NCLE towards the moon (May 21st, 2018)

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.© A.J. Boonstra / ASTRON

In the middle of the night, after half an hour bus ride, we arrive at the Xichang Space Center. Apart from soft music and staccato speaker-messages from the launch site it is quiet. In a few hours the sun will rise. Our CNSA hosts invite us to join them at the platform. We are at 3 km distance from the rocket position, and I can see the launch facilities in the valley below, completely lit. We're talking a little and take some pictures to test the camera settings, knowing this is a one-shot event.

After a while the tension starts building up, and then a roar comes from the valley below. With loud noise and fumes the rocket lifts and starts penetrating the dark sky. Very slowly at first, and after several seconds it seemed not to speed up and it even seemed to bend its course a little towards us.

But then it gained strength and pursued its course towards the moon. The sky was clear and many stars were visible, and I saw Mars shining bright. The torch bended towards the planet, but then passed it and continued. I realized that at this early time of day there were no airplanes in the sky, and then I saw a bright dot, most likely a satellite, coming towards the rocket. Fortunately, the two crossed without colliding. A stripe of exhaust fume was clearly visible, and with a visible puff the first stage appeared to be ejected. All this with a lot of noise of course, and I thought of our radio instrument being subjected to all this vibration, but it had survived vibration tests on Earth, right?

Then it soared higher and higher till it disappeared, following its route towards the moon. It left a patch of exhaust fume colouring blue-purple high in the skies.

The moon, of course, will never again be the same for us. And as honoured guests we were given the front row to watch the spectacle, which left me speechless.

The first phase of the NCLE project is now finished, the ASTRON - Radboud University - ISIS - NAOC receiver is on its way towards the moon. Big thanks to CNSA, ESA/PRODEX, NSO and our other scientific partners. Now it's time to prepare for the next phase, commissioning and science, unravelling cosmic mysteries.