STARSHIP LAUNCH SCRUBBED: SpaceX will have to try again another day to launch Starship. The countdown to liftoff of the most powerful rocket ever built was called off on Monday morning because of a problem with a frozen valve. SpaceX said it would need a minimum of 48 hours to try to launch Starship again from its spaceport at the southern tip of Texas. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
A BLUE SPIRAL OVER ALASKA: Longtime aurora hunter Todd Salat is no stranger to fantastic displays in the night skies of Alaska. But even he was not prepared for what happened after local midnight on Saturday, April 15th.
"I was utterly surprised and mystified when I first spotted a distant bright light coming toward me from the northern horizon," says Salat. "At first I thought it was a jet airliner flying through some clouds. Then it took on the spiral shape and grew big fast!" This is what he saw:
"I was shooting frantically with two camera/tripod set-ups knowing that this was a unique event and within about seven minutes the 'apparition' swept by and disappeared. It was spellbinding! For the past two nights I had been photographing auroras over this dome (Donnelly Dome) and hoping to catch something special. I got my wish!"
Salat witnessed a "SpaceX spiral." Three hours earlier (Saturday, April 15th at 0648 UT), SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base. It carried 51 small satellites to Earth-orbit, a mission known as Transporter-7. When the rocket's discarded upper stage passed over Alaska, it vented its unused fuel. A bit of spin turned the harmless cloud into a spectacular spiral.
An all-sky camera at the University of Alaska's Poker Flat Research Range also recorded the phenomenon:
The spiral appears about halfway through the video at the 09:50 UT mark. Even though you know it's coming, it's still a shock when it zooms through the field of view.
As strange and rare as it appears, the spiral is a routine by-product of SpaceX operations. Similar blue swirls have been seen after many Falcon 9 launches including this one over New Zealand, another over east Africa, and two more above Hawaii. One may be coming soon to a sky near you.
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SIERRA MOONRISE PENDANT: Are you looking for a far-out gift? Consider the Sierra Moonrise Pendant. It flew to the edge of space on April 15, 2023, floating on a cosmic ray balloon 117,400 feet above the historically-snowy Sierra Nevada mountains of California:
You can have it for $179.95. The sterling silver pendant shows the craggy Sierra range with a full Moonstone rising overhead. It makes a great birthday, anniversary or Mother's day gift.
The students of Earth to Sky Calculus are selling space pendants to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the pendant in flight and telling the story of its journey to the stratosphere and back again
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
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