Delta IV GPS IIF-2 late in the countdown

The Delta IV with GPS IIF-2 satellite sits poised and ready for launch at Cape Canaveral AFS LC-37B. It's just about half an hour to launch.

Delta IV GPS IIF-2 launch

Still in Florida and after two launch delays, the Delta IV GPS IIF-2 launch from pad 37B finally got off the pad. Launch was on time at 2:41 AM EDT on the morning of Saturday, July 16. This time exposure was taken with my 24mm lens at ISO 100, f/22 with a length of 100 seconds. It flew out of my field (should have used my 10mm fisheye, but then overhead power lines would have added some "character" to the image).

SpaceX Dragon spacecraft

On Sunday July 10, after we were told Liberty Star would not be going through the Canaveral Lock until later that night or the next day (incorrect info), we went over to the Cape Canaveral Air Force Museum which is right next to the SpaceX offices. They had the first flown Dragon spacecraft there. This view shows the scorch marks as well as one of the drogue chute cannisters with a strip of the heatshield that is torn away by the drogue chute lines. Of course, while we were here enjoying our look at the Dragon, Liberty Star and the right SRB were going through the Locks, unbeknownst to us at the time....

Liberty Star, SRB & the VAB

We had "fun" chasing Liberty Star and the SRB it carried through Port Canaveral. We spent more than 2 hours at Canaveral Lock waiting for it before we were told that it would not come through on Sunday afterall, so we went to the Cape Canaveral Air Force Museum to see the Dragon Spacecraft only to find out after our visit to the museum that it in fact was "in the lock now!" So we missed the lock passage and dashed around to A1A where I got this picture of it in the distance with the VAB in the background.

VAB the night before STS-135 launch

The VAB stands silently by while Atlantis hogs all the attention the night before the launch of STS-135 and the final shuttle flight. This immense building is where two generations of NASA spacecraft, the Apollo-Saturn rockets and Space Shuttles have been assembled before being transported out to Launch Complex 39 and sent off on their missions. It stands empty now with no manned launches from Kennedy Space Center in the near future. The tall tower at left is a relic of the recently canceled Constellation program and was built to launch the Ares I rockets with Orion capsules on them at a cost of about $390 million. This image was taken with my 75-300mm lens at f/5.6, ISO 100 and 30 seconds.

Go Atlants Go!

Atlantis climbs into the Florida sky as it makes the 135th and final launch of the Space Shuttle program on July 8, 2011. The boat in the foreground dragged its anchor and ended up right in line with our view from Space View Park in Titusville as the main engines and then SRBs lit to begin its flight. This image was taken with my 75-300mm lens at 300mm focal length, 1/400 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.

STS-135, the night before

We watched the launch of Atlantis on the final shuttle flight of STS-135 on July 8. This was the view of the launch pad with low hanging clouds the night before launch as viewed from Space View Park in Titusville where we watched the launch. The bright xenon lights illuminate the shuttle and launch pad as well as the sky overhead. This exposure was with my 70-300mm lens at f/5.6, ISO 100, 30 seconds.

Bighorn Sheep

A Bighorn Sheep at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum west of Tucson. These wonderful animals used to be very abundant in the Santa Catalina Mountains north of town, but their population has shrunk considerably with the incursion of human activity in and around the mountains.

Hummingbird at Arizona Sonora Desert Museum

The Arizona Sonora Desert Museum west of Tucson has a wonderful hummingbird display where you can get up close to many of them. Here one works at a flower, his wings blurring even a fast camera shutter.

Every snowstorm needs a snowman

Someone made this small snowman outside the Kitt Peak visitors center on Sunday. This image was taken with my 24mm lens with an exposure of 1/320 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 100.

Baboquivari in the snow

Baboquivari Peak is the tallest peak in the Quinlan Mountains and is located south of Kitt Peak. Here it sits with its summit almost touching the clouds overhead on Sunday after a winter storm blanketed the area with about 6 inches of snow. This view is from Kitt Peak, near the 84 inch telescope, taken with my 24mm lens and an exposure of 1/500 seconds at f/7, ISO 100.

84 inch and snow

I hiked around the mountain mid-afternoon on Sunday. We were having a few snow flurries, but much of the snow that had fallen over night and early in the morning was still around. Here, the Kitt Peak 84 inch telescope sits on top of a snow covered hill. This image was taken with my 24mm lens with an exposure of 1/500 seconds at f/7, ISO 100.

Winter Wonderland

We got about 6 inches of snow last night and this morning on Kitt Peak. It's starting to clear and the snow is starting to melt. Here is the Spacewatch 36 inch dome with the sun poking out of the clouds. This image was taken with my 10mm fisheye lens with an exposure of 1/800 seconds at f/11, ISO 400.

Fog on Kitt Peak

Not too much observing tonight on Kitt Peak, and here is the reason: fog and high humidity. Here, the Spacewatch 36 inch dome pokes out of the fog rolling over the mountain top. The 1.8-m dome is also visible to the left. This image was taken with my 10mm fisheye lens with an exposure of 30 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400, and cropped a bit.

Moonrise over Tucson II

Here's another view of Wednesday night's moonrise. Turns out my friend Dave was set up only a few hundred feet away taking photos of the moonrise. This image was taken with my 75-300mm lens at 130mm focal length with an exposure of 2 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.

Moon rise over Tucson

We had a pretty full Moon rise over Tucson today. On the way home, I detoured partway up Sentinal Peak (A Mountain) to get this view over downtown Tucson. This image was taken with my 75-300mm zoom at 75mm focal length with an exposure of 4 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.

Morning Twilight

As the morning twilight grows in strength, telescopes on the north end of Kitt Peak prepare to shut down. In this image, the Spacewatch 36 inch telescope left of center is visible with the Steward Observatory 90 inch Bok telescope and KPNO 4-m Mayall Telescope near center. Just right of the 4-m is the glint of an Earth orbiting satellite. The Big Dipper is near the top of the frame. This image was taken with my 10mm fisheye lens with an exposure of 59 seconds at f/2.8, ISO 400.

90 inch in moonlight

Here's another image from last months observing run on the 90 inch Bok Telescope. The Moon shines in the upper left and Cassiopeia is visible through the aperture of the dome just below center. This image was taken with my 10mm fisheye lens with an exposure of 30 seconds at f/2.8, ISO 400.

90 inch and the Moon

I took this image last month when we were using the 90 inch Bok Telescope on Kitt Peak. We were waiting for the moonlit cirrus to clear out, so I set up my camera and used my LED flashlight to indirectly light up the telescope. The telescope itself is green (as you can see in some of my other photos) but the LED flashlight gives it a blue tint. This image was taken with my 10mm fisheye lens with an exposure of 30 seconds at f/2.8, ISO 400.

Iridium Flare

It's a bird, it's a plane. Well, actually it's an Iridium satellite flare and a nice bright one, with the prediction being magnitude -8! This image was taken from the landing outside the 1.8-m with my 10mm fisheye lens set at f/2.8 with an exposure of 60 seconds at ISO 400.