The primary time Gene Kozicki drove to Lompoc to see a rocket blast off from Vandenberg Area Power Base, it was night time, and the entire scene reminded him of the film “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” The highway was blocked off. There have been police. Flashing lights. A man standing close to Kozicki had a radio scanner, and so they listened as a spartan voice counted down: Ten, 9, eight, seven … Over the hill, the place the rocket was on the pad, all was darkish.
After which it wasn’t.
“The sky lights up, and it’s like daytime,” Kozicki mentioned. “This rocket comes up and then a few seconds later, the sound hits you. It’s just this roar and rumble, and then it’s a crackle. And then you look at it and you realize, this thing is not a movie. This thing is actually going into space.”
Individuals (and canines) collect in Lompoc to observe SpaceX efficiently launch a Falcon 9 rocket. (George Rose / Getty Photographs)
Kozicki instructed me about that have as we each stood atop a sand dune at Surf Seaside, simply exterior Lompoc, ready for a distinct rocket to launch. By way of my binoculars I may see a SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 on the pad at Vandenberg, with a Starlink satellite tv for pc on high. SpaceX and different firms have been sending up increasingly more rockets in recent times, and Lompoc has turn into a day journey vacation spot for aerospace aficionados.
I had pushed to Surf Seaside on the recommendation of Bradley Wilkinson, who runs the Fb group Vandenberg Rocket Launches. When requested for the perfect spot to expertise a launch, Wilkinson had responded, within the method typical of connoisseurs, with questions of his personal.
“Do you want to see it?” Wilkinson requested me. “Do you want to feel it? Do you want to hear it?”
If I had simply wished to see it, he mentioned, I may do this simply from Los Angeles. If I picked a launch round twilight, I may even see the jellyfish impact that occurs when daylight displays off the rocket plume. (Individuals all throughout Southern California had that have earlier this week.) However I wished extra. I wished to listen to and really feel the launch, so I took off towards Vandenburg on a transparent Friday afternoon, staying simply forward of site visitors.
Rocket launches have turn into extra frequent at Vandenberg Area Power Base, positioned in Santa Barbara County.
(Anadolu Company through Getty Photographs)
Not everyone seems to be a fan of the elevated frequency of SpaceX launches. Past the various controversies surrounding the corporate’s founder, there are considerations in regards to the results of sonic booms on the atmosphere, and the California Coastal Fee has been battling SpaceX in courtroom over the necessity for permits. Some Lompoc residents have complained in regards to the results of all that rumbling on their homes, however others, like Wilkinson, take pleasure in residing so near the motion; he mentioned he doesn’t even hassle straightening the images on the partitions of his home anymore.
As I drove up the coast, I saved checking the Fb group for updates. Launches will be scrubbed for any variety of causes, and Wilkinson and different members of the group, together with Kozicki, have turn into adept at studying indicators: They observe the climate; they watch the rocket’s motion towards the pad; they monitor SpaceX’s web site and social media.
I pulled into the Surf Seaside parking zone about an hour earlier than launch, and that’s the place I met Kozicki, chatting with a SpaceX engineer and her mom. The engineer was off the clock, however that didn’t cease her mother from telling everybody, proudly, that her daughter labored at SpaceX. It turned a chorus for the subsequent hour:
“You should ask my daughter. She works at SpaceX.”
“Stop telling everyone I work at SpaceX!”
From the highest of the dunes, the 4 of us watched the launchpad for telltale indicators of exhaust. I considered how, hundreds of miles away, crowds in St. Peter’s Sq. had watched for white smoke with the same feeling of anticipation. Different spectators quickly crunched throughout the ice crops and joined us on our perch. A few of them had parked in an even bigger lot to the north and adopted the prepare tracks that ran parallel to the seashore.
The SpaceX engineer answered questions on rocket levels and touchdown burns. She was not licensed to talk to the media, however she shared her information with everybody her mother despatched her method.
All of us watched and waited. Extra individuals walked up the dunes, together with Dan Tauber, who mentioned he’d been motorcycling across the space with pals earlier than deciding to interrupt off from the group to expertise the launch.
“You want to feel your bones rattle,” he mentioned. “So why not get as close as you can?”
Kozicki introduced to the group that we’d know the launch was about to occur — actually about to occur — once we noticed a deluge of water on the pad. Then it will be a matter of seconds earlier than liftoff.
Tauber and I sat collectively within the sand. We watched and waited. He had been a firefighter in San Francisco. He now lived in San Diego. We watched. We waited. A southbound Pacific Surfliner prepare pulled up alongside the parking zone. The railroad bell saved ringing, including to the stress.
“Deluge!” shouted Kozicki.
“Deluge!” shouted the SpaceX engineer’s mom.
Three seconds later, ignition. Fireplace. Smoke. Liftoff.
Cameras clicked.
Somebody shouted, “Whoa!”
I’d’ve carried out the identical.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off. Vandenberg Area Power Base has hosted 836 rocket launches up to now.
(Patrick T. Fallon / AFP through Getty Photographs)
The sound of the rocket got here subsequent, simply as Kozicki had described. Roar. Rumble. Crackle.
Tauber leaned again and mentioned, “I’m just going to enjoy it. Take pictures for me.”
The rocket rose within the blue sky. I managed to get a number of pics, however the flames have been so brilliant that my digicam’s settings went haywire. I put the digicam down and watched the rocket go up, up, up. Then it was gone. Awestruck, I stood round, wanting extra. I wasn’t positive the place to go afterwards.
I knew I’d be again.
Ideas for experiencing a Vandenberg rocket launchFind an upcoming launch
Begin with a website like SpaceLaunchSchedule.com. There are various explanation why a launch may get scrubbed, nevertheless, so Wilkinson suggests checking the Vandenberg Rocket Launches group about 12 hours earlier than a liftoff is scheduled to see whether or not it’s really going to occur. The ultimate authority for SpaceX launches can be SpaceX.com.
In case you simply need to see the rocket, go exterior when there’s a liftoff scheduled for twilight or later. Relying on the climate, it’s best to be capable of see the rocket streaking throughout the Los Angeles sky.
For a more in-depth look, head towards Lompoc
Surf Seaside is an effective spot, though the parking zone can replenish rapidly. There’s one other parking zone to the north, at Ocean Park, a few 30-minute stroll from Surf Seaside. Wilkinson additionally beneficial simply parking alongside Ocean Avenue to really feel the launch in your ft.
“There’s more of a rumble out there,” he mentioned. “You can feel the vibration in the ground.” Different viewing spots, beneficial by Discover Lompoc, embody Santa Lucia Canyon Highway & Victory Highway; Harris Grade Highway; and Marshallia Ranch Highway. Irrespective of the place you park, be thoughtful of locals. Which means no littering, and no middle-of-the-night tailgating. The roads will be crowded with automobiles and folks, so take care whether or not driving or strolling.
Whereas in Lompoc
In case you’re in search of meals after the launch, I had a satisfying surf and turf burrito from Mariscos El Palmar (722 E. Ocean Ave) in Lompoc, proper subsequent to a bar known as Pour Selections.
There’s a famend burger at Jalama Seaside Retailer, the place you can even view a launch. Jalama Seaside County Park has many charms, however the mobile sign is spotty on the market, so that you’ll doubtless haven’t any method of realizing whether or not a launch has been scrubbed on the final minute. However you’ll have a fairly drive both method.
Trying to spend the night time? The Village Inn (3955 Apollo Method) simply opened and markets itself as being impressed by “the golden age of space exploration.” In case you’re having an area day, may as effectively go all the best way.
