Having Fun at the Sentinel-6B Launch Pad Viewing
Sentinel-6B, the sister satellite to Sentinel-6A (named Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich), was scheduled to launch five years after Sentinel-6A launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. I was fortunate to see the Sentinel-6A launch in November 2020 and participate in the public outreach and media activities, and you can learn more about that adventure in my “A Beautiful Day for a Launch” post.
Due to the extended U.S. government shutdown, the public outreach and media activities were very limited for the Sentinel-6B launch. Fortunately, this did not impact the launch schedule, and I was able to still participate in a launch pad viewing and some pre-launch activities. Fun facts about the pictures below: 1) The viewing location of the launch pad is actually the landing site at Vandenberg for the SpaceX first stage boosters! 2) The model is a 1/3 scale of the Sentinel-6 satellites, and I’m pointing to the radiometer instrument that I worked on from 2016 to 2020 and discussed in my “Earth, My Favorite Planet” post.
Another big question for the Sentinel-6B launch was the weather. Weather can be a big factor in launch schedules, and it is often why launches get postponed (especially in Florida). In the days leading up to the Sentinel-6B launch, it had been raining on and off in Southern California, and many feared the launch would get delayed. Vandenberg is also notorious for its marine layer, which causes coastal fog and poor visibility. Although these conditions typically do not prevent launches, they make for bad launch viewing. My husband and I experienced this first hand in 2018 when we traveled to Vandenberg to see the InSight and MarCO launch. We literally couldn’t see any part of the rocket launch (not even a little orange hue from the engine plumes). We only knew the launch happened because of the sound and the NASA live stream.
On the night of the Sentinel-6B launch, we luckily got a break in the weather – and a break in the clouds – and we witnessed another beautiful launch from Vandenberg. Below are some pictures of the launch, including a shot of the first and second stage separation and our viewing group from Lompoc Airport. My husband also got some nice pictures with his telephoto lens that you can see in his blog post here.
It was exciting and memorable to see the Sentinel-6B launch and to have it happen almost exactly five years after the Sentinel-6A launch from the same launch site and pad. To learn more about this critical mission that continues a legacy of NASA and ESA ocean missions to inform scientists and policy makers how our planet is evolving, visit the NASA mission page here.
Extra: Since the launch was on a Sunday evening, my husband and I decided to have a mini get-away and make a weekend trip to Lompoc, CA, which is the closest city to Vandenberg Space Force Base. While in Lompoc, we discovered a bunch of murals throughout the city and captured the below photos. :)
