Upcoming Launch Schedule

ROCC 2024-2025 Launch Schedule:

NO launch in May due to the wheat. We hope to fly in June. 

 

 All launches are at the Midland, NC site unless otherwise stated.*

Here are some other launch opportunities in our area:

ICBM & ROSCO, better known as Rocketry South Carolina, flies near Dalzelle, SC., Just NE of Shaw AFB.  More information can be gotten at their site HERE

The Saturn Rocketry Club in Hendersonville is currently switching their launch field. As soon as we know where they land we will post it. Their FB site is HERE

NC Rocketry flies at Bayboro, NC in the northeast part of the state, information is HERE

 Set-up starts at about 9:30, launches commence about 10:30. Field closes about 60 min. before local dusk so we can clean up. Watch the site front page for specifics. Also visit us on FaceBook. You can also check for the FAA NOTAM at https://notams.aim.faa.gov/notamSearch/nsapp.html#/ and using KCLT (Charlotte) as the location. This will give you the starting and ending times for HP flights. 

* If field is available due to crops, etc.

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Monday
Jun042012

The Transit of Venus

I've mentioned before a website that both Jean and I love, that is Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy blog at Discover Masgazine. Phil used to work on the Hubble and is one of the most requested astronmoers out there, having wirtten several books, including "Death from the Skies", hosted his own series on the Discovery channel and many, many articles on the web.

His site has a bunch of web links for Tuesday's Transit of Venus across the sun. It's located HERE.

Unless you're going to be around for the next one in like, 117 years, now's your shot!

Enjoy....

dr

Reader Comments (4)

The local astronomy club is hosting a viewing party McAlpine Creek Park, off Monroe Road in Charlotte. (5pm - 8pm) Weather is not perfect but if we are lucky this will be literally the chance of a lifetime!

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/06/01/3285327/last-chance-to-see-venus-transit.html

Park is located off Monroe Road between Villiage Lake and Sardis:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=mcalpine+creek+park+charlotte+nc&ll=35.152161,-80.740478&spn=0.011983,0.019226&fb=1&gl=us&hq=mcalpine+creek+park+charlotte+nc&hnear=mcalpine+creek+park+charlotte+nc&cid=0,0,16208764795226960044&t=m&z=16&iwloc=A

June 5, 2012 | Registered CommenterBrad Shea

Update - I just found out that Discovery Place is also hosting a viewing on the 3rd level of their parking deck.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/06/02/3286361/astronomers-eager-to-see-venus.html

June 5, 2012 | Registered CommenterBrad Shea

Well that was a bit of a bust. I went to McApline park and hung out for 2.5 hours watching the clouds block the sun. The clouds had been patchy up until about 6pm and then right before the event (6:09pm) they thickened up. A few keyholes in the clouds allowed a couple of lucky people to see the event. My daughter (Hope) was one of them. She was clustered around a solar projection telescope and along with a dozen folks she saw an image projected onto a white card which had clouds covering about 3/4's of the face of the sun but not the part where Venus was in transit over.

I had set my sites on watching the event through a Hydrogen Alpha filtered scope but it was not to be. The first one that I lined up behind was too low for some of the keyholes late in the day and took too long to adjust between keyholes. The second one (also a dedicated solar scope) could only be aimed when the sun was showing brightly - so it too took too long to reaim between openings - and in fact there were no openings after I lined up behind that scope. Oh well... 105 years isn't too long to wait is it? LOL

June 6, 2012 | Registered CommenterBrad Shea

There are some great movies from the event, but from the NASA SOL observatory here's a lovely one... LINK

June 7, 2012 | Registered CommenterDOC R.
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