Last week I got a tip-off from a co-worker. Sea Launch, a mobile ocean-going launch platform partially developed by Boeing, was conducting final testing on a fully integrated satellite and launch vehicle down in Long Beach Harbor, its home port. The Sea Launch platform would be heading out soon to launch the spacecraft, and was conducting some final testing before heading out. It was a rare opportunity to see the launch vehicle (a.k.a. rocket) and satellite mated and erected in launch configuration. The following day they would once again lower the assembly and return it to its stowed configuration within the Sea Launch hanger in prep for the voyage southwest. I coordinated the evening with Stacy and I managed to get home early enough to pile everyone in the car and head to the port. It was amazing how close we were able to get. We parked on the warf right next to the moored launch platform. Being so close gave you a much greater appreciation for just how big these things are!
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| The launch platform with the command ship. |
Sea Launch uses a converted oil rig to launch satellites from the equator, which is the ideal place to launch a geosynchronous satellite. The oil rig platform
Ocean Odyssey and its associated command ship
Sea Launch Commander are based in Long Beach, but when conducting a launch mission, travel out to the equator just south of Hawaii. There have been dozens of launches over the 10+ years its been in service. (Some more successful than
others.)
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| Massive columns of the converted oil derrick. |
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| There was lots of other "cool" stuff to be seen at the harbor. |
The kids got a big kick out of seeing a "real satellite" though you couldn't see much of it tucked away inside its faring at the rocket tip. But just knowing it was there was good enough, evidently. After the viewing we grabbed a quick dinner in Long Beach, but before heading back home over the Vincent Thomas bridge, we pulled off into the port a second time for a sunset viewing of the assembly. Pretty cool!
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| Long Beach Harbor by night. |
The kids got a big kick out of seeing a "real satellite" though you couldn't see much of it tucked away inside its faring at the rocket tip. But just knowing it was there was good enough, evidently. After the viewing we grabbed a quick dinner in Long Beach, but before heading back home over the Vincent Thomas bridge, we pulled off into the port a second time for a sunset viewing of the assembly. Pretty cool!
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