I would love to see a SpaceX launch or failing that any kind of launch. I’ll be in California for business later in the year and could head to Vandenburg if the timing works out. Looks to me like the public viewing area for Vandenburg is at least 6 kilometers from the launch site.
What’s it like seeing a launch from that far away? Would it be worth changing travel plans and considerable expense to see? Is it a once in a life time awe inspiring thing or merely impressive?
I was a member of the press for the fist launch of the Space Shuttle.
My crew and I drove 21 hours to see the launch.
I’d say that if you are space buff, then watching a launch should be on your “bucket list.”
Ok sure, but presumably as a member of the press you had access to a special viewing area. Specifically as a member of the great unwashed public how impressive is it going to be to me in the places I’m allowed to get to?
I am, and it is.
I guess it depends on the launch site.
For the Shuttle, the Press area was not all the much closer than some of the public viewing areas, and at that distance (3.5 miles), another mile is not that big a deal.
You would want to get there very early to stake out a good spot, though.
I saw a couple launched during basic training. An AT4 rocket launcher.
I happened to be at Stennis Space Center in Stennis, MS back in 1993 at the museum when a gal drove up in an extended golf cart and said “y’all want to come see a test firing?” Obviously we said sure, and got to see one of the space shuttle booster engines get tested on a launch stand from about a mile away. It was loud and felt like we were experiencing a small earthquake for about 30 seconds. Kind of cool, but not something I would go out of my way to see.
I live about 50 miles from the launch site at Wallops Island. I work for a company that does maintenance for the SAR helicopter at NAS Patuxent River. One of their other duties is to help with range clearance for Wallops, so I get a pretty good heads up at work for when launches are going to happen. About 500 yards from my house there is a 150 foot high cliff that looks out over the Chesapeake Bay, and I have a clear line of sight to the launch site. I have watched a few launches, and it is impressive from that distance. Of course the first launch that I missed was the one that exploded on the pad, and my neighbors said that it was an impressive sight. The helo crew, who were airborne at the time, said that they shit bricks expecting to get hit by debris, but there was just a shock wave, and they took no damage. Hopefully this helps.
I also happened to be in Orlando on vacation for one of the last Shuttle launches, and that was really impressive. We watched it on TV, and as soon as it cleared the tower we all ran outside and watched it roar off into orbit.
Yes, it’s worth the trip … I just hope it doesn’t have to be destroyed too. Like the two in a row that failed from that same launch site several years ago with 5 billion dollar spy satellites on them.
I witnessed a Polaris launch from my own submarine the USS Ethan Allen back in the late 60’s due to they said they didn’t need me for the test and that I could go witness it on board a destroyer that would be on the surface nearby. I humbled myself and took up the offer to go aboard the dreaded surface ship (we call by other names) and enjoyed their food and company.
Then the captain said for everyone to watch on the starboard side for the launch. A few minutes later the awesome sight of a missile boiling out of the water and turning/rotating at the same time till the air induced the engine to light off and she was out of there in just a few seconds on her way down range to the Roosevelt Roads testing place off PR.
Just so wonderful a sight that words can’t describe it and another time while standing topside watch on the USS Ethan Allen while at Cape Kennedy to load the test Polaris missile I witnessed one go up from just what seems five miles away and it is also still in my memory banks.
Yes, go it won’t be just another day take some food and drink though in case it gets delayed.
I was across the water in Titusville for the first Shuttle launch! Drove up from Plantation!
I also saw the 2nd, 4th and 5th launches. I saw the Challenger disaster. I saw dozens more launches when I lived in Kissimmee.
I am a big fan of NASA and of space stuff in general and always have been.
I would go out of my way a lot to see a launch if I had never seen one. Heck, I once drove to New Mexico just to see the Very Large Array then turned around and drove back (that was about 20 hours of driving and 2 hours of walking around).
Space is cool!
When I was young, I lived about 30 miles away from Vandenburg… even at that range, a launch is damned impressive. There were times that we could even hear the rockets (probably cases where the trajectory took them closer to us).
I would love to see something from closer up, but I’m not sure if it’s worth “considerable expense” if that’s all you will see. There are a lot of other attractions in that part of California that might make it well worth the detour.
I live in central Florida, so pretty much, go out into my yard and look east.
I drove from Atlanta to Titusville to watch a Space Shuttle launch. Would absolutely do it again. Will never forget the visuals and rumble, even from across the water.
I lived in Orlando, & we were able to clearly see a Shuttle launch.
I was in my front yard–it ain’t exactly secret.
I’d pay $50 and drive 200 miles. It’d be really nifty! (Any more cost than that, and I’d start to think of all the books I could buy with the same money.)
I drove from San Jose to Vandenberg to see a SpaceX launch. I’ll probably drive down for the one later this year as well. Unfortunately, it was ridiculously foggy and I didn’t get to see the launch. Hearing it was still pretty damned impressive, though.
I also went to Kauai to watch a launch of a rocket with my satellite on it–but the launch was delayed and I couldn’t stay any longer (bummer).
I also attempted to travel to Wallops Island, VA for another launch with my satellite, but we found out during a layover in Chicago that the launch was delayed. So we returned home.
All in all, not a good record! But that’s how it goes.
At Vandenberg, we just drove down W Ocean avenue (in Lompoc) as far west as we could, and hung out on the side of the road. I think we were ~3 mi away. Lots of other people there, too.
Never seen a launch live. Watched several Shuttle landings at Edwards, though. Met Penn Jillette at one of them. Flight line passes through JPL. Impressive and un-natural at the same time.
My brother-in-law was involved with the Fermi (GLAST) satellite. So we were invited to the launch at Cape Canaveral.
Unfortunately, it was a frustrating experience. We had to reschedule trip (and days off) several times over. It still did not go up when we were there. So we missed the launch anyway.
Still, it was a fun vacation and we visited the Space Center.
And most importantly, although we missed the launch, it did successfully launch a week later.
I still hope to see a launch someday.
I’ve seen the Space Shuttle launch, twice, while I was in Orlando:
Once was a night launch in '95 or '96. I was down there on business, and knowing that there was a launch scheduled, several of us went out to the top of our hotel’s parking ramp to watch for it. Unbeknownst to us (no smartphones yet), the launch was delayed for a little while. Just as we were about to give up and head inside, the Shuttle launched. A truly amazing sight – the light from the engines seemed to fill a quarter of the night sky, and we were able to see the fire trail for several minutes.
The other, less spectacular one, was a daytime launch in '91. My then-girlfriend (now my wife) and I were in Florida on vacation. As we were driving into Disney World, we could see the vapor trail as the Shuttle ascended.
On a different occasion (probably around 2000), we were again in Florida, visiting my father-in-law, who lives a couple of hours south of the Cape. We had gone up to the Kennedy Space Center for a day trip, and learned that there was a satellite launch (on a Delta rocket, IIRC) scheduled for that night. We decided to stay for it (the launch was scheduled for around 9pm), and bought tickets to attend the launch – we were bused from KSC to an observation area, closer to the launch site. After several hours of delays, they finally scrubbed the launch around midnight. 
Back when I was a very little Nemo, I saw the first Apollo test launch. Apparently it wasn’t classified as an Apollo mission because it was an unmanned test flight.