This was what drew me to Titusville and Space View Park, last night, July 16, 2019, the 50th anniversary of the #Apollo11 launch. Meet the Apollo monument. According to the American Space Museum & Space Walk of Fame website, "the monument groundbreaking was held on July 16, 1999, at precisely 9:32 a.m., exactly 30 years after 'Lift Off' of Apollo XI." So, this was where I decided I would capture the rise of the Full Moon, exactly 50 years (plus 11 hours) after "Lift Off" of Apollo XI. I arrived a few minutes before moonrise, but I failed to account for how dense the trees were in the background, which meant I needed to wait until the Moon was higher in the sky. This is 35 minutes after moonrise and 40 minutes after sunset, and the monument isn't lit, which meant the scene was quite dark. Solution: My rarely used speedlight. But, there were also powerlines and tree branches in the way, so really didn't like anything I was getting. After a 24-hour cooling off period (I was rather frustrated with the scene last night; the gazillion mosquitoes weren't helping my mood, either) I revisited the images and found this one. The monument isn't in focus (I had to shoot closer than I intended), and the Moon is partially obscured (by a tree and aforementioned monument), but here it is. Aside from the mosquitos, it was a pretty terrific being there, and I was able to hang around to catch the ISS flying overhead a few minutes later. TL;DR: #Apollo50!

50 yrs+12 hrs+5 mins after the #Apollo11 launch, the International Space Station flew high and bright over the Space Coast and the American Space Museum & Space Walk of Fame Apollo monument in Titusville, Florida. This is just across the river from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, from where Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins began their epic journey. Behind me is the (very) full Moon, a lovely and apt coincidence for this anniversary. Details: 7x1-minute exposures, the ISS is arching across the top of the frame as it flies from the Southwest to the Northeast, almost directly overhead. (Pic: me / We Report Space)

99% illuminated moonrise in Satellite Beach, Florida. (Pic: me, July 15, 2019)

Looks like someplace we've been before... 96% illuminated, seen from the Space Coast of Florida. #Apollo50th

Apollo 15 Command Module Pilot Al Worden waving at the admiring crowd during the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation Astronaut Parade this (Saturday) morning. One of only 24 people to have flown to the Moon, Worden orbited it 74 times in the Command Module "Endeavour." (Source: NASA Apollo 15 history page) Also, Worden is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the "Most Isolated Human Being," a distinction he earned during his time alone in the command module "Endeavour". When the orbiting command module was at its greatest distance from Apollo 15 colleagues Scott and Irwin in the Lunar Module "Falcon", Worden was 2,235 miles (3,597 km) away from any other human beings. (Source: The Guinness Book) Too Long; Didn't Read: Worden is way cooler than me, you and pretty much everyone. (Pic: me, July 13, 2019)

Don't take my Ektachrome away. One of the four cameras I fielded for the #STP2 #FalconHeavy launch by #SpaceX was a 35mm film camera. After this launch, I sat on this roll of film for about 10-days before sending it to The Darkroom for processing and scanning. I forgot about the roll, and then when I remembered, I thought I hadn't gotten anything usable. I put the hand-warmer on the lens later than I thought I should have, and I recollected that all my gear was covered in dew at the time of launch, so I thought this frame would be a foggy mess. When I received this scan via email, I was delighted. Although this shot is very similar to the great shots taken by John Kraus and John Pisani, the novelty here is that this is a 20-ish minute long exposure captured on newly re-released Kodak Ektachrome 100 transparency film. The curved streak is the fully assembled Falcon Heavy rocket; the two streaks above the launch streak are from the side boosters returning to the Cape, then the two streaks in the center of the shot are the boosters descending safely (and loudly, sonic booms and all) to LZ1 and LZ2. The location we were shooting from is quite remarkable and historic: Pad 9 and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, where tests of the Navaho missile took place. You can see a small portion of the launch structure leaning into the left part of the frame - this is where I ran to after the Falcon Heavy was off the pad to be in position for landing. In the foreground and to the right is historic LC31/32, built to launch Minuteman and Pershing missiles. The beehive-shaped structure is one of two blockhouses, and the starburst of light to the left of the beehive is from the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse. Of particular note, about 1,200 feet from the beehive in this frame (right) is the LC31 silo, where recovered debris from Space Shuttle Challenger is stored. Big thanks to the 45th Space Wing for allowing us to shoot from this incredible location, it was a memorable (and rather late; the launch was at 2:30 am) night. Details: 20-minute exposure at f22 taken with Kodak Ektachrome 100 transparency film in a Canon Elan 7 camera with a Rokinon 12mm fish-eye lens. The launch and landing only took 8-ish minutes, but I opened the exposure about 10-minutes before launch.

So, for the bookend of the photos from our trip, I'll close with some of my favorite (non-family) shots from the trip, the Milky Way from Desert View Watchtower. These shots were taken around 1am Tuesday, June 11. Although it was a bit cloudy, the views were just amazing, with the Milky Way very visible to the naked eye. This is probably my favorite image from the trip, a 4 shot panorama capturing most of the Milky Way. It was a bit cloudier than I would have preferred, but the shot worked out rather well. The lights on the horizon are most likely from Tuba City, about 33 miles away. They sort of give the little mesa a crown of lights. The Moon is bright in the sky behind the camera, hence the brightly lit canyon walls (and the shadows). Details: ISO2500, 20-seconds, f2.8 with a Canon 5D4.

This photo was taken early the morning of June 10, 2019 from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, near the Yavapai Geology Museum at the Grand Canyon National Park. That's my Celestial Buddies "Our Precious Planet" Earth plushie, hanging out on the bench, accompanying me to enjoy the view.

Ascent, aborted: The #OrionAA2 test launch, as seen from the beach at Jetty Park. Launched at 7 am (ET) Tuesday morning, it looks like the (simulated) #Orion got quite the ride, first atop a converted Peacekeeper ICBM, then pulled away by the #AA2 Launch Abort System. (Pics: me/ @WeReportSpace )

Ascent, aborted: The #OrionAA2 test launch, as seen from the beach at Jetty Park. Launched at 7 am (ET) Tuesday morning, it looks like the (simulated) #Orion got quite the ride, first atop a converted Peacekeeper ICBM, then pulled away by the #AA2 Launch Abort System. (Pics: me/ @WeReportSpace )

#OrionAA2 aftermath: planned chaos. The (converted) ICBM launch system, the Launch Abort System, and the #Orion, all going their intentionally separate ways. (pic: me / @WeReportSpace) #AA2

#OrionAA2 aftermath: planned chaos. The (converted) ICBM launch system, the Launch Abort System, and the #Orion, all going their intentionally separate ways. (pic: me / @WeReportSpace) #AA2

Ascent, aborted: The #OrionAA2 test launch, as seen from the beach at Jetty Park. Launched at 7 am (ET) Tuesday morning, it looks like the (simulated) #Orion got quite the ride, first atop a converted Peacekeeper ICBM, then pulled away by the #AA2 Launch Abort System. (Pics: me/ @WeReportSpace )

From up close: The #Orion test capsule leaping off the pad as part of the #OrionAA2 #AA2 test of the Launch Abort System. (Pics: me / @WeReportSpace)

From up close: The #Orion test capsule leaping off the pad as part of the #OrionAA2 #AA2 test of the Launch Abort System. (Pics: me / @WeReportSpace)

From up close: The #Orion test capsule leaping off the pad as part of the #OrionAA2 #AA2 test of the Launch Abort System. (Pics: me / @WeReportSpace)

73.5% + 25-second exposure time = night becomes day at the Grand Canyon National Park. This photo was from the last night we spent at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. I wanted to try a more expansive panorama to include more of the canyon and more of the Milky Way, but it was too cloudy. I wanted *some* moonlight to illuminate the canyon, but at an hour (or so) before moonset, the 74% illuminated Moon combined with the clouds was just too much to deal with for my intended shot. It was a lovely scene, and the stars were very bright, with several constellations easily identifiable; the Big Dipper is a little bit left of center, for example. The Moon is dominating the sky to the left, only slightly obscured by the clouds. And, that's a shadow of me to the right, standing in front of the camera, looking hunchback-ish with my backpack. The building to the right is the Geology Museum, perched on the edge of the canyon. Details: 3-shot panorama all shot at ISO2500, 25-seconds and f2.8, merged simply with Lightroom.

A busy work schedule prevented my setting remote cameras Monday for the early-Tuesday morning #SpaceX #STP2 #FalconHeavy launch, so I had a surplus of undeployed camera bodies hanging around. For the first time in maybe two years, I shot a video with an extra pad camera, and I was going to try perhaps a composite photo to possibly capture more of the flight profile, like the flip the boosters do when they separate or even the second-stage burn. However, thanks to Declan Murphy and his flightclub.io, I learned that even with a 10mm lens, the crop-sensor remotes cameras wouldn't be wide enough to capture the entirety of the landing streaks. Next thing I know, I'm on Craig's List, looking for a crop-sensor fish-eye lens, and to my total amazement, I found a listing for precisely that: a Lensbaby 5.8mm lens, made for crop-sensor cameras. I'd generally heard not glowing reviews of the Lensbaby lenses, so I went into the endeavor with low expectations, but I figured if the seller would respond on short-notice and agree to meet within a very narrow window (between 8:50 pm and 9:00 pm, on my way to the launch), then it was meant to be. Or something like that. The seller agreed to my hurried and urgent terms. He was amiable, and the transaction (8:58 pm in a McDonald's parking lot on US1) was an easy one. So, this is what I came up with. It wasn't what I wanted (see: John Kraus' great shot with a crop-sensor fish-eye); the psuedo tiny-Earth look created by the Lensbaby is played out, and I meant to stick it behind the handful of people there watching the launch for the foreground, but that wasn't possible. The biggest problem was the dew. A few minutes before the launch, the dew arrived in force, and even with a wipe-down 60-seconds before the exposure began, the lens was drenched when I returned 670-seconds later. (It almost looks like there are clouds in the sky.) TL;DR: You don't always need to find a way to use *every* one of your cameras for a launch. Details: 670-seconds, f22 and ISO100 on a Canon 7D with a Lensbaby 5.8mm lens.

I'm running out of superlatives to describe the #FalconHeavy, so I'll try to stick to the facts: this is a single, 646-second exposure of the #SpaceX #STP2 launch from 45th Space Wing at 2:30am (ET) Tuesday morning. You're not seeing double -- those are side-by-side landing streaks. The launch sound is amazing, but the sonic booms from this close? Holy s***. (Pic: me / @WeReportSpace)

June 10, 2019 near Yavapai Point, looking away from the sunset, which was casting these pretty pink colors into the canyon. (I don't know who the couple is in the photo...) (Pic: me)