A few close ups of the Atlas V launch - 18 August in Florida

[tooth_dr]

Having left the family in the holiday villa around 5am yesterday morning I headed east across Florida towards Playalinda Beach for the launch of NASAs TRDS-M on an Atlas V rocket.

At 8:29 I got some nice close ups with my cheap 60mm mak / canon 1000d, and some widefield shots with a Sigma 10-20mm / 400d. I had both mounted on the SW star adventurer minus the EQ bit.

Some time after lift-off the sound hit us on the beach, quite incredible given it was 5 miles away!

I hope you like the pictures.

[Skyline]

Those are some amazing pictures, especially Blast off.

[Alan White]

Watched this via Facebook, so was wondering what you had caught.

Well you have captured quite something from 5 miles away with a small scope/lens, wonderful captures and a big thumbs up for the effort you have put into it.

Watching a real rocket launch is something I would love to do.

[tooth_dr]

Thank-you. It was really worth it and Playalinda Beach was ideal for launch pad #41.  I met a few people there too including a Dutch guy in the navy, so was overall a great experience that I will never forget.

[Stu]

Amazing stuff, would love to see a live launch. The pictures are excellent, particularly given the distance!

[tooth_dr]

15 minutes ago, Stu said:

Amazing stuff, would love to see a live launch. The pictures are excellent, particularly given the distance!

Thanks Stu. Lots of vignetteing but at £91 the wee 60mm/700mm mak worked well. A delay in the card writing meant a gap in the photos too but I think overall it's ok.