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[OM] Yet more adventures in rocket photography

Subject: [OM] Yet more adventures in rocket photography
From: Gary Edwards <zuikowarriors@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 30 Apr 2004 17:58:40 -0700 (PDT)
I went out to the Range for a tracking mission two weeks ago.  I arrived the 
night before our mission and, after dinner, drove out to San Augustine Pass 
with my battered, old OM-1N (in its beautiful new Morgan Sparks red mark 
lizard!).
 
I knew that a Terrier-Orion sounding rocket launch was scheduled sometime 
between 20:50 and 21:50 by the published times for the road blocks on US 
Highway 70, which crosses the Range joining Las Cruces and Alamagordo.  I set 
up my tripod behind the porta-potties just east of the summit and waited.
 
When westbound traffic ceased, I began making timed two-minute exposures using 
the audible alarm on my wrist watch.  I was about to close the shutter on the 
seventh exposure and wind to the next frame when I saw the ignition flash below 
me in the valley.  I had not been certain where the launch site was as I set up 
in the dark, but I had centered a flashing red light (a sign of ordnance on the 
pad) at about where I though the launcher was.  I watched with the cable 
release in my hand as a Venus-bright star rose vertically into the sky and then 
winked out.  Some seconds later the second stage ignited and the star-bight 
point of light continued to far above me.  After the light winked out a second 
time, I could still follow a dull red glowing point by craning my neck back.  I 
closed the shutter.
 
Here is the result:  http://flightpixels.com/TerrierOrion3.jpg
 
I am not yet happy with the scan but you get the idea.  There are several 
interesting points to note.  The exposure is perhaps three minutes at f/8 with 
a Zuiko 35/2.8 silver-nose on Provia 100F.  The star trails are much more 
brightly colored than one's perception - a typical result.  They are also 
longer than I would have guessed for three minutes.  You can see that the 
camera was steady and the lens is sharp because the star trails are crisp, but 
the overexposure of many fixed lights on the ground with wind or dust produced 
oddly shaped white blotches. Also, my perception was that the vehicle ascended 
essentially vertically.  From the image you can see that the trajectory was 
significantly inclined to the north.  This is necessary to place the impact in 
a safe area north and west of Holloman AFB.
 
If I get another chance, I'll use a slightly wider lens, say a 24, oriented 
vertically (now that I know the launch position) and stop down one stop.  I 
welcome suggestions for scanning and processing the image.
 
regards,
Gary Edwards

                
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