Tom Cipollina

Starship V3 first flight countdown starting

“It shall be called the Super Bowl and will be a huge national event played deep into the night on Sunday when everyone must go into work on Monday.” “Why not play it on Saturday?” “Nobody knows.”

Trump: "So Walmart -- to me, that's triple A -- but they just came out with a very powerful statement that under the Biden administration, a Thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings cost 25% more." (The meal is cheaper now because the turkey is smaller.)

REMINDER: Starship may produce a visible, subtle "jellyfish" effect low on the horizon from Florida during Monday's launch of Flight 11, based on my jellyfish calculator app's predictions. Forecast times in ET for the Space Coast area: 7:09pm – 7:17pm: Likely ← 🚀 T-0 at 7:15pm 7:18pm – 7:40pm: Very likely 7:41pm – 7:49pm: Likely 7:50pm – 8:03pm: Possible 8:04pm – 8:14pm: Unlikely 8:15pm – 8:31pm: Very unlikely The app estimates the chance of seeing a jellyfish by approximating the rocket’s flight and comparing sunlight conditions along its path to the observer’s location and local darkness — basically checking if the rocket is still lit by the sun while the ground below is in twilight or night. Starship will breach the WSW horizon as it travels ESE. The farther southwest you are in Florida, the higher it will be in the sky. Note that due to a few conditions: - the chemistry of methane propellant compared to brighter-burning RP-1 - time of launch and vehicle performance - your location, local darkness, weather conditions ... the plume may be significantly less visible and less prominent compared to the ideal jellyfish effect produced by Falcon 9 or other rockets. Whatever plume Starship may produce could linger and become illuminated by sunset in the upper atmosphere, so stick around a bit after launch. A similar effect was seen here during a Falcon 9 launch last year. This prediction is approximate and provided as a best-effort, good-faith resource to help you decide whether to try viewing tonight’s launch from Florida. The app has not yet been validated with sufficient data from Starship launches. Please invest time and resources at your own risk. Good luck!