orange plume from the solid fuels that were used in the SRBs.

  The vehicle became invisible not long after MECO.

COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Some very commonly asked questions that I get include the following:

Can you SEE a shuttle or other rocket launch in Florida?
Sure. Oh, heck yah! Especially if you're anywhere north of the Cape. Set yourself up some time before the appointed launch time in a place with a low horizon to the east, and just wait. You can see ANY rocket launch, not just shuttles. If you have a scanner and you're in the Gainesville area, bring it with you and tune to 146.910 MHz and you'll likely be able to hear the astronauts talking with Mission Control. This is because the 91 "repeater" has a "link" which allows them to turn on the audio whenever they wish - which they usually do within perhaps a couple of hours of a shuttle launch. It's located atop Beaty Towers on the University of Florida campus. (I even helped aim the link antenna one day, some years ago.) :o) Be careful, though. Due to how many "pipes" that audio had to travel through before finally reaching their repeater, that audio can be delayed by as much as 15 seconds or so, in my personal experience. So don't plan things down to the second. Use it as a guide to help you know when there's a delay, or a scrub, or that the shuttle has definitely been launched. I like to record the audio to a separate source in case I want to try to sync it up, later, assuming that there are no cuts from start to finish. (Launches usually occur right on the ":00" mark of the minute set for the launch. And SRB sep usually occurs at about 02m05s into the ascent. If you're on high zoom and you "scrub" the video back and forth in your editing software, you can actually catch that exact moment.)

Where in GAINESVILLE can I watch a shuttle launch?
Well, if it's got a really low eastern horizon, it's a good spot. Places like Paynes Prairie, or perhaps the I-75 rest stop near Paynes Prairie would be another alternate. Alachua County is filled with so much horse and farmland with wide open spaces with good views of the eastern horizon. There are some places I like to go to which I shall not mention because I don't want to give away my OWN secret places. LOL. But here is a list that I've been compiling over the years for something called "storm spotting". It's a project that I've been working on for years. It's called the Alachua County Spotting Locations Project. It was something I'd been wanting to put together to aid storm spotters in being able to find locations around the county which offered good views in certain needed directions to aid them in being able to give good reports on storm appearance and structure. But it can also be used to help find suitable places to view a shuttle launch from. It's something that I've been trying to get others to help me put together for so long now,; but as usual, you always end up being the one to do it all alone, while everyone else scatters to the winds when you need them the most. :O) That's how it always goes. Nobody thanks you for it. But everybody wants to make use of it when you're finished. I know it's getting use by the page statistics for the page. That's thanks enough.

In hunting down a suitable place to view a launch, look for wide open areas with roads on the west and huge open field to the east and southeast. Drive TO these places beforehand. Scout them out personally so that you can see for yourself whether you think the site will do for you. Take pictures of each site that you can go back over later. Note down the places with low eastern horizons that feel you can use later. Some things to note. The Cape, from here in Gainesville, is directly 119-degrees to the southeast. It is some 90 miles away, direct-line-distance. It takes the shuttle 40 seconds to reach our horizon after liftoff. That's 40 seconds of ascent that we miss before it finally breeches above our local horizon. The viewing time LEFT is about 1 minute and 25 seconds. So again, plan ahead. Be ready. And most of all...ENJOY!

How do I find out when the next shuttle launch will be?
See the NASA Shuttle web site for the latest launch schedules. Or you can subscribe to mailing lists like KSC News, and/or Jonathan's Space Report.

How do I photograph the shuttle?
Really it's as simple as you think. Pick up the camera. Point. Shoot. :O) If you have a tripod, all the better. It will help to steady your shots. If all you want is a wide shot of the thing rising above the horizon, just set it pointed toward the east and slightly south. If a vidcam, just hit the record button. If an SLR camera, use a cable release so that the camera doesn't shake every time you press the button. If it's at night and you're after time exposures using an SLR camera, you'll DEFINITELY need that cable release or vibrations will ruin the shot. (Time exposures are awesome because you end up with this huge arcing trail across the sky. Here is a web page that I created way back in 1996 when I first started getting into photographing launches. Boy THAT was back in the day. Back then, there hadn't been any accidents yet and the shuttles still flew straight over Gainesville on their way back home, and we were often greeted with the double sonic booms! ...Which I now greatly miss. :( When I pointed my binoculars at a shuttle that flew over us, one day - and I could actually SEE it's shape and it's tail, I was hooked. It looked just like a jet airliner, and even glinted the sun and had a contrail.) With a video camera, if you want to zoom in for a good look at the fiery, sparkling plume and SRB separation, then you'll need to constantly have your hand on the tripod handle to keep the shot centered. It might end up a little shakey but far LESS so than if you were to hold the camera by hand. Actually, it's a judgement call and depends on how heavy your camera is. Some people are better than others at holding a camera steady onto the target. You could try bracing yourself against something...your car, a nearby tree, a sign post, or whathaveyou. That helps more than you would think. You'll have to experiment. If you use a tripod, you don't want to use mine. LOL. Find one that is well-built and which has smooth (not herky-jerky) movement. A quick-release mount will allow you to go to hand-held mode on a dime without turning off the camera and unscrewing it from the tripod, first. Use HD mode if your camera supports it. Use HD or high-grade tape where possible. This will give you the best quality possible.

UPDATE: I just obtained a new tripod that doesn't creak, or jerk or squeak. It's a bit bulkier, but it moves much better and I'm anxious to try it out, now. :)

Other Links:

• Here are my old (kinda cheesy) Astrophotography Pages.