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MENU FRONT PAGE SPACE SCIENCE CAPE CANAVERAL WEATHER LAUNCH WEATHER RADAR Tuesday, February 6, 2018 X Falcon Heavy Launch Reset For 3:45 PM EST CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida - X is poised to make space history once again with the launch its Falcon 9 Heavy rocket carrying a midnight cherry Tesla roadster into a Martian solar orbit. The most powerful rocket since the Saturn V lunar missions is scheduled to liftoff at 3:45 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, February 6, 2018, from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Center in Florida. The launch was pushed back from 1:30 p.m. due to high winds. The launch window remains open until 4 p.m. Launch Weather 80% 'GO' According to the latest forecast from the U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron, there is an 80% chance of favorable weather for the launch. The primary concerns are liftoff winds and thick clouds. Booster Rockets Ground Landing, Double Sonic Booms After first booster separation from the core, X will attempt to land two Falcon Heavy booster rockets on land at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Landing Zones 1 and 2. Landing Zones 1 and 2 are built on the former site of Launch Complex 13, a Cold War-Era U.S. Air Force rocket and missile testing range last used in 1978. Residents of the communities of Cape Canaveral, Cocoa, Cocoa Beach, Merritt Island, Mims, Port Canaveral, Port St. John, Rockledge, Scottsmoor, Sharpes, and Titusville, Florida, are most likely to hear a sonic boom, although what Brevard County residents experience will depend on weather conditions and other factors. Attempted Core Rocket Landing On Drone Ship Following stage separation, the core rocket of the Falcon Heavy will attempt a landing on the Of Course I Still Love You autonomous drone ship downrange in the Atlantic Ocean. Image and video credit: X WATCH THE FALCON HEAVY LAUNCH COUNTDOWN LIVE: Wednesday, January 31, 2018 Eclipse 2018: Super Moon Blood Moon Blue Moon Lunar Eclipse Live A Super Moon, Blue Moon, Blood Moon lunar eclipse will occur during the predawn hours today, Wednesday, January 31, 2018. This once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event hasn't happened in 150 years because it is very rare for a Blood Moon lunar eclipse to occur on the same night as a Blue Moon. What time is the Super Blue Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse In The United States? Eastern Time Zone: 6:45 a.m. - 7:00 a.m ET Central Time Zone: 6:15 a.m - 6:30 a.m. CT Mountain Time Zone: 6:00 a.m - 7:00 a.m. MT Pacific Time Zone: 5:00 a.m. - 6:00 a.m. PT The Blue Moon will start to enter the outer part of Earth’s shadow at 5:51 a.m. Eastern Time / 4:51 a.m Central Time, but the start of the lunar eclipse won't be very noticeable to people in the eastern half of the United States. Viewers in California, Oregon, Washington and western Canada will see a change at the very beginning of the lunar eclipse at 3:48 a.m. Pacific Time. Where to watch the Super Blue Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse: The lunar eclipse will occur just before the moon sets in the west. So a clear view of the western horizon is key to watching this lunar eclipse. Why Is It Called A Super Blue Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse? Total lunar eclipses are referred to as "Blood Moons" because they often appear dark red in color. For a total lunar eclipse to happen, the Moon must be full, which means it is directly opposite the Sun, with Earth in between. The reddish appearance of the Moon is caused by the Earth's atmosphere filtering out blue light from the sunlight that reaches the Moon. A Super Moon occurs because the Moon is in an elliptical orbit around the Earth. When the Moon is closest, it is at its orbital perigee, which is why a Super Moon is also known as a Perigee Moon. Blue Moons occur when there is a second full moon in a calendar month or when a season has four full moons. Full moons are separated by 29 days but seasons are 88 to 92 days long - so it is possible to fit four full moons into a single season. This happens just over two-and-a-half years, on average. When there are four full moons in a season, the third full moon is considered a Blue Moon. This is why the phrase "Once in a Blue Moon" is commonly known to mean something rare and offbeat because of the rare occurrence of a Blue Moon. Will the 2018 Super Blue Blood Moon look blue? The date of a full moon doesn't affect the full moon's color. The Full Moon on Wednesday, January 31, 2018, will appear pearly-gray to most locations on Earth before and after the lunar eclipse. According to NASA, the key to a moon appearing blue is to have lots of particles slightly wider than the wavelength of red light (0.7 micron) and no other sizes present in the air. This is rare, but volcanoes sometimes produce such clouds, as do forest fires. Humans saw blue moons almost every night when the Krakatoa volcano exploded in 1883 with the force of a 100-megaton nuclear bomb. Plumes of ash rose to the very top of Earth's atmosphere. Some of those ash-clouds were filled with particles about 1 micron wide - just the right size to strongly scatter red light while allowing other colors to pass. White moonbeams shining through the clouds emerged blue, and sometimes green. People also saw blue-colored Moons in 1983 after the eruption of the El Chichon volcano in Mexico. And there are reports of blue Moons caused by Mt. St. Helens in 1980 and Mount Pinatubo in 1991. Labels: Blood Moon , Blue Moon , Lunar Eclipse , Moon , Supermoon Wednesday, January 17, 2018 VIDEO: Michigan Meteor Causes 2.0 Magnitude Earthquake DETROIT, Michigan - A meteor caused a 2.0 magnitude earthquake Tuesday night just northwest of Detroit, Michigan. NASA and the Detroit National Weather Service confirmed that a bright fireball which streaked over Michigan skies just after 8 p.m. Eastern Time was indeed a meteor. "After reviewing several observational datasets, the NWS can confirm the flash and boom was NOT thunder or lightning, but instead a likely meteor," NWS Detroit stated on Twitter. Later in the night, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed that the impact of the shooting star caused a 2.0 magnitude earthquake with its epicenter about 40 miles northeast of Detroit near New Haven, Michigan. Image and video credit: Mike Austin Labels: meteor Sunday, December 31, 2017 First Full Moon Of 2018 Is A Supermoon On New Year's Day CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida -- The first Full Moon of 2018 is a Supermoon that will occur on New Year's Day, Monday, January 1, 2018, beginning with a moonrise over the Atlantic at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (with a few minutes of variation depending on your exact location). The Full Moon will technically be 99.9% full at 12:33 a.m. before it sets the following Tuesday morning at 7:35 a.m. A Full Moon in January has seasonal names such as a "Wolf's Moon" or "Old Moon." What's so special about this New Year's Day 2018 Super Moon? According to NASA, a Super Moon occurs because the Moon is in an elliptical orbit around the Earth. When the Moon is closest, it is at its orbital perigee, which is why a Super Moon is also known as a Perigee Moon. A full moon at its closest point to Earth definitely will be big and bright. But it won't look much, if any, different than a "normal" full moon and will not have any readily observable effect on our planet except perhaps slightly higher tides. When is the best time to watch the 2018 Super Moon? Low hanging moons near the horizon appear larger to humans. So the Super Moon will appear biggest to the naked eye on the U.S east coast during and just after the moonrise around 5:30 p.m. on January 1, 2018. If you live in a different time zones, the moonrise time would be around the same time in your local time. Where is the best place to watch the Super Moon? The Super Moon will be visible around the world. The best place to watch is wherever the viewer has a good view of the horizon, lack of artificial lighting, and no local cloud cover. Labels: Moon , Supermoon Wednesday, December 20, 2017 Winter Solstice 2017: The First Day Of Winter The Winter So...