Star Points for December, 2006; by Curtis Roelle NASA's Return to Night Flight After the loss of the space shuttle Columbia and her seven member crew during reentry from Earth orbit in 2003 NASA commissioned the Columbia Accident Investigation Board to investigate the cause of the accident and to make recommendations for improving safety. The board placed the blame for the accident on a piece of foam insulation that tore away from the large fuel tank damaging the orbiter's wing during liftoff. The damaged wing caused Columbia to break up during re-entry 16 days later. Once the recommended changes were made to the foam insulation night launches were halted so that the launch vehicle could be photographed during daytime launches to determine if the new changes were effective. After additional enhancements NASA is now ready to resume night time launches of the space shuttle. Space Shuttle Discovery is poised for liftoff at 09:36 p.m. EST on the night of Thursday, December 7. Discovery is the oldest of the three orbiters currently in service. It's also my favorite because I was present at the Cape Canaveral when it was launched on its maiden flight in 1984. What Carroll County residents may not be aware of is that night time shuttle launches offer an opportunity to see a live launch in person without traveling to Florida's space coast. These days most shuttle missions are used for supporting the International Space Station (ISS). In order to do so the shuttle travels along a path that parallels the Atlantic coast of the United States. Seeing a shuttle launch from Carroll County is easy to do, and I've seen a number of them. You will need an observing site with an unobstructed view to the southeast and east as well as clear cloudless skies. I use a hill in my back yard. Here's what I do. At launch time I switch the TV to CNN. CNN usually cuts over to shuttle launch coverage about a minute before liftoff. I watch the launch on TV through the separation of the solid rocket boosters about two minutes later. Then I grab a pair of binoculars and stroll leisurely up the hill. The shuttle first appears low in the southeastern sky about seven minutes after launch. It will be a slowly moving orangish dot. Its color is very distinct from an airplane. You don't need binoculars to see it. However, binoculars will reveal the flame trailing behind the vehicle. As the shuttle moves up the coast gaining altitude it will also get higher in the sky. Main engine cut off, or MECO, occurs about 8 1/2 minutes after launch. By that time the shuttle will be approximately due east from the observer. I've noticed that sometimes the main engines flicker for a time after MECO. You might want to try video recording or photographing the launch. A camcorder can easily pick it up. Use low magnification to locate the shuttle in the view finder and then zoom in. Use a tripod to eliminate the nauseating jiggle of hand held video imaging. If your film or digital camera is capable of making time exposures, use fast film (ISO 400-1600) or film speed setting and set the lens to the widest f-stop. Put your camera on your tripod, aim and focus manually. When you see the shuttle check the view finder and the focus and then open the camera's shutter for as long as the shuttle remains in the frame. On your image the shuttle should appear as a long bright streak. Thirty-four years ago this month the Apollo 17 Saturn V rocket lifted off on its journey to the moon. Apollo 17 was the last manned voyage to the moon of the 20th century but it was also the first night launch of a manned space vehicle. With this month's shuttle launch the night launch has returned. I would be interested to hear reports if your successes observing, photographing, or video recording the launch.