On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 09:58:35 -0700, John Ousterhout
wrote:

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 15:11:41 GMT, (Badwater
Bill) wrote:

On 15 Aug 2003 11:17:40 -0700, (pac plyer) wrote:

Hey Dr. Bad

Twice now from my house over the last decade, we lucked out and
watched a rocket launch right at sunset out of Van.


If you'd have been to our last Jean Fly in, you'd have witnessed a
Vandenberg launch that evening too.


A few photos that I took of that spectacular rocket launch are near
the bottom of the page at: http://www.jouster.0catch.com/jean-99.html

- John Ousterhout -


Thanks John for putting that up. You'll notice the effect I was
discussing about the gasses expanding once the rocket is virtually
outside of the atmosphere. What I find interesting is this happens
relatively quickly, like there is some kind of demarcation line of the
upper atmosphere where you are in it, then in a quantum jump you are
outside of it and the gasses begin expanding without bound. I've
watched these launches for years and they all are about the same.
Before I saw one of these 30 years ago I would have figured that the
demarcation of the upper atmosphere would have been more an analog
event than a digital jump as it seems to be.

In the second and third shots there you'll notice an effect of either
four nozzels or some kind of thrust director in the main nozzel
pushing the gasses symetrically out in 4 quadrants. I wonder what
this is? Anybody know what's going on?

BWB