Hey, where did the Delta IV go?

LC-37B stands empty after the GPS IIF-2 was successfully in orbit after a spectacular launch on its Delta IV rocket.

Delta IV launch plume

About 5 or 6 minutes after launch, the moonlit plume from the Delta IV GPS IIF-2 vehicle hangs over LC-37B at the Cape Canaveral AFS.

Bright lights and Delta IVs

About an hour before launch, the skies are clearing over LC-37B at the Cape Canaveral SFS. The Delta IV rocket with the GPS IIF-2 payload on board is lit up by xenon lights around the pad, much as the Atlantis was just a week earlier as it prepared for launch.

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).

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.