UPDATE: NASA moon launch could be visible from Charlestown Friday night

Nice view off our coast 80 second later

By Will Collette

UPDATE: with blast-off right on schedule, LADEE appeared in our clear, chilly sky right on schedule. From my vantage point, it popped off one of its stages with a bright flash just west of Block Island. Great sight!
NASA might put on a show for us tonight, weather permitting (and so far, it looks good). LADEE, which stands for Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, is scheduled for launch from its Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on the Virginia Outer Banks at 11:27 PM, give or take.

Click here for the official site which will allow you to check on the countdown.

This large, five-stage rocket will be visible along much of the Atlantic coast from Virginia to Maine. We are in the zone where we should be able to see the rocket cycle through its third and fourth stage at a height of about 15 degrees off the horizon at about 80 seconds after the actual launch.

LADEE will be climbing (although from our perspective it will seem to be dropping as it goes over the curve of the earth) into orbit heading east-northeast. Based on the maps, it looks to me like it should come into view in the south or southwest and will be heading southeast.

Here are NASA’s maps:

Height off the horizon:

How long after launch before first sighting: