Have you ever watched a rocket launch? Some of us are in a position to do something like that fairly easily, based on where we live. For other people, it might be something we do on TV or online. Either way, it’s pretty incredible, space reporter Emilee Speck said.
Speck was featured in a recent episode of “The Best Advice Show,” and spoke about some of the best ways to take in this cool experience.
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Here’s what she told host Zak Rosen:
- If you’ve never been to a launch before, put down your phone! Don’t worry about recording it. “Just watch it and be amazed,” Speck said.
- Watching it in person? Make sure you’re with other people -- in particular, kids. “Watching a launch with a child, especially with one who has never seen a launch before, is the best experience,” Speck said. “Kids are just, they’re just us, and they’re little and they just don’t contain their excitement and they get so excited. Some of the favorite videos that I’ve ever seen covering a launch is watching kids react to the rocket. They’re just absolutely freaking amazed. It is so cool.”
- If you’re trying to watch a launch online, put the launch feed up on the TV, maybe somewhere like your living room, for the best experience. “And turn the sound way up,” Speck said with a laugh. “Because the booster, the launch, the rumble -- it’s way, way better in person, but sometimes, the live streams will do a good job, as well.”
Listen to the entire episode below. It’s only a few minutes in length.
What’s so cool about a rocket launch, anyway?
“If you’re watching it in person, just the feeling of knowing that something that we made here is leaving Earth, because that’s really freaking hard to do,” Speck told Rosen.
Speck is a digital journalist and the host of a new podcast called “Space Curious.”
We have three launches set for the coming days (times are in EST):
Sunday
- Rocket: United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy
- Mission: Classified National Reconnaissance Office satellite
- Launch Time: 12:10 a.m.
- Launch Window: About and hour
- Launch Complex: 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Monday
- Rocket: SpaceX Falcon 9
- Mission: 13th batch of Starlink internet satellites
- Launch Time: 10:22 a.m.
- Launch Window: Instantaneous
- Launch Pad: 39A at Kennedy Space Center
Tuesday
- Falcon 9 GPS: 9:55 p.m.
These three upcoming rocket launches will all be in Florida. Launch times and dates are subject to change due to weather and other events.
And here’s a full schedule from the Kennedy Space Center, if you’re curious about what’s coming up beyond just this week.
“Space Curious” is produced by Graham Media Group, as is “The Best Advice Show.”
In each space episode, Speck answers a different listener’s question, such as “Where does all the space junk go?” Or “How did the International Space Station get assembled in the first place?”
You can find both wherever you listen to podcasts.
Other cool space stories:
15 things you probably didn’t know about the moon
Look up: International Observe the Moon Night is a great reason to sky gaze