p.1 #1 · Rocket venting propellants captured over Utah desert at night
Was in the desert for my second trip of the year, and got to see an amazing sight, a huge plume of liquid oxygen being ejected from a chinese rocket. The plume was ~40° in both heigh and width, and easily seen with the naked eye, including its movement. This was the rocket that recently launched China's lunar sample return mission, the payload of which is now in lunar orbit (supposedly?), and due to land on the far side of the moon. Used the Canon R5 and Sigma 40/1.4 Art for this two-image composite (for foreground exposure). Abajo Mountains and Blanding, UT in the foreground, view looking north-northwest.
This was another tough trip (maybe I'm just getting old, lol), marginal weather that had me thinking of going home early: constant winds of 20 gusting 50+, lows in the 30s at night. Actually had to sleep in the front seat of the 4Runner one night due to 2 hours of rain at Valley of the Gods upon late-evening arrival. Did get one nice day and evening, which was refreshing.
Anywho, if you are interested in details of such things, you can find more information here, including a time-lapse that also shows the next orbital pass (90 minutes later) of the venting and plume (using 14mm lens).
Fair skies and calm winds,
Jeff
Chinese LongMarch 5 rocket venting lox in LEO after 5/3/24 launch.
Canon EOS R540mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art 018 lens40mmf/1.815s1600 ISO0.0 EV
p.1 #3 · Rocket venting propellants captured over Utah desert at night
stanj wrote:
Great stuff as always, Jeff. Not sure how I feel about the masking of the sky vs. the mountains in the distance.
Yeah, I need to finish that one up, I lost a day and wanted to get something put together quickly for another purpose (occurrences like this get 'stale' quickly). I've got three other images I'm working on, and one of them takes way too much effort. Appreciate the input, Stan!
