Will I be able to see it?

Two people, one launch

Imagine two people watching the same rocket. One has an open horizon. The other looks toward a building. Both face the launch site, but only one has a clear view ahead. Distance from the pad is just one part of the answer.

Your horizon is where the ground seems to meet the sky. Elevation is the angle between that horizon and the object you are looking at. It describes where the rocket appears in your sky, rather than its height above the ground.

The rocket keeps moving

As the rocket climbs, it may clear the building in one observer’s view. Then it travels away from the pad in the direction its mission needs. A useful direction for the first moments of flight may not describe where to look later.

Earth’s curve can hide a distant rocket during the low part of its flight, even across an otherwise open horizon. The lower panel in the illustration shows that relationship. Both people in the upper panels are seated; in that example, the building is what blocks the view.

Try it for yourself

Compare the two views

Who might see the early climb? What could change as the rocket climbs higher?

The atmosphere gets a say

An open view can still contain cloud or haze. Low clouds may hide the early climb; another layer can obscure the rocket farther along its path. Bright daylight can make a small, distant object harder to pick out.

A visible rocket and a glowing jellyfish plume are different sights. The plume also needs the right sunlight. JEP calls whether the plume can be seen; it is not a general rating for every part of a launch.

A broadcast can be in several places

A broadcast borrows views from several places. It can follow parts of a mission that one person on the ground could never see together.

On February 6, 2018, Falcon Heavy launched for the first time. Its two side boosters returned to landing pads, while the center core’s separate recovery attempt at sea did not succeed. The Tesla Roadster test payload continued into an orbit around the Sun. Starman, seated inside it, was a mannequin.

A broadcast could switch among the rising rocket, the departing payload and the returning boosters. Those cameras showed different places and different vehicles. One observer on the ground could not simply share every camera’s viewpoint.

Describe the view you mean

Try this sentence: “From this viewpoint, this part of the flight may be visible because…” Perhaps the horizon is open, the rocket has climbed high enough, or a sunlit plume stands out against a dark sky.

Then add what might change the view. For an upcoming flight, start with its date, time zone and status, and check the viewing information again near launch. If an estimate is unavailable, the view is still unknown.